5 Added Values of Mobile Physical Therapy
Photo by Liz Stubbs Photography
Direct One-on-One Care for an Hour
You have access to the mind and brain of a doctor of physical therapy for 60-75 minutes without interruption. This is more time to treat you as a whole, and not just one aspect of your body. Time for you to explain, tell stories, ask questions, and learn. Time wholly dedicated to determining what is right and best for you, your pain, your function, your goals. With longer undivided care, you will likely get better faster, quicker, and in fewer visits than if your physical therapy was shorter and overlapped with other patients.
Home Exercise Area Set Up For You
You probably spend a lot more of your time at home now, and it is most likely where you will be doing exercises, self-care, daily activities, working, etc. By being in your home, I can immediately spot the best set-up for the exercises I prescribe, and can go ahead and set up these areas so that they are ready for you to exercise. This takes the hassle out of trying to remember what the PT told you at the clinic and figuring out how to adapt it to what you have available at home. I will have already done that for you, saving you time and effort.
Modifications for Daily Tasks Specific to Your Home
I can also see your work set up or how you move through your daily activities in your home environment. I can do a specific activity analysis in the exact same environment where it bothers you. These analyses include:
Work Station
Sleep Position
Car & Driving Positions
Daily Tasks: Laundry, Doing the Dishes, Stairs, Cleaning, etc.
This leads to better tailored advice and modifications to these activities in order to reduce stress, load, repetition, or pain and to help you feel better faster. We are also afforded the opportunity to trial any modification suggestions and determine their effect within session, without having to wait and try it "when you get back home" and you don't have to remember "to report back" to your PT a week later.
Sets Up Your Environmental Memory for Success
Have you ever heard that you remember information more when you're in the environment in which you learned it? That benefit applies to mobile physical therapy too! Any advice or movement/activity modifications will come back to you faster and be easier to implement because you learned it where you need it to work for you, in your home. This principle can be adapted to any goal or problem area you may have, and if the environment is not your home, it's okay, I'm mobile, we can go to where you have the problem; I love taking PT outside. Which brings me to the final added value of mobile physical therapy.
Appointment Location Flexibility - For Your Goals and Needs
With mobile physical therapy we aren't just limited to your home or work office. The visit can occur where ever is most convenient for you, or where is best suited for your PT goals and needs. Examples include:
At the gym - I can help you by making modifications to exercises you typically do for general health and wellness but might be currently impacted by pain or injury. I can assess your typical exercise routine and add 1 or 2 exercises to target muscles you may have missed.
On the road/sidewalk - Do you like to run or walk and want someone to walk or run with you for shorter distances or to assess your gait pattern at 1 mile in? Sometimes we fatigue with distances longer than can be typically assessed in standard physical therapy. With mobile physical therapy, I can go that distance with you and determine what factors or areas appear fatigued first and identify your natural compensation patterns. This is an area we would target to strengthen to improve your overall activity endurance and reduce pain.
Any Fitness/Yoga class - Are you having difficulty with certain movements or poses? I can observe how your body moves to make suggestions for areas needing: additional flexibility or mobility emphasis, increased core awareness, or exercises to help increase your stability and strength in order to reach your fitness/yoga goals
At the park - Do you prefer to exercise outdoors or be outdoors? Do you feel uncertain walking or playing games over uneven ground or varied terrain? Do you want to be able to play bocce, croquet, pickleball, frisbee, or cornhole again?
On the trail - Do you like to hike, mountain bike, or trail run and you don't have issues until mile 6? That's an arbitrary number, but the point is you feel fine when you start, and then at some point mid-activity you start to hurt. I can observe your activity in both a fresh and fatigued state, and repeat some tests once fatigued in order to identify and best treat your issue. I can create an exercise plan to address the issue and provide a few quick exercises or movements to perform mid-activity that allow you to complete your training with less pain.
Going to the store - I can see the exact set up of your trip - from your car, to the parking lot, to inside, to getting around, to finding what you need, to carrying it or pushing a cart, to check out, and to getting the items back to and into your car. This will allow me to make any suggestions of modifications, movement patterns, or exercises that might make it easier for you. It also helps me to know the specific dimensions needed for your goal setting and exercise planning.
On a Boat - Do you like to fish or take the boat out on the lake, but are starting to feel a little more unsteady on your feet? I can safely help you practice balance exercise in this specific environment, and provide you with balance training exercises to do at home. You shouldn’t let feeling off-balance prevent you from enjoying time on the water!
[insert your desired place here] - We could have an appointment almost anywhere that you need in order to help you function and live your best life. Although I might go ahead and rule out sky diving or cave spelunking - I’m not sure I’m feeling quite that adventurous :)