Hello friends! I was driving home one day with my boyfriend and was telling him about a patient that has a whole new outlook on life after going through PT for her pain. When she came into the room for the evaluation, she looked upset. She couldn’t sit still in her seat and was unable to look me in the eye for a few minutes. After asking her about her low back pain and other symptoms, she finally told me: “I’ve tried everything and gone to every doctor. I don’t think physical therapy is going to help, but at this point, I’m willing to try anything.” After extensive patient education and about 2 weeks of physical therapy, I was working on another patient in the clinic when I saw her come in. I didn’t even recognize her – she had a little “pep in her step” with the biggest smile on her face. “How are you doing?” I asked. “For the first time in years, I didn’t wake up with pain!” she exclaimed loudly. This was one of many moments that I remember clearly during my first year as a PT. We have the power to change people’s lives – we don’t deal with life or death like surgeons do, but helping someone’s quality of life can be just as important.
I realized that so many people are impacted by physical therapy in ways that are more than just a reduction in the 0-10 pain scale. Physical pain is closely associated with mental health and emotional stress – helping with physical pain and movement dysfunction can also improve mood, quality of life, and overall health.
I know that the general public only has a vague perception of what PT is – they either heard about it from family/friends or they were told to go to PT from their doctor. Unfortunately, I’ve heard many stories from patients who were resigned to living with their pain without realizing there are healthcare professionals who can help them achieve their goals without invasive operations or dependency on drugs. To patients reading this, I hope you’ll recognize the potential of physical therapy as an effective, holistic treatment strategy so that you can be a better advocate for your physical and mental well-being. To physical therapists reading this, I hope you can remember the profound influence you have on your patient’s life – you can do so much more than just increase ROM, improve MMT scores, and influence someone’s gait.
Stories with a DPT will be used to tell anonymous anecdotes of yourself or someone you know who has been positively affected by physical therapy in a way that was more than just increasing mobility or improving muscle strength. Physical therapists and physical therapy students are also welcome to submit stories – we see so many lives changed, so sharing our stories with the world can also help others get the help they need. With this page, I want to highlight stories portraying the beneficial, positive, and inspiring moments that physical therapy can bring. Through this, I hope to motivate both patients and therapists to work towards a patient-provider relationship that goes beyond treating physical impairments to embrace the empathy, compassion, and collaboration that should be essential in healthcare.
Stories coming soon!
Announcement will be made on Instagram and in the email newsletter when stories will be published!