Physical Therapy is Essential to Preventative Health-Care
How Physical Therapy is fast-becoming
known for annual check-ups to maintain good health and lower the cost of
personal health-care.
The title of this article may come
as a surprise to most people since statistics point to the fact that most think
physical therapy is solely about rehabilitation from injuries and chronic
illness. Very few individuals think of
physical therapy in terms of achieving overall health and well being through a
holistic approach.
The American Physical Therapy
Association (APTA) recommends that everyone should make a point of visiting a
physical therapist along with their annual visit to a physician. This recommendation is the result of a recent
APTA study that found a significant increase in physical inactivity in a high
percentage of Americans.
The House of Representatives
recently recommended physical therapy to help reverse the high percentage of
obese individuals and to encourage Americans to maintain health and wellness
programs that will help them to enjoy a higher quality of life while increasing
longevity.
Physical Therapist vs. Physician
You are probably asking yourself,
“Why do I need two different appointments?” For one thing, the above facts
point to the significance of making an appointment with your physical therapist
in addition to your regular physician.
Why? Because a physical therapist
can do a health evaluation of your nervous system, musculoskeletal status,
cardiovascular and pulmonary health, and then recommend a customized holistic
approach that will benefit your health over the long term.
Seeing a physical therapist in
tandem with seeing your physician may help you to treat some of your health
conditions holistically before having to resort to drugs. This accomplishes two things: 1) You save money on the high cost of
prescriptions and, 2) A visit to your physical therapist is a low-cost solution
to the soaring costs of health care because they can help you troubleshoot
health issues before they develop into a serious condition.
Other Benefits of Paying an Annual Visit to a Physical Therapist
After completing an evaluation a
physical therapist can recommend a personalized program that will address any
weaknesses found in the evaluation as well as some of the health concerns you
discuss with your physical therapist.
The physical therapist will then help you put together a customized plan
during your annual check-up which he will implement throughout the year.
During the year the physical
therapist will motivate you to stay with the plan and make any necessary
changes during the course of the year.
Some physical therapy practices also have several different programs
that are incremental to motivate the individual to set goals for better levels
of health and wellness while decreasing the chances of future injuries that
cause mobility problems as you age.
And…how about reversing the aging
process? Everyone wants to do that! Not
to mention preventing serious health issues that can lead to surgery and
medications which can potentially cause further complications. If you are participating in a long term
health and fitness plan with someone guiding you, you will be less likely to
collapse into that easy chair at the end of the day.
As you can see there are many
benefits to scheduling an annual visit to your physical therapist. You have nothing to lose except increased
energy, well being, and the benefits of living a longer life and being able to
enjoy it.
