What does a typical physical therapy session look like?

If you have been told it’s time to see a physical therapist and you’ve never been before, you might be wondering what it will be like.

Will it hurt?
Why do I have to go to a physical therapist?
What is physical therapy?
Why do I have to do exercises?

These are all normal, common questions. We at MedAmerica Rehab are happy to shed some light:

First, you’ll participate in a thorough physical exam. You will discuss with your therapist your injury or what is bothering you, and be evaluated based on your health history, posture, movement, flexibility, muscle and joint motion and performance.
The evaluation helps the therapist come up with a course of treatment to fix the ailment, and hopefully prevent further injury. The course of therapeutic treatment is designed based off of the individual, so your course of treatment is likely to look different from someone else’s.

Depending on the ailment at hand, your therapist might teach you a series of low-impact exercises to work on, both at your appointment and at home. These exercises are usually designed to strengthen or stretch a certain area to help alleviate discomfort or further damage to an area. At your appointment you also might experience medical massage with the therapists’ hands or other equipment, you might receive ice and/or heat on the ailed area, and may experience lots of stretching! We spoke to one of our clients who was willing and excited to share her experience:

“I always look forward to my hour sessions at MedAmerica. First, when I get there, I’m always greeted with warmth and smiles. It makes me feel at ease, even when I’m nervous or in pain. I’m lead to a room with workout equipment, and I walk on the treadmill for about 5 minutes. This helps my body warm up before we perform exercises. Next, I perform exercises like going from sitting to standing, leg clamshells, or bicycles. Then I will stretch my hips and hamstrings and do whatever else I’m instructed to do for my workout time. Last, which is always my favorite part, is getting my massage on my back, and then I have it iced for about 10 minutes before I leave. All in all, I’m there for about one hour.”

The main goal of any good physical therapist is to help restore your physical health. We strive to improve your quality of life and minimize any risk of injury in the future, and create a caring atmosphere for every session in the process.