• Women skiers, this is the place for you -- an online community without the male-orientation you'll find in conventional ski magazines and internet ski forums. At TheSkiDiva.com, you can connect with other women to talk about skiing in a way that you can relate to, about things that you find of interest. Be sure to join our community to participate (women only, please!). Registration is fast and simple. Just be sure to add [email protected] to your address book so your registration activation emails won't be routed as spam. And please give careful consideration to your user name -- it will not be changed once your registration is confirmed.

Physical Therapy - How to Choose

Jenny

Angel Diva
Looking ahead, I’m going to need PT for my ankle. It seems that there’s a PT practice on every street corner around here now.

Do we have any therapists here who could give some pointers on how to pick a good practice/therapist? Any certifications to specifically look for? Things to look out for?

Any info would be appreciated.
 

Abbi

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I can’t answer from a physical therapist perspective. And I hope someone chimes in! I know in my world as a Pilates teacher I get clients from physical therapists. I find word of mouth locally is usually the best course. Doctors get online ratings from clients. I don’t know about physical therapist. Keep asking around. Some times not the biggest can be better but I would want to know their people were experienced. Locally I find the big physical therapy practices are so crowded that I don’t feel as though I get enough personal attention. Best in your search! And in your continued healing.
 

mustski

Angel Diva
My doctor has always referred me to someone- probably someone who accepted whatever the current medical insurance plan covered. My PT was always corrective to avoid surgery though so that's probably a different situation. I really like my current guy - he has a Ph.d and really seems to know his stuff.
 

newboots

Angel Diva
There is a practice where I used to live where they combined PT with many other modalities, such as various massage techniques. Two of the PTs were also massage therapists. They were well known in the area for their talent and excellent results. I learned of them through word of mouth from a number of different people - friends, my massage therapist, and my real estate agent (!). They all had paid continuing ed, which the PTs at the clinic where I worked NEVER did, as far as I could tell.
 

Christy

Angel Diva
This is an interesting question to me because I've had some very different experiences. I've mainly gone to where my dr recommended and it was the UW sports medicine clinic--the kind of place that is big and has all the autographed head shots from sports stars that have rehabbed there. They fixed my runners' knee up no problem (and a long time ago, tendinitis). But when I had another knee issue they couldn't figure it out--they assigned a younger guy to me, and he just sorta stuck to a script. He did consult some of the older drs but I felt like maybe I needed to be a sports start to get their full attention. A massage therapist (who I was seeing to see if she could figure the problem out) recommended a woman who does PT in a tiny room adjacent to a Pilates studio--not a place I would have found on my own, and she didn't take insurance. But she was AMAZING. Such a different approach. She figured out my issue, and she only assigned in home exercises and had me come back as needed. Not like the fancy place where you go there to do your exercises 2-3x/week.

But I don't know what advice I can give based on this. Stick with what your dr recommends and takes insurance unless you get stuck, then be willing to try someone radically different?
 

Jenny

Angel Diva
Discovered the doctor's group does have PT, and one of their locations is a sports medicine clinic. They also have a satellite location 5 minutes from home. One of the therapists at the sports clinic also works at the satellite location.

Spoke with the PT Coordinator at the clinic today and am going to go take a look at it on Thursday. Now writing down some more questions for her. She was very helpful on the phone, answered everything I came up with and seemed happy to do so, not like I was keeping her from going home.
 

volklgirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
The trick now is to make sure you click with your individual therapist. If you don't for some reason, there's no shame or embarrassment in asking for someone else. Therapy is for YOU, so make sure you get exactly what you need. You need to be your own best advocate.

Less than 1/2 way through my therapy this time, they put me with Michael, who pushed me to the point of failure and actually had me crying on my way home. I've done this enough to know it was way too early in my therapy for this, so I simply asked to be reassigned to one of my previous therapists for a couple more weeks. I also told him how I felt so he was aware and could adjust his approach with others (and me, again, a few weeks later). We parted on really good terms at the end of my therapy.
 

Jenny

Angel Diva
The only other PT I’ve ever had has been for plantar fasciitis. And, of course, the stuff before the surgery, which I have the feeling was NOTHING compared to what I have coming up. I hope I can tell if they're pushing too hard, or if I’m being a baby.
 

volklgirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
The first few weeks should NOT hurt. Stretch; yes. Pull; also yes. Be difficult; absolutely. Hurt; NO!

You're not a baby, so you'll know if it's too much. Really, you will.
 

Jenny

Angel Diva
So, I met the PT coordinator at the Sports Medicine place last night and got the tour. She answered lots of questions about how it all works, how they coordinate with the doctor, who determines the rehab plan, etc. etc. Stuff that those of you who've gone through this before know, but it's all new to me. She did say that the therapists that work there have additional sport-oriented certifications, but didn't say specifically which ones. One of them is a triathlete - I think I saw him behind the desk - man, is he in shape!

I did not realize that I/they/the doctor could appeal to extend the number of visits allowed if they felt I still needed more at the end. Wonder how often that actually works? I need to find out how many I have left - think I have 26 for the year, but then used some up before knowing that I'd need surgery, so it's probably close to 20 that are left. But I did learn that after therapy is over that they extend a free 30 day membership to the Y (where the office is located) so I can continue to come in and strengthen everything.

Because they are located in the Y, they have access to all of the machines and the pool, so not just what they have in the therapy office. She again confirmed that they are 1:1 sessions, and they do a lot of hands on manual therapy. They also have private rooms so if I turn out to be a screamer I won't scare the other patients! Sounds like they have some nice things - they have a gait analysis room, and they're set up to be able to (somehow) do that even if someone isn't totally weight-bearing, which I don't understand at all, but it involves some sort of hoist. Hope I get to see that in action on someone while I'm there.
 

geargrrl

Angel Diva
Your PT will coordinate with MD and your insurance about more visits if it's determined you need them. My guy was talking about what a PITA it was to have to deal with them. I was lucky, they put Mountain Bike Instructor into my surgical notes so it was easy to argue for more.
 

Little Lightning

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
So, I met the PT coordinator at the Sports Medicine place last night and got the tour. She answered lots of questions about how it all works, how they coordinate with the doctor, who determines the rehab plan, etc. etc. Stuff that those of you who've gone through this before know, but it's all new to me. She did say that the therapists that work there have additional sport-oriented certifications, but didn't say specifically which ones. One of them is a triathlete - I think I saw him behind the desk - man, is he in shape!​
I did not realize that I/they/the doctor could appeal to extend the number of visits allowed if they felt I still needed more at the end. Wonder how often that actually works? I need to find out how many I have left - think I have 26 for the year, but then used some up before knowing that I'd need surgery, so it's probably close to 20 that are left. But I did learn that after therapy is over that they extend a free 30 day membership to the Y (where the office is located) so I can continue to come in and strengthen everything.​
Because they are located in the Y, they have access to all of the machines and the pool, so not just what they have in the therapy office. She again confirmed that they are 1:1 sessions, and they do a lot of hands on manual therapy. They also have private rooms so if I turn out to be a screamer I won't scare the other patients! Sounds like they have some nice things - they have a gait analysis room, and they're set up to be able to (somehow) do that even if someone isn't totally weight-bearing, which I don't understand at all, but it involves some sort of hoist. Hope I get to see that in action on someone while I'm there.​
During my sessions with my PT for my Peroneal Tendonitis my PT discovered how much I favored my left side. He had me squat on the flat side of a bosu ball. The ball would tilt to the right. He commented that I "really favored my left side". However, the discouraging part was he seemed at a loss at what to do and assigned exercises that I wasn't functionally ready to do. That's where my personal trainer came in. He took me back to basics. Lots of attention to correcting form, glute building and single leg exercises. At first the single leg exercises were difficult to perform. I had to "think" very hard just to get my left side to move. I could barely keep my balance and took a few falls. My trainer said my central nervous system had shut down. Prior to this the only indication something was wrong was when I was pedaling my bike. The right side did all the work while the left went along for the ride. In retrospect, I'm sure this was contributing to my back pain when riding. Other PT's didn't catch the significance.
I used to think PT was the way back to recovery. They are very good at rehab but mine have missed the mark on how to regain strength. With my recent shoulder injury between my team, (PT, personal trainer and massage therapist) I recovered within a few months. The PT was surprised how quickly I recovered. My trainer is still working with me to improve my shoulder. It sounds like you will have a good team.
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
26,233
Messages
497,563
Members
8,503
Latest member
MermaidKelly
Top