Power of Touch

As a performance physical therapist, I interact with high level individuals that value quality care to get them back to what they love as soon as possible. A common complaint in these individuals is that their physical therapy felt inadequate. The commonality with many of these individuals was their inadequate PT experience was related to lack of time with an actual PT.

Now look, I get it. I spent my first 5 years in the out-of-network 1-on-1 setting and my next 3 years in an in-network high volume setting. It’s incredibly difficult to provide patients the time for communication and hands-on care in the traditional in-network setting. However, I always made time to provide 10-20 minutes of manual therapy with clients. We have to remember that patients can and do most of their exercise on their own. With this in mind, why would I expect them to find it acceptable for them to do their exact same home program of self range of motion exercises during our session?

As PT’s, we have the opportunity to have so much influence on a client's return to function after injury. It’s imperative to the rehab process to develop the interpersonal relationship to understand their stresses, concerns, and goals. During the manual therapy portion of a session is a great time to develop this relationship and gain deeper insight into a clients needs.

Far and away, the number one reason people are dissatisfied with their PT, is they feel like they’re behind in their rehab because they didn’t get 1-on-1 or “hands on” PT that they thought they should. Many would follow with “I could do all this on my own at home” and would discontinue their PT. Which inevitably results in the client not attaining full functional recovery and thus having to return to PT down the road.

The reality is, there are very few clients that don’t need some form of manual therapy. Whether it be basic range of motion, soft tissue work, or manual resistance. The benefits of touch go beyond the obvious tactile cueing and sensory input. We can often sense or feel issues that we wouldn’t identify without putting our hands on our clients.

At Kaizen Performance Therapy we believe in building relationships, providing skilled manual therapy, and progressive strength programs. If this sounds like something you want, contact us today.