By its very nature, physical therapy is supposed to be tough. Pushing your body out of its comfort zone is exactly what it needs to recover and improve following an injury or surgery, but it’s not always fun to push your body to where it’s uncomfortable. PT exercises won’t always be easy, but we promise you that if you push through the toughest aspects of your recovery that it will all be worth it in the end. With that said, we want to see what patients say is the toughest part of physical therapy and explain how we work to overcome these difficult aspects.
“Staying motivated to keep pursuing PT.”
For most patients, especially those overcoming major injuries or surgery, physical therapy is measured in weeks or months, so you’re going to get quite familiar with your clinic and your physical therapist. At times the process can seem to drag on, but know that the end is in sight. We work to make physical therapy feel less like a chore and more like a challenge that you want to meet. Every session is different as we work to challenge you in new ways so that you don’t get bored by the same routine. We can also help to establish short- and long-term goals so that you can find motivation in accomplishing the goals you’ve set for yourself.
“Finding time for my exercises.”
One point we reiterate to our clients, especially those who have been given home-based exercises to complete between sessions, is that you’re probably not going to “find time” throughout the day to do your PT program. Instead, you need to make time. Before you get out of bed, make a plan for doing your exercises that day and stick with it. Whether that means getting up a little earlier, doing them before bed or finishing your routine on your lunch break, be cognizant about carving out time specifically for your PT exercises. Doing them at the same time throughout the week can also help to establish a routine, which will make it easier to do your exercises as needed.
“Overcoming progress plateaus.”
You’re not going to recover at a steady trajectory throughout the course of your rehabilitation. Success in a PT program is oftentimes similar to that of a diet. You may make some big strides early in the process, but you may find it harder to keep improving as time goes on. It’s normal to experience a bit of a progress plateau during rehab, but don’t let that derail all the progress you’ve made. We are constantly assessing and reassessing your skills so that we can tailor a specific recovery routine to your current needs. This allows us to alter your program or adjust mid-session so that you can push your body out of its comfort zone to help it continue to make progress. These plateaus are more common in those who try to do a PT program on their own, but we know all the tricks to help you overcome them when you’re working with our team.
“Not stopping at good enough.”
Finally, we find that many people are content to stop pursuing physical therapy when they’ve reached the point of “good enough.” Their injured ankle may be good enough to walk on or they may have greatly reduced their headache frequency, but they haven’t yet made a full recovery. Settling for good enough can leave you at an elevated risk for recurrence or simply limit your full potential if you’re hoping to return to athletics or other activities where you want to be fully fit. You’ve made it this far, just keep going for a couple more sessions until you’ve been deemed to have made a complete recovery. We promise this extra 10 percent will be worth it.
Let us help you overcome the toughest parts of PT. For more information on how we can help you, or for assistance with a different part of your recovery program, give the team at OrthoRehab Specialists a call today at (612) 339-2041.
PT of Costa Rican National Soccer Team for 2007 World Cup in Victoria, CAN. Clinical Instructor for University of Minnesota Doctor of Physical Therapy Affiliations
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