Who are physical therapists?
As licensed healthcare providers, physical therapists treat and manage people with injuries, disabilities, and musculoskeletal disorders — arthritis, back pain, Parkinson's disease, fractures, ankle sprains, neck pain, sports injuries, knee problems, and osteoporosis. Physical therapists are not doctors (MDs); therefore, they cannot prescribe medication or perform surgery.
However, they can examine patients and create exercise regimes, rehabilitative programs, and recovery plans that help restore function and increase the strength of the body part affected by the illness or injury. In addition, they also provide preventive care to avoid future injury and help manage symptoms resulting from chronic or long-term conditions like heart disease and diabetes.
Physical therapists train for over three years to earn a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree by enrolling in an accredited education program and passing a state licensure examination. They learn anatomy, cellular histology, physiology, neuroscience, pharmacology, pathology, behavioral sciences, biomechanics, and kinesiology through DPT courses. After graduation and gaining clinical exposure, some specialize in musculoskeletal issues, cardiovascular systems, oncology, neurology, pediatrics, orthopedics, or sports. They also become board-certified clinical specialists by passing an American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties exam.
What are some subspecialties of physical therapy?
The American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties (ABPTS) recognizes ten subspecialties that enable physical therapists to develop advanced knowledge and skills in specific practice areas. These subspecialties are as follows:
Cardiovascular and pulmonary physical therapy: This branch focuses on managing patients with heart or lung conditions, such as heart attacks, heart surgeries, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and asthma. Therapists employ exercise and breathing techniques to enhance cardiovascular endurance, respiratory function, and overall functional abilities. Their expertise helps patients improve their quality of life, regain independence, and reduce the risk of future cardiac or pulmonary events.
Clinical electrophysiology physical therapy: Clinical electrophysiology therapists specialize in treating neuromuscular and musculoskeletal conditions using electrophysical agents like electrical stimulation, ultrasound, and biofeedback. These modalities improve muscle function, promote tissue healing, and effectively manage pain, aiding post-surgical and nerve injury rehabilitation.
Geriatric physical therapy: With a growing aging population, the demand for geriatric physical therapists is increasing. They address age-related conditions, mobility challenges, and balance issues in older adults. Customized exercise programs designed by these therapists aim to improve strength, flexibility, and coordination, reducing the risk of falls and maintaining independence in daily activities.
Neurologic physical therapy: Neurologic therapists focus on helping patients with neurological disorders or injuries, such as stroke, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson's disease. Targeted rehabilitation interventions restore movement, balance, and coordination while providing pain management and overall support to enhance the patient's quality of life.
Orthopedic physical therapy: Orthopedic therapists treat musculoskeletal injuries and conditions, including fractures, joint replacements, and sprains. Manual therapy and therapeutic exercises promote healing and improve mobility, ensuring evidence-based and effective care for musculoskeletal issues.
Pediatric physical therapy: Pediatric therapists address the unique needs of infants, toddlers, and adolescents with developmental, neurological, or musculoskeletal disorders. Early intervention and therapeutic support help children achieve developmental milestones, improve motor skills, and enhance their overall physical function.
Sports physical therapy: This specialty involves evaluating and treating athletes with sports-related injuries. Sports therapists play a critical role in rehabilitation, performance enhancement, and injury prevention for athletes of all levels, enabling a safe return to sports and peak performance.
Women's health physical therapy: Women's health therapists provide specialized care for musculoskeletal issues related to pregnancy, postpartum recovery, pelvic pain, and pelvic floor dysfunction. Their interventions help women regain strength and comfort, particularly after childbirth or surgery, contributing to improved overall well-being.
Oncology physical therapy: Oncology therapists specialize in caring for individuals diagnosed with cancer, addressing the physical side effects of cancer treatments, managing pain, and helping patients maintain or improve their functional abilities. This subspecialty enhances the quality of life for individuals undergoing cancer treatment.
Wound management physical therapy: Wound management therapists focus on assessing and treating various types of wounds, especially those related to compromised circulation, diabetes, or traumatic injuries. Their expertise expedites wound healing, reduces infection risk, and prevents further complications, ensuring the well-being of patients.
How is a physical therapist different from a chiropractor?
Although physical therapy and chiropractic care require similar educational qualifications and have an identical scope of work — treating musculoskeletal conditions and using non-drug therapeutic techniques; their approach to treating a patient may differ slightly.
While physical therapy focuses on improving the entire body's mobility by recommending rehabilitative exercises and wellness techniques, chiropractic care involves adjusting to realign body parts with restricted motion due to injury or a degenerative disorder.
Chiropractors often focus on the treatment of the lower back and neck. On the other hand, a physical therapist can help patients recover more quickly from surgery by helping them with daily tasks like walking and climbing stairs and treating various other conditions.
You may find more similarities between the two professions than differences. So, while choosing between the two, you can consult your primary care physician, who may suggest a physical therapist near you or a chiropractor based on your ailment and its symptoms.
Physical therapist vs. occupational therapist
Physical therapists and occupational therapists are two types of healthcare professionals who assist individuals with improving their body's mobility. The primary difference between them is the type of therapy they provide.
Physical therapists typically treat a specific location or part of the body. An occupational therapist will help you overcome mental and social obstacles while strengthening or healing your physical body. You may simultaneously consult a physical and occupational therapist to manage distinct symptoms or aid your rehabilitation.
For example, if you suffered a spinal injury, physical therapy would help you restore the capacity to move your spine in all six directions while also relieving discomfort. Occupational therapy would assist you in resuming your everyday tasks, such as dressing yourself, cooking a meal, driving, and other activities.
What are some common physical therapy treatments?
Physical therapists may provide various treatment options depending on the severity of your condition. Most physical therapy treatments aim to improve the patient's quality of life by increasing the range of motion of an injured body part or one affected by a disorder. Hence, physical therapists may use a combination of two or more treatment methods. Some options include:
- Exercises: These help increase flexibility and range of motion. Some exercises require a patient to relax (passive activities), while others may necessitate pressure on a body part (active exercises). Typical physical therapy exercises include stretching, hip rotations, squats, balancing, and forward step-ups.
- Massage therapy: This includes using hands to apply pressure and release tension or stress in the affected body part. Some standard massage techniques include hot stone, lymphatic drainage, and trigger point.
- Heat or ice therapy: Both have different benefits and implementations. Heat therapy aims to increase blood circulation and flow to the affected region. Increased heat temperature also improves flexibility and soothes discomfort. In contrast, cryotherapy or cold therapy reduces blood flow to the injured body part. It helps reduce swelling and inflammation. Ice packs and massages on affected body parts help relieve pain.
- Kinesiology taping: Also known as K-tape, this includes adding extra support to muscles and joints using tapes. It helps retrain muscles that have lost their regular function and correct head and neck posture. K-tape can relieve pain, bruising, and swelling in the affected area.
- Ultrasound: Physical therapists use ultrasound, a deep heating treatment, to treat several musculoskeletal conditions, including strains, sprains, and tendonitis. During the procedure, they apply a small amount of gel on your skin. The gel helps your skin and muscles absorb the ultrasound waves from the machine. To transmit the waves, they gently press a wand (known as the sound head) against your skin and move it in small, circular sweeps near the affected area.
- Traction: Traction is used to treat lower back pain and neck pain. It helps reduce pain and improve spinal mobility. Traction treatment can be of three types:
- Lumbar traction: Your provider will strap you into a machine for the procedure
- Cervical traction: This technique is applied when you are sitting or lying down
- Supine (lying) traction: For this, your provider will ask you to lie down, attach a specific device to your forehead, and provide traction force to your neck using a pneumatic pump
- Iontophoresis: Physical therapists use iontophoresis, a type of electrical stimulation, to deliver medication across your skin to injured or inflamed tissues. Typically, physical therapists use a steroid like dexamethasone for this procedure. This steroid can help reduce tissue pain and swelling.
- Joint mobilization: Joint mobilization can help reduce pain and improve mobility. During this procedure, your physical therapist passively moves certain joints of your body in specific directions. Additionally, they can teach you self-mobilization techniques, helping you manage your conditions and prevent future complications.
- Laser or light therapy: Laser therapy is a painless treatment that lasts 1-3 minutes. Your healthcare provider uses a light-emitting wand directly over your injured body part during the procedure. The wand casts light at a specific wavelength to improve the healing process of injured tissues. Laser therapy can help treat inflammation, chronic pain, and certain wounds.
How do you prepare for your first physical therapy appointment?
Your first appointment will include a brief examination to help your P.T. determine what impairments you may have. This will help them create the best treatment strategy for your specific condition. When planning to visit a physical therapist for the first time, list the most important details related to your problem. Writing things down reduces the likelihood of forgetting or missing essential information you must communicate.
You can expect your P.T. to ask the following questions:
- When and how did your problem start?
- How well could you perform daily tasks such as stair climbing or grocery shopping before your injury?
- How frequently do the symptoms recur?
- How is this problem developing?
- What makes the situation better or worse?
Bring a list of your medications, as some of them may cause cold sensitivity, heat sensitivity, or photosensitivity, which could affect your therapy. You will also need to inform your P.T. about any chronic health concerns, surgeries, or procedures you have had.
Finding a top-rated physical therapist near you in Boston
Pain from overuse, sickness, or untreated injuries often leads to long-term impairment. Hence, you should consult a physical therapist for muscle pain, poor posture, difficulty walking, climbing stairs, or keeping balance. However, finding an experienced physical therapist in Boston can be time-consuming and challenging, but not anymore.
Zocdoc provides a simple way of finding qualified healthcare professionals from your home within just a few minutes. Visit the Zocdoc website and enter your condition or symptom, location, and the date you wish to see a physical therapist in the search bar.
Once done, a list of top-rated physical therapists will appear that you can further narrow down based on gender, time, hospital affiliation, languages spoken, distance, and whether a provider treats children. Additionally, to only see in-network providers, enter your insurance carrier and plan in the search bar from the drop-down menu.
While you can add medical, dental, and vision insurance plans to your Zocdoc account, you can only search for and schedule an appointment with one insurance plan at a time. In case you have multiple plans, you can mention your secondary insurance plan and carrier in your notes for the provider in the last step of the booking process. If your provider uses Zocdoc’s intake forms, you can add details about your secondary insurance while filling out your forms online. For more insurance-related queries, check Zocdoc's patient help center.
Moreover, Zocdoc lists each healthcare provider's educational background, medical training, clinical experience, certifications, licenses, awards, accreditations, etc., on the doctor profiles to assist you in making the right decision. You can also read through honest and verified patient reviews. After finding a good physical therapist near you, book an in-person or virtual appointment— 24 hours in advance, on the same day, after 5 pm, or even on the weekends, depending on the chosen provider's availability.
All bookings on Zocdoc are fast, free, and secure!
Statistics for conditions treated by physical therapists in Massachusetts
According to the 2021 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Massachusetts employs nearly 7,420 physical therapists, significantly higher than neighboring states — New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH, metropolitan area employs the fifth-highest number of physical therapists (about 5,700) in the United States.
Data collated by an indicator report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2015-2020) shows that almost 21% of adults over 18 years in Massachusetts have arthritis. Of the total population, more females (about 23%) were diagnosed with arthritis than males (about 18.9%). Other illnesses, including diabetes, obesity, and heart disease, have also been linked to arthritis. In Massachusetts, approximately 27.5% of adults over 18 years with arthritis are obese. An estimated 27.5% have diabetes, and about 37.8% have heart disease.
Based on a recent (2015-2020) indicator report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2015, roughly 47.2% of adults in Massachusetts reported activity limitations, and around 25.8% suffered from severe joint pain due to doctor-diagnosed arthritis. In 2019, almost 35.1% of adults aged 18-64 faced work limitations due to arthritis. Overall, 23.7% of Massachusetts adults with arthritis performed little to no physical activity in 2020. It is also worth noting that only 15.5% of adults with arthritis took a class to learn how to manage arthritis symptoms.
The 2020 (CDC) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report estimates that nearly 9% of adults living in Massachusetts have mobility issues, i.e., they face severe difficulty walking and climbing stairs. Almost 6% cannot live independently and find it difficult to run errands alone, like visiting a doctor's office. Approximately 3% find caring for themselves at home challenging, i.e., they cannot bathe or dress. Adults in Massachusetts with disabilities are also more likely to suffer depression, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.
Sources
American Physical Therapy Association[1]
American Physical Therapy Association[2]
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science
Verywell Health[1]
Verywell Health[2]
Verywell Health[3]
Healthline[1]
Healthline[2]
CornellHealth
Stanford Medicine
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention[1]
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention[2]
Cleveland Clinic
Northwestern Medicine
