Physical Therapy Questions

[Trek420]

(I was irritated enough when he made me run on the first day (at this point, I could barely walk without pain) and then claimed that I was obviously in pain because I ran like a cow. Sorry, sir, I'm running like a cow because this HURTS LIKE ****)

Actually cows run pretty well :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzNha9zH58A

[goldfinch]

I had PT for my neck and shoulder a couple of months ago. The guy stayed with me all the time for all the exercises. There usually was one other PT in the room with their client as well. Everyone talked to everyone else. It was kind of fun. The two PTs were both cyclists so I learned a lot from them too.

[OakLeaf]

I just got home from PT for my feet and ankles.

My therapist watches me throughout any new exercise, and at least the first couple of reps of any exercise I've done before in case I need any form tweaks. She might take care of paperwork or do something else while I'm in the middle of a long set. She might get the next patient started on their warm-up toward the end of my session, or vice versa, but that's the extent of overlap between appointments.

I originally started seeing her for SI joint issues, so I went looking for a McKenzie-trained therapist. There were a few within about the same distance from me, and I chose this therapist in large part because her clinic had little bios and pictures of all their PTs on their website. Every other clinic had bios of the doctors only. I think the regard in which the clinic holds their PTs, transfers down to how important the clinic and the therapists themselves see their work as being, and how much time and attention the patients get. Plus, even if everything else were equal, I'd rather my and my insurance company's dollars went to a clinic that treats their therapists with the highest respect. JMO and very limited E .

[Blueberry]

I've had 2 experience:

I've seen a PT at Duke Sports Med (actually 2 different ones), and she is awesome. It's a similar situation to Oakleaf - she's with me most of the time - I warm up while she finishes with the appt before me, and she might start a warm up with someone else while I'm finishing up. Otherwise, she's paying attention for the hard part.

I've also seen a PT as part of a WC injury (knee). She saw 2-3 patients at once, paid no attention to what I was doing or whether I was inappropriately hurting, and generally made things worse. I ended up paying out of pocket to see someone better, since she sucked.

[Artista]

So it sounds like TE members are in 2 different camps. Some of us are OK with doing our exercises alone while most of us prefer some supervision from an aid or the PT themselves. I'm obviously in the "prefer supervision camp".

I called to discuss my expectations with the clinic director. It turns out that the director is the same therapist who worked with me yesterday. We agreed that the aids would continue to direct my workouts while following these ground rules when they introduce each new exercise:

• The aid will explain the objective of each exercise, for instance whether it's to increase flexibility, build muscle, improve balance, etc.
• The movements of each exercise will be clearly demonstrated or described.
• The aid will show me which muscles I should focus on in the case of muscle building.
• "Cheating" will be demonstrated or described so that I know which movements to avoid.
• The aid will observe all of my reps for each new exercise to correct any bad form that I may develop as I become fatigued, (or bored).

The director agreed that the clinic seemed rather solemn while I was there yesterday. He told me that the atmosphere was usually much more jovial. He attributed the quietness to the mix of patients and aids who were there at the time and thought that would I find the clinic a much more cheerful place in the future.

I like my therapist enough that I'll continue visiting the clinic for another week. I'll change clinics if the new exercise supervision or depressing atmosphere doesn't improve.

Something that I failed to mention in my first post is that the physical therapy was super helpful in spite of the lack of exercise supervision. The therapist and I must have done something right because I'm soooo much better after just one visit. I went into the clinic with a pathetic limp/hop and leaning heavily on a cane. Now I'm walking slowly but almost normally while using the cane more for stability than support. I still have a lot of ankle strength and flexibility to gain and a moderate amount of pain to overcome but I see light at the end of the tunnel Physical therapy rocks!

[solobiker]

I am an OT and work closely with my PT staff. We are a very upbeat group/crowd of therapists....Sometimes a little to upbeat

There are times when we do leave our patients on the bikes and sometimes we sit next to them to monitior...for lack of better words..their status. In the setting where I work we have pretty strict productivity standards so we often try to use that time for paperwork as paperwork counts against us even though we have to do it. Although I sometimes just like to talk with them to get to know them as well.

During the specific exercises I want him/her to do I do stay with them the entire time until I am sure they are doing it correctly. No sense in wasting anyones time if the exercise is not done right the first time.

Hope your ankle gets better soon!!

[Crankin]

I have seen 4 PTs. All of them worked individually with me and I was never left alone. The first visit at the first one I got an electrical stim treatment, which an aide gave me. I didn't like the group atmosphere of the first 3 places, although I guess that is typical. It felt creepy to be lying on a table and having the PT do some of the massages, etc, exercises with me in an open setting.
The last one I went to was a MacKenzie trained person, one of about 10 in MA. It was all in a private room, just me and him. He shared his office with a chiropractor, so it was not a huge PT place. Come to think of it, the second to last one was also a MacKenzie person, too, but she worked at another branch of the second I went to. He had referred me to his colleague, as he thought she would know more, which she did.