When Should You See a Physical Therapist?

My vision for you (and the world) is to utilize physical therapists EARLY. 

Earlier than is common now. Typically it’s after surgery, or after seeing a doctor about a pain you’ve had for a while. 

What does early look like in my vision?

Early is before surgery.

Early is before you see your primary or family practitioner when you have a muscle, joint, or movement related issue.

Early is when you first start to have pain. Let’s say 1-2 weeks after it starts, if it hasn’t changed at all, or 3 weeks if it has decreased but is still lingering at a low level.

Early is before pain happens at all - for preventive screenings and proactive plans. 

Dr. Stubbs evaluating hip and knee joint pain and mobility

Why Physical Therapy first?

Because we, physical therapists, are the movement system experts. The neuromusculoskeletal system is what we spend 3 dedicated years in school learning, researching, and understanding. But it’s not just in our doctorate schooling that we do this. 

It continues year after year with continuing education, keeping up with the latest research articles and clinical practice guidelines, constantly reviewing anatomy, physiology, and biomechanics as it relates to the details of the individual in front of us. You.  

The earlier we can intervene with movement issues, the faster and sooner you can feel better.

So why not go straight to the expert source?  Your physical therapist.

Dr. Stubbs works to understand and identify the cause of neck pain collaboratively with a patient during a hands-on evaluation.

Why stop in to see your primary care MD?

They’re like triage of the health system; they screen to treat and/or refer. And they’re good at helping with minor internal issues and screening a variety of systems during your annual wellness check up - like colds, strep throat, ear infection, urinary tract infection, vaccinations, rashes, and more. 

They can determine if your back, neck, or shoulder pain is mechanical (musculoskeletal, movement system) or non-mechanical (referring from something going on internally from infection, organ, etc).  From there they would refer you out for treatment, to a specialist if your problem is non-mechanical, or hopefully to a PT if it is mechanical.

Doctors of Physical Therapy can also determine if your pain issue is mechanical (movement system) or non-mechanical (not movement related) in nature. If it is mechanical, treatment starts right away, usually in your first appointment, or if its non-mechanical we will recommend a different specialist.

So when you have an infection or other internal or skin symptoms, go and see your primary care physician. If you know you don’t have an infection, and your issue feels movement related, go ahead and see a PT first. (It’ll save you time.)

What will your primary care MD do for your pain?

When your pain is mechanical or movement related, what your primary care can do for you is prescribe some medicines (muscle relaxers, prescription NSAIDs, topical creams, etc). These may not truly help the source of pain, and in many cases act like a bandaid, only “taking the edge off” according to most of my patients.

The other thing they can do is refer you to the next best person (triage).  For musculoskeletal (mechanical) conditions and movement conditions, you should be referred to a physical therapist.

Getting a referral to an orthopedist first is going to waste your time in most cases. (strong opinion I know, and not always a waste, but I do believe it shouldn’t be the first place you go most of the time.)

Dr. Stubbs educates how this ankle exercise with a resistance band will help their pain and weakness.

What happens when you see a Physical Therapist?

In your first physical therapy visit, the therapist will assess your pain and movement abilities to identify the source of pain, to then start treatments that same day. You will either start feeling better by the end of that appointment, or you will leave more confident about what’s causing your pain and with a small plan to begin to feel better in the next week. The therapist will schedule follow up appointments with you at the frequency needed based on your scenario.

Physical therapists utilize treatments like targeted activation or strengthening exercises, hands-on techniques, gentle pain-free movements, education on what to do to best promote healing with your condition, and additional guidance on relaxation, stress-relief, sleep, and other whole-body wellness behaviors that can help your pain and movement.

Many patients have said they wished they could have seen a physical therapist sooner, because they either immediately had relief or began to feel better with the exercises instructed in their first appointment. They say they wished they had known to do those things much sooner. And why didn’t anyone tell them? Well, because, we are the movement sytem expert. So come see us as soon as you have an issue!

** If you don’t get better with a solid effort treatment plan with your physical therapist, then your physical therapist, and your primary care can recommend and refer you to an orthopedist, neurologist, or other system expert who is most appropriate. 

It’s logical. It’s simple.

When you have a movement related problem, you should see a movement system expert, a physical therapist. 

Dr. Stubbs assesses squat mechanics and form with a patient to understand their symptoms and movement to make recommendations.

If you’re still not quite convinced who you should see first for your movement problem, then I recommend this:

Call and schedule two appointments - one with a physical therapist and one with your primary care. 

That way, you’ll feel better faster, and if you need an orthopedic referral, you may save time getting one by having already seen your primary care physician.

If your insurance doesn’t require a referral from your primary to see a specialist (orthopedist and physical therapist), then you save a copay and your time by not scheduling an appointment with your primary care.

In most cases in NC and VA, a physical therapist can see you at least once before you ever see your primary care to get a referral. 

Dr. Stubbs provides a technique that significantly improved neck tightness and mobility for this patient in one appointmment.

Why choose Stubbs Mobile Physical Therapy?

My personal goal in your first visit is to find a treatment that has you feeling some degree better that day. And/or you leave with a working plan for you to do at home, to start the process toward feeling better. 

We go to you - saving you from driving and waiting, thats time & stress saved. With sessions in your space, not only do you feel more comfortable, but you don’t have to worry about figuring out how to do the exercises you learned in the clinic at your home. We only use exercises that will work in your space and in your life. Consistently performed movements often lead to the best results, and translating to home what you did at the clinic should not be a barrier to your success.

Full Hour One on One with your physical therapist. This isn’t offered at most outpatient clinics, typically there is some overlap with other patients. And sometimes you see a physical therapist assistant, a student, or an aide during the bulk of your session due to insurance & scheduling. If you wish you had more time with your PT, we are for you!

Communicate directly with your physical therapist between sessions. It’s not typical to be able to message your doctor between appointments, but you can reach out with questions or get accountability with doing your exercises anytime.

Effective & Flexible Scheduling: Ever felt like a PT session that you paid a co-pay for could’ve been a short phone or video call? All you needed was the verbal check in, none of the exercises changed - yep, we get it! We also offer short 30 min telehealth sessions if there’s a couple questions, a couple movements to confirm, and 1-2 new exercises to teach. Saving you time and money!

Work from home, parent at home? Schedule your sessions easily between meetings and errands without all the lost driving time. Don’t want to have to haul your kids to the clinic with you? You don’t have to!

Most of my patients kick themselves for not coming to see me sooner. 

Learn from them.

Learn from their wasted time in pain.

Learn from their mistakes. 

Choose better for you. See a physical therapist early.

Get started today.

Not located in the Richmond, VA area? Find a physical therapist here. 
Telehealth options available to NC (and many other states) - inquire above.