I was having pain and I went to a chiropractor, which (over many, many weeks–months eve–did nothing to solve the pain) and was finally sent to get physical therapy. The place I was told to go would hook me up to electric stimulus for 10-15 minutes (which felt like a tingling) and then would have me do repetitive exercises on complex equipment. Ok, even if it worked… how am I supposed to replicate this at home? I don’t have any of this equipment! They didn’t give me any “at home” exercises to do, but were happy as clams to charge me a copay every time I came in–twice a week–to use their fancy equipment to do reps of their exercises on their specialized equipment.
Is PT always like this or did I get sent to a scam group? What is the point of learning an exercise you can only do while you’re AT physical therapy? It’s just dollars out the window, right?
Not all PT works that way. In the clinic where I work, a home exercise program is instituted the first week. Patients are taught home pain management, stretches, and how not to hurt themselves worse. If the tingly machine helps, PTs can ask the Doctor to order you one for home. There are almost as many approaches to physical therapy as there are therapists, if their approach does not make you feel better, try another clinc.
My PT place had me do exercises I could replicate at home. All but one or two didn’t require special equipment and they gave me tips on how to do those with things I already had or were inexpensive.
During PT they did the tens thing and put a heated, heavy mat sort of thing on me.
It worked-- my muscles are stronger and I’m not twisted or misaligned or whatever because of the injury. It was just a broken toe that was causing me to compensate. So small, but it and the braces were messing things up pretty well.
In the first one, it was for a broken wrist that didn’t heal properly. It required heat and manipulation to make it more flexible. This isn’t something that I could do at home anyway, but it only took a few sessions, and was very effective.
The second round was for frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis). They always gave me ultrasound, which might or might not have been effective, I could never tell. But mostly they taught me exercises that I could (and did) do at home. This took longer (3 months, for a more serious sort of condition) but it was ultimately also very effective.
So part of it is going to depend on the type of injury or condition that is being treated.
I suggest you talk to them and ask them for additional exercises you can do at home, to speed your recovery. If you don’t like their response, perhaps you are free to find another PT place? If you live in a big city, Angie’s List might be able to help you find a good one.
Roddy
It’s not “dollars out the window” just because the PT involves equipment you don’t have at home … as long as it’s actually helping, right? I mean, if you have a broken leg you can’t X-ray it at home either, right?
Then my bet is they did not do a good enough job. We are supposed to listen and respond and adapt therapy, or discharge early if the patient does not get better.
I’ve done PT three times - once for an injured shoulder and then twice on the other shoulder for RSI-related impingement syndrome.
For the injured shoulder the session always started with ultrasound to the shoulder, which really loosened it up, then we did exercises. For the other shoulder they applied heat at the beginning, then we did exercises.
In all 3 cases they gave me exercises to do at home which mimicked the ones I was doing at PT, and a stretchy resistance band to use. The PT for the injured shoulder was far more effective than the two rounds for the other shoulder. What helped the other shoulder more was the therapist giving me pointers on what to do to avoid irritating the shoulder - using pillows when watching TV, not resting my shoulder so that there was pressure on my elbow, etc.
So I guess the bottom line is PT helped me a lot. I think you got a lousy practitioner.
The “tingly” thing you speak of is called a TENS unit. You can purchase one of these for under $50 all the way up to multiple $100’s. I use one on my back. The idea, from what I have been told, is the electrical stimuli is supposed to “override” the pain signals being sent to your brain. In my case the TENS is very effective at “dulling” the pain. The biggest problem is there doesn’t seem to be much lasting effect. Maybe an hour or two, but you have to keep doing it to get relief. If it works for you it could be the difference between pain killers or a non-narcotic solution. If you are on Workers Comp or have insurance, check with them. Most will provide you a unit if the situation calls for it. I had to ask and they told me no problem.
Sounds just a tad scammy to me. I mean, there may well be stuff that you can only do there, but the main purpose OUGHT to be to get you well enough, and give you maintenance exercises, to discharge you.
I did PT last year for knee and shoulder problems and I always had a list of things to do at home. They were usually things designed to work with the same sort of muscles / movements as on the equipment there, but involved nothing more complicated than exercise bands, leaning against a wall, towels, a stick or cane, or the like.
You should probably insist on a session where they start to develop an at-home plan for you to keep up the program on your off days, or when you’re improved enough to discharge you.
Oh yeah: for me, I did always have electrical stimulation on the joints that had been worked on, but it was at the end of the session, not the start. I don’t know what determines whether they do this at the beginning (like you) or end (like me). I think in my case it was to relieve the pain induced by the session. Possibly in your case it’s to reduce the pain so you can even DO the exercises.
I think you need a better therapist. Mine is great: I ask what exercises I should be doing at home or the gym, and he looks at where I’m at, decides what should be done, and shows me how to do them right. The only exercises I actually do at his office are so he can make sure I’ve got the right form; all the real work is on my own.
Since not everyone has the motivation to work out on their own time, you may need to spend some effort convincing even a good therapist that you do in fact have the ability to work out unsupervised. But if they refuse to be convinced, find a different therapist.
I am not having the pain (back pain) anymore, thankfully, but if in the future I am sent to PT for something, how does one go about finding a reputable physical therapist? I don’t want to end up going to a useless one again.
Consult your primary care doctor. He should have some established relationships with some PT’s. If he doesn’t ask him to contact one of his surgical peers, they would certainly have a preferred PT. I wish you luck in treating your back. I have been there and unfortunately still doing that.:smack:
It sounds like you didn’t have a great PT outfit. When I went, they had the sophisticated exercise equipment, but they always gave me simple (if weird) exercises to do at home.
The PT was so much better than the doctor, in fact, that the next time I had a similar issue I went straight to PT without going to a physician first.
I don’t know how to find a reputable one, but I had to go out of network because the network one couldn’t get me in for six months! I guess I would suggest asking them questions, for instance about what you will have to do at home. The PT office I went to seemed very communicative and had lots of handouts on various infirmities. I will say, there was a therapist there I preferred, and one I avoided, so like anything, it’s kind of a crapshoot.