The Ultimate Guide to Orthopedic Physical Therapy in Durham

What is physical therapy?

Orthopedic Physical therapy is an indispensable cornerstone for individuals seeking to maintain an active lifestyle and recover from injuries. It encompasses a range of techniques and exercises designed to enhance mobility, alleviate pain, and restore functionality. According to the APTA “ Physical therapists are movement experts who improve quality of life through prescribed exercise, hands-on care, and patient education. Physical therapists diagnose and treat individuals of all ages, from newborns to people at the end of life.” At Functional Phyzio and Performance Therapy, we specifically specialize in treating active adults who want to feel better, move better & continue the activities and workouts they love, for life!

We treat a wide range of orthopedic injuries including headaches, neck pain, rotator cuff injuries & shoulder pain, hip pain, low back pain, spinal disc injuries, plantar fasciitis, hamstring strains, knee pain & meniscus injuries as well as post-surgical rehab.

When seeking physical therapy in Durham you don’t need a doctor’s referral either to see a physical therapist! Visiting a physical therapist prior to consulting a doctor can be a strategic and cost-effective approach that ultimately saves both time and money. Physical therapists in Durham are trained healthcare professionals adept at diagnosing and treating a wide range of musculoskeletal issues. Our expertise allows for an in-depth assessment of the root cause of pain or dysfunction. By directly accessing a physical therapist, individuals can expedite the identification and treatment of their condition, potentially avoiding unnecessary doctor visits or invasive procedures. Moreover, our physical therapists provide education on self-management strategies and prescribe targeted exercises to address the problem at its core.

What does an initial evaluation look like?

The main goal of the initial evaluation is to get a thorough understanding of how your body is moving, uncover the root cause of your issue and provide you with a clear road map to recovery.

The process starts with an in-depth discussion of your injury & medical history, what you have already tried and what movements or activities increase and decrease your pain. During our orthopedic physical therapy assessment we also want to know exactly what your goals are so we can help you not only achieve them but get stronger & better than before your injury!

After spending 10-15 minutes discussing your injury we move into a full body movement exam. This starts with a mobility screen, functional strength testing which may also include watching you run, jump or lift so we can see your movement in action, and finally a joint specific exam where we not only are looking at the place where you have pain but also assessing the other joints & muscles around it.

All of this information will allow us to then formulate a diagnosis and plan! We will sit down with you an explain all of our findings & answer all of your questions.

The next step is to give you an individualized home program. The first day we will start with 1-3 exercises that we will take you through that you can start working on at home. We even have our own app so you can easily access videos, sets & reps and check off each time you perform your program!

Lastly, we will discuss your road to recovery using our proven 3 step process.

Reset

The first step in overcoming an injury is to give the body a reset. This phase focuses on reducing your pain & symptoms because when we are in pain it changes how our body moves and leads to more compensation patterns. During this phase we reduce your pain by utilizing hands on techniques such as massage, soft tissue mobilization, neuromuscular based exercises & education on pain management. Once you are out of pain, this is where traditional physical therapy typically ends but the problem is that you likely haven’t created any long-term changes and pretty soon you’ll end up back where you started, that’s why we don’t stop here.

Reload

The reload phase is focused on building up your strength with your new and improved movement patterns in order to build resilience in your body! During this phase we may continue doing hands on work as needed but the focus is on getting strong! With most patients, physical therapy starts to look more like training (and you may even break a sweat!)

Perform

Our last phase is the performance phase (and honestly the most fun phase in my opinion)! During this phase we are continuing to build up your strength & resilience by working on higher level dynamic activities (think: running faster, jumping higher, lifting more weight). We are also ensuring you have the knowledge & tools you need to take care of your body for life! We are here to not only help you achieve your goals but crush them and then set bigger ones!

You may still have a lot of questions on what each session looks like. I get it, especially if you’ve been to PT before where you saw the PT for 10 minutes, did a couple exercises with a high school kid following a sheet of paper and then sat for 20 minutes with e-stim & ice.

While each session is tailored to your individual needs we utilize a blend of hands on work & functional exercise!

Hands on work may include things like dry needling, massage, soft tissue mobilization, myofascial decompression (also known as cupping) and instrument assisted soft tissue mobilizations or IASTM (think: Graston, Scraping, etc).

All of these modalities are aimed at increasing blood flow, decreasing pain and allowing the body to reset to normal movement patterns.

Our exercise programs are geared toward functional movement patterns such as squatting, hinging, pushing, pulling, running & jumping. We start with the basics to ensure you are moving properly & pain free. Once you start feeling & moving better we then utilize a variety of weights including dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells & high resistance bands to increase your strength. We also select exercises that mimic your everyday movements & activities? Play golf, you bet we’ll be doing some rotation! Want to get up and down off the floor to play with your kids? That’s exactly what we’ll be doing!

We also always want you to understand exactly why you are doing each exercise. Unlike other healthcare providers that only spend 10-15 minutes with each patient, we spend a full hour so we have adequate time to provide education and answer all your questions.

In conclusion, physical therapy can be an awesome non-invasive, cost saving way of overcoming your orthopedic injury and getting back to the activities you love! At Functional Phyzio in Durham, we treat a wide variety of injuries utilizing our proven 3 step process. We don’t pass you off to a tech or assistant, but instead utilize hands on work, functional exercise all while working directly with you 1 on 1 for the entire hour!

Ready to get started? Contact us today!

Sources:

https://www.jospt.org/page/about/news/20180213-directaccessreducescosts