The Role Physical Therapists Play

In a nutshell, physical therapists provide a valuable contribution to the healthcare delivery system by improving the quality of health of the people that come under their prevue. They also do prevention and treatment as well as manage any impairment of their patients so they are able to get back to their feet again.

As a provider of health care these trained professionals help their patients get their functionality back while improving their mobility and preventing or at the very least limit the physical effects of injury or disease. They basically promote the return to overall fitness and health of their patients.

Physical Therapists

They do all these things by diagnosing and treating people from all walks of life whether they are 10 years of age or 70. As long as you have a medical condition that limits your range of movements and causes you to suffer pain when you do move then they are the professionals to go to (after you doctor of course).

Once you walk through their doors and make an appointment you analysis begins. That is to say there’s no one program fits all kind of thing – each individual is unique. This means that your rehabilitation program may be totally different from the next person even if you have the same sort of injury.

That’s because human beings are different from one another even though we seem alike. Because of those differences each injury has its own specific characteristics that vary from person to person. It is the physical therapists job to determine what makes your injury unique and create a plan that will handle those differences in order to fix the problem, remove the pain and get your mobility back once again.

The diagnosis part is quite extensive. That’s because the physical therapist needs to know everything about the patient before he or she can even begin to plan a rehabilitation program. This means delving into the patient’s history including all pertinent medical information.

Then there’s the tests that verify all the information and at the same time identify where the problem areas are and where potential problems may arise as the rehabilitation gets underway. This is all so the program is tailor fit to the patient and works well in the process.

Depending on where in the program the patient is the physical therapist puts on many hats other than being the therapist. He could be the instructor teaching the patient how to do the exercises. He could be the sociologist that helps the patient overcome his fears and he could also be a motivator so the patient doesn’t lose hope when the end still seems so far away.

That’s why a physical therapist needs to have the ability to understand people and work with them in a one-to-one basis. Listening is a very important tool because the therapist needs to be able to listen to what the patient is saying to him.

By interacting with the patient in this in depth manner the therapist will be able to know if the program is working or whether something is wrong. If the therapist doesn’t listen a minor problem may become a far worst injury than the one being treated.

Know more about physical therapy from Deborah Koval.