Who is a physical therapist?
A physical therapist is a healthcare professional focusing on pain management, restoring mobility or movement function, and preventing disability. They evaluate and treat people with restricted movements caused by injury, disease, pain, overuse of tendons and muscles, surgery, or loss of a body part.
Physical therapists may have private practices or work in hospitals, home health agencies, outpatient clinics, nursing homes, work settings, schools, and sports and fitness facilities. They offer cost-effective treatment, and their efforts often help patients avoid medication and even surgery.
Education and training of physical therapists
Aspiring physical therapists must complete a bachelor's degree in biology, chemistry, and mathematics. They then enroll in a three-year physical therapy program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education to earn a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree.
Here, students study courses such as clinical reasoning, biomechanics, behavioral sciences, kinesiology, and neuroscience, focusing on pathology, the musculoskeletal system, pharmacology, and ethics. Around 80% of the program involves classroom and laboratory work, while 20% focuses on clinical education. They typically gain about 27 weeks of clinical experience throughout their degree.
Some programs offer a 3+3 curriculum, including three years of physical therapy pre-professional courses and a three-year DPT program. Physical therapists must also clear a state-level licensure examination before beginning practice.
What are a few of the ailments that physical therapists treat?
Physical therapy is a non-invasive rehabilitative discipline that improves your health, way, and quality of life. It is a combination of therapies that includes stretching, massage, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), and specific exercises.
Because of various treatments, the list of conditions treated by a physical therapist is extensive. It includes neurological disorders such as Huntington's disease and Parkinson's disease, genetic or musculoskeletal disorders, sports injuries, or typical issues such as dizziness, headaches, and back and neck pain. They can also treat various spinal conditions, such as degenerative disc disorder, herniated discs, spinal stenosis, scoliosis, sacroiliitis, and sciatica. Physical therapy can also help manage other diseases such as arthritis, muscular dystrophy, osteoporosis, obesity, cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome, and carpal tunnel syndrome.
What kind of treatments do physical therapists recommend?
Physical therapists generally prepare an individualized treatment plan of stretches and other exercises to improve mobility. They also use hands-on techniques, heat and cold treatment, massages, and aqua therapy and prescribe equipment such as wheelchairs, walkers, canes, or crutches. They may even recommend using orthotics, such as braces and splints, or prosthetics, such as artificial limbs. Physical therapists often combine two or more therapies for the best results.
What should you expect during their first visit to a physical therapist?
If your primary care physician or another specialist deems it necessary, they might direct you to consult a physical therapist. For individuals under 18, a guardian accompanies them to facilitate assistance with the prescribed home exercises.
During the first visit, the therapist will look at any notes made by the referring physician and inquire about your symptoms and pain. You'll need to rate your pain from one to ten. Further, they will look at the list of your mediation and reports, if any, to understand the problem better.
The therapist will then conduct a physical examination and ask you to stand and move about. They will make you do specific tasks to check your range of motion. Wear loose-fitting clothes to move your limbs freely. Once they diagnose the issue, the therapist will prepare a treatment plan of exercises you can regularly perform at home and explain how you should perform them. They may also recommend massages, heat and cold treatment, or other therapies.
You may have to revisit the physical therapist so that they can monitor your progress. If you feel any pain while performing the movements, you should inform the therapist so that they can change or modify them accordingly. Not informing them about the pain may further worsen your condition. You must be patient, as physical therapy can take more than one session to show results. While some patients work with a physical therapist for a short duration, others may need continuing treatment from a week to months, depending on the problem.
Chiropractors vs. physical therapists
Both chiropractors and physical therapists are licensed professionals who treat and manage chronic body pain, stiffness, and discomfort via diverse treatment methods. They aim to improve patients' flexibility and mobility through a personalized plan after assessing their needs, injury type, and body ailment. While both are qualified for treating and co-treating a broad spectrum of diseases and health issues, their technique and perspectives may vary.
A chiropractor focuses on the musculoskeletal and nervous systems, including joints, muscles, tendons, and functions. They emphasize spinal and bone alignment and manipulation to alleviate pain and inflammation. After evaluating symptoms, they may recommend massages, lifestyle, and dietary changes. In contrast, a physical therapist focuses on restoring mobility, strength, and functioning of the body and managing pain and discomfort in ill or injured patients after thorough evaluation and diagnosis. They design a treatment plan based on postures, exercises, and stretches as an alternate form of treatment.
How can you find a physical therapist near you in Santa Monica, CA?
A physical therapist can assist you in quickly returning to your regular activities and guard against further damage to your body. They are masters at improving your health and regaining your range of motion.
Finding a competent physical therapist, however, can be difficult. Zocdoc can help you locate some of Santa Monica, California's best physical therapists near you within minutes. You can begin by entering details like your location, symptoms, the specialist you seek, preferred appointment date, etc. Zocdoc will list top-rated providers based on your entered criteria. You can use filters to narrow these results based on their gender, languages they speak, hospital affiliations, and whether or not they treat children.
Zocdoc maintains detailed profiles of each healthcare professional in its vast database. These profiles provide essential information about their education and training history, office location, credentials, licensure, awards, and board certifications. You can also access verified reviews and ratings by previous patients treated by the provider to help you make an informed decision.
Once you have picked the best-suited physical therapist near you for your needs and requirements, Zocdoc will help you instantly schedule a virtual or in-person appointment based on their availability. Just look for a purple video icon on the profiles of therapists who allow such online consultations.
All bookings on Zocdoc are easy, secure, and free.
Statistics on physical therapists in California and the conditions they treat
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 23,840 physical therapists worked in California as of May 2021.
Physical therapists can help manage pain and movement disability from chronic conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, and obesity. According to America's Health Rankings, about 20.1% of adults in California were diagnosed with some form of arthritis in 2021. The condition's incidence increased with age, with 46.8% of those over 65 having arthritis. The percentage was lower in those aged 18 to 44 (6.2%) and those aged 45 to 64 (24.4%). Women (23.8%) had a higher prevalence of arthritis than men (16.3%) in the state.
Further, in 2021, about 11.6% of adults in California had diabetes, excluding prediabetes and gestational diabetes, which was higher than the national average of 10.9%. Women (11.7%) were more likely to have diabetes than men (11.5%). The condition's incidence also increased with age, with 23.5% of those over 65 having diabetes compared to only 16% aged 45 to 64 and 3.8% aged 18 to 44.
Sources
Renew Accident & Injury Chiropractic Clinic
XO Physical Therapy
ExploreHealthCareers.org
Johns Hopkins Medicine
WebMD
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
America’s Health Rankings[1]
America’s Health Rankings[2]
