Physical Therapists Do That!?!?

Take a second and visualize yourself getting a prescription to go visit a physical therapist. Why is this being prescribed to you? More than likely you are imagining yourself with some sort of muscle or joint injury or maybe even problems with balance or weakness. When people think of Physical Therapists they primarily think of their role in the outpatient clinics doing exercises and stretching people following some sort of injury or pain. While outpatient orthopedic clinics are the most popular setting in physical therapy right now, and my personal preference, physical therapists do so much more and are continuing to expand our areas of practice. From wound care to neurological rehabilitation all the way to incontinence a physical therapist has got you covered. Physical Therapists are considered the movement specialists of the health care field, so you may be wondering why they are dealing with things like wound care or urinary problems. The Doctor of Physical Therapy education involves an in-depth study of movement science, anatomy, and pathophysiology which are crucial in the ability to detect a wound early on and start to prevent it before it becomes a problem. Wounds need blood to heal and the right kind of movement and positioning for the patient increases blood flow to a wound and, as stated, Physical Therapists are movement specialists making

them uniquely qualified to handle wound care. Now what about the urinary incontinence? How does a movement specialist help with that? We have muscles that we have control over that we can use to either hold it when no bathroom is available or relax and allow ourselves to urinate. Just like any other muscle they can get tight or weak which causes problems with our ability to use the bathroom. Physical Therapists are able to give exercises to strengthen these muscles which is especially important for females postpartum. In our culture it has become perfectly expected and accepted that after you give birth you are going to leak and pee your pants. That is not how it has to be! A Physical Therapist can help strengthen those muscles so you can avoid the embarrassment of leaking every time you sneeze or laugh. The final area I want to bring up is dizziness. If you are dizzy you will have bad balance and that makes it harder to move. A common cause of dizziness is problems with an individual's vestibular system which is essentially multiple components inside the ear that work to give a sense of balance and where you are in space. Would you believe that there are physical therapy treatments that can be done fix the problems of the vestibular system inside the ear? Although it sounds too good to be true, Physical Therapists are trained in these techniques and are a great benefit to people that suffer from dizziness as a result of vestibular problems. I have only brought up a few different areas that you can see a Physical Therapist in however, this list is far from exhaustive! Physical Therapists play a critical role in other areas too such as the emergency room, end of life care, and even cancer treatment. An important note is that all Physical Therapists graduate as generalists and can specialize following graduation. Not every Physical Therapist is going to be confident in dealing with the urinary muscles or in neurological rehabilitation. Many of these interesting areas that Physical Therapists work in need specialized time doing clinical instruction so they can become an expert in that specific practice. So what do you guys think about Physical Therapists being involved in all these areas within the medical field? Are you surprised by the variety of things Physical Therapists are able to help with? Next time you have something going on with your health I encourage you to ask the question "can a Physical Therapist help with that?" You will be amazed how often the answer is Yes!