Have you ever wondered what goes on in the mind of your Physical Therapist? What do they really want to know? Are you telling them too much or not enough? Are you sharing the right information with them to get the most out of your care experience? We’ve asked our team of therapists to share what’s on their mind and what they really want and need to hear from their patients – you might be surprised!
I wish patients shared more about their lifestyle and diet outside of PT since nutrition and activities can have a big impact on patient progress and recovery
I always want to know and wish more patients would tell me more about how their condition is really affecting their whole life (not just physical). I like to treat the patient as a whole and fears/anxiety/emotions play a large role in that. It’s not considered “complaining” or “isn’t important.” It is actually very important in making great progress.
1- that it’s a lot of work but worth it. If you are told to do something or not do something, there’s a reason – if you don’t understand, ask your PT!
2- home exercises are assigned for a reason and doing them REALLY DOES help.
3- if something doesn’t feel like it’s working, please tell your PT, we only want to help you.
I would love if all my patients shared what they are most concerned about (seems simple but sometimes the real concern hides behind the current problem!), what they’ve been told already or looked up themselves about what they are experiencing, what community support or community stressors they have to deal with (I say stressors for all of the social interactions our patients have concerning their current problem that is negative or detrimental)
What I always want them to share is their honesty because misleading me does not help either one of us.
I always want to know if a patient is having soreness or pain with an exercise in the clinic or at home. Surprisingly in most cases it’s NOT a no pain no gain situation, so I want to know about pain in order to make changes to our treatment
The biggest one for me is that they did their HEP. When patients come back to their next session with questions on their HEP, that tells me that they are compliant with it for sure. Another would be if there is something impeding their progress with rehab, like ongoing stress or pain.
The biggest one for me is that they did their HEP and that tells me that they are compliant.
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