What To Expect
So, now you are wondering, what do I do to begin physical therapy at MTI? Also you may be wondering what to expect?
You need to obtain a prescription from your physician to receive physical therapy. Your physician can give you a hand written one, or you can have one faxed to our two convenient locations.
Once you have a prescription, or have had it faxed over to our offices, you can call the friendly office staff at either of our two locations, they will take your personal and health insurance information. They will also set you up with your initial evaluation so that we can get you on the road to recovery.
First Visit
On your initial evaluation day, please bring your prescription, drivers license, insurance card(s) and also a list of medications that you are currently taking. On your first visit, the physical therapist will do an initial evaluation before any treatment will be administered. The Physical Therapist will take your medical history, a functional evaluation, and a number of measurements testing your range of motion, strength, endurance and pain level. The purpose of this evaluation is to determine the exact nature of your problem. The evaluation will determine where and how much pain you may be in, which muscles are weak, which ones are strong, how well you move and if you are over-using some muscles to compensate for weaker ones. The therapist will design a treatment program for you addressing your specific needs and areas to be improved. At the end of your session, your therapist will assign you homework. A home exercise program will be created for you to do every day that will help to strengthen and stretch you back to full function.
At the end of your session, our friendly office staff will set you up with your following visits. Most physical therapy prescriptions allow the patient to be seen for 3 times a week for 4 weeks, before the 4 weeks expires, we will re-evaluate you to document the progress that you have made and a report will be sent to your doctor with our recommendations on whether there are more goals that you and your therapist feel that you can achieve.
Continuing Visits
You have been through the initial evaluation. Your therapist has taken measurements, asked you questions and answered questions you may have. At this point you are probably thinking, “What comes next?” The therapist will design a plan for you. The first few visits of therapy, you may receive modalities such as hot pack or ultrasound. You may also receive manual therapy such as stretching and massaging. These modalities are to help alleviate your pain and allow you to work on strengthening your muscles with land or aquatic exercises. Gradually, as you become stronger, you will find that there is no need for modalities, and your ability to exercise will have increased. Before the eighth visit, if you have not met your goals and your therapist feels, based on the findings in your re-evaluation, that you could benefit from continued therapy, your therapist will ask your physician for another prescription.
The average appointment is one hour long. Of course depending upon the diagnosis and response to the treatment, your sessions may be longer or shorter. If you are in aquatic therapy you can plan on being here for 1 ½ – 2 hours, taking into account time for changing and any land treatments you may receive.
Your therapy will then continue until you meet your goals or have reached full benefit. You will then be discharged with a home exercise program and a report will be sent to your physician.
