I have pain, how do I know if I need PT?

If you are in pain, you may need PT! The best way to determine need is to have a physical therapy evaluation. During an evaluation, your therapist will ask you a detailed history of your pain. This could be a long complex history, or maybe it just started out of nowhere last week. Your PT well help to determine which facts are relevant and what may be contributing to your issue. Based on your history, and answers to questions the PT asks, the physical therapist will then decide what to evaluate. Most PT’s will look at posture in various positions, many times the differences in your posture in different positions can indicate different impairments. Your PT will also look at anatomical landmarks which can indicate abnormal pulls on the spine or joints…or maybe a leg length discrepancy you never knew you had! Your physical therapist will also assess the bread and butter of physical therapy which is your strength and range of motion. These last two will indicate if maybe an abnormal pull on your joints or limited stability is contributing to your pain. Often, PT’s will find more than one issue when assessing someone and THIS IS NORMAL! Your PT will discuss with you what they found, what the findings indicate in terms of a “diagnosis”, and then what that diagnosis means for you. Some clinics will also be able to treat you on your evaluation day. Treatment may consist of hands on therapy or some exercises, or maybe both.