Pain and Therapy
Physical therapists get a bad rap when it comes to pain. Sometimes pain is necessary for recovery, however, saying “no pain, no gain” goes too far. Although I’ve addressed the role of pain in therapy, and used the term productive and unproductive a thousand times related to pain, I never thought to put it down on paper (in cyberspace) quite that way until the other day.
Treatment Expectations
I have recently started doing “Utilization Peer Review” work in my spare time. I wanted to ensure that I was acquainted with all aspects of the workers compensation system, and to be honest, I was a little curious to see what other clinics were doing. UPR means that I spend some of my time each week working on a contract basis for insurance companies, reviewing the work of other therapists, and making recommendations regarding the appropriateness of proposed future care.
Well, it’s been extremely revealing, and leads me to today’s post about treatment expectations.
Current Openings
These are our current openings. Although we do not always have an opening, we would still like to hear from you. We are always considering additional ventures that are dependent on having coverage for additional patient care.
Our current openings are as follows: Read more
Spinal Decompression Update
So What’s New?
I was working long through a Saturday, and low and behold there was an informercial for a local group of chiropractors advertising their spinal decompression treatments. They featured an orthopedic surgeon from Georgia. I looked him up, and found that he had been stripped of his board certification because of a felony fraud conviction related to a spinal decompression device. Read more
Therapy Referrals – FAQs
This post addresses general rules and FAQs for referring patients with orthopedic problems to physical therapy. To take a look at our Referral Guideline, click here.
Therapy Referral Advisor
If you haven’t read the introduction/explanation, please click here and do so first.
Therapy Referral Advisor – Introduction/Explanation
How Do You Know When to Refer?
Well, this is an attempt to help you arrive at a decision with your patient’s best interest at heart, relying on evidence (peer-reviewed studies, quality assurance studies), experience, and situational considerations.
If you have previously read this introduction, click here to get to the full guidelines or click here to see our Referral FAQs.
Mobilization Techniques in the Treatment of Frozen Shoulder
What is a “Frozen Shoulder?”
Frozen shoulder syndrome entails the progressive loss of both passive and active motion. It’s cause(s) (etiology) is not well understood, although significant risk factors include age, posture, diabetes, presence of neck pain, and sedentary work. In a frozen shoulder, the covering of the shoulder joint, called the joint capsule, becomes inflamed, very painful, and tightens up around the shoulder. An article was published in the October issue of Physical Therapy comparing mobilization techniques in the treatment of frozen shoulder.
Therapeutic Exercise – Terms Defined
These are a few of the most common terms used to describe therapeutic exercise
Therapeutic Exercise – What Is It?
Therapeutic Exercise is Prescribed Exercise
Each component of prescribed exercise is targeted specifically to change some parameter of function within your body. A parameter of function may be flexibility, range of motion, strength, muscular, or cardiovascular endurance.
