Injured? Choose PT First
DéShawn Fairbairn is a physical therapist practicing in Boston, MA. DéShawn Fairbairn specializes in physical treatment to help a patient reduce pain, restore mobility, rehabilitate an injury, or increase movement and overall function. As a physical therapist, DéShawn Fairbairn can treat multiple conditions with exercises,... more
Contrary to popular belief, injuries aren't random occurrences, typically they: A. result from accumulation of stress to the body B. traumatic incidences C. accumulation of stress on maladjusted tissues to imposed demands. A. and B. for the most part are out of our control however, within C. here is where the magic of injury prevention and rehabilitation begins.
Rehabilitation for many, is a short-term fix for a long-term dilemma. For example, I tried to reach something off the shelf and I felt a pop in my shoulder or I was picking up a box of groceries and my back just gave out. The typical story goes: a patient attends their orthopedic or primary care physician who in turn sends them to physical therapy for one of three reasons. A. They are unable to treat the patient through surgical means or surgery is a last resort option. B. Their care model is best suited to refer out to a physical therapist C. They are unsure how to help the patient but physical therapy seems like a good idea. As an optimist, I like to believe option B is the reason 90% of people come into my office.
Rehabilitation, however, should be an ongoing process of intentional and consistent movement focused on strengthening, retraining, and proper conditioning of our body to meet functional demands. In the above scenario where a person's back is given out, more context is needed. Say Martha is a 35-year-old mother of 2 who used to cross-train three to five times a week prior to children but since childbearing has returned to work and does yoga for 30 minutes twice a week. Seems like the average person right? However, in physical therapy, we take a deep dive into a person's case to address how they can prevent injury in the future through holistic care and rehab their current ailment.
Martha gave birth and in the baby's growing process, excessive weight demands are placed on the thoracic, lumbar, sacral spine, pelvic girdle, and not to mention the abdomen. Martha as a result has waxing and waning hormones, poor core stability, lower back mobility, and pelvic shifting (just to name a few). For Martha a previous gym goer, yoga isn't going to cut it if she wants to lift groceries without injuring herself. Instead, she needs to incorporate intentional and consistent movement that includes but is not limited to breathwork, pelvic floor strengthening, core stability exercises, and strengthening the hip, leg, and back muscles to support her new weight and readjusted frame. PT addresses the concerns of Martha taking into account her work-life balance and sustainability to prevent re-injury.
A pelvic floor specialized therapist, for example, would set up dates to undergo therapy after an evaluation of her limitations, impairments, and medical history. As Martha gets stronger and her pain goes away her level of independence increases and thus her need for PT in person diminishes however, the clinic isn't where her journey ends. It begins in the gym and at home.
Martha's PT Oliver sets up a home exercise program, provides resources for education, refers her to a registered dietician (scope of practice reasons), and sends notes to her orthopedic doctor to follow up after therapy is completed. In the resources Oliver happily produces, books on strength training, YouTubers who focus on post-natal care, and recommends a gym that caters to busy people. The registered dietician Oliver referred her to, Alexis, is well-versed in hormone therapy, menopause, pre and post-natal care.
Oliver provided holistic care because, after giving birth Martha started experiencing osteoporosis (PTs can read T-scores related to diagnosing the disease) and her injury was a result of accumulated stress to tissues that were maladjusted to imposed demands. A combination of childbearing, lack of strength and conditioning, and her medical history was the setup for injury to her spine. Physical therapists pride themselves on looking at the patient not just their injury, and as a result, fewer people get re-injured, surgery becomes a last resort, pain medications are discarded and more people can return to the things they love doing, and more! The more includes continuing rehab after injury by making it a lifestyle change.
Physical therapy often gets a bad reputation for being glorified massage therapists who want to be personal trainers but aren't really doctors. The truth is, physical therapy changes lives and in the doctoring profession it restores function by changing habits and retraining the body through motion. Motion is our medication and it's something you can't overdose on. Through intentional and consistent modifications to how we move through therapeutic exercise, neuromuscular re-education, therapeutic activities, and modalities; we foster an environment for many to return to the gym, reinvigorate sport enthusiasts, and rebuild confidence in those who are afraid to do housework or go for a walk with their significant other.
One might ask how is this physical therapy? Couldn't I just hire a personal trainer? Well, over the past decade, modern society has influenced how physical therapists treat. It's less about spinal manipulation, a massage, and a few table exercises and more about returning to higher functioning through diagnostics, modalities, and exercises and educating patients to rely less on medication, surgery, or steroids and more on what humans are made for and that's dynamic resisted movement in ever-changing terrains through scientific strides and a little help from other professions.
Within the Interdisciplinary Medical Model we have today, Kinesiologists study human movement and through research provide insight for physical therapists to change exercise choices and abolish pain to restore function. Orthopedic Surgeons are finding new discoveries in less invasive procedures which require less rehab time. Cardiologists provide more insight into vascular conditions and their effects on movement. Respiratory therapists and Pulmonologists view lung-related diseases to provide insight into decongestion and post-surgical rehab for effective breathing. Physical therapists are required to know more about the human body than before to the extent of learning all the body systems from a fundamental level. Physical Therapists have the option to specialize in distinct areas such as acute care rehabilitation, pelvic floor therapy, electrophysiology, wound management, orthopedics, sports, and lymphatics, just to name a few. So, the next time you're injured choose PT first.
