Physical therapy can be just what you need to overcome an injury or put your pain in the past, but many people are slow to connect with a physical therapist because they believe the rehabilitation process may be painful. As we touched on in this blog, physical therapy should never be painful, but don’t be surprised if your physical therapist regularly asks about pain and discomfort. Why are we so interested in your pain levels? We explain why your physical therapist will be asking about your pain levels in today’s blog.
Pain Expectations And Physical Therapy
There is the misconception that physical therapy is painful, but make no mistake, a good physical therapy program will not be comfortable. Physical therapy is designed to push you out of your comfort zone so that you can make the biggest functional improvements. That said, it’s not always easy to walk the line between normal discomfort and abnormal pain caused by your rehab.
Because of this, you can expect that your physical therapist will regularly ask about your pain and discomfort, and they’ll also talk to you about learning how to tell the difference between the two. It’s normal to feel some soreness later in the day or the next morning when you roll out of bed, but there are some signs that pain may be problematic. If you’re experiencing any of the following, let your physical therapist know:
- Pain that increases instead of decreases over time.
- Pain in a new area.
- Loss of functional range of motion.
In order to get the most out of your physical therapy sessions, and in order for your physical therapist to be able to set you up with the right program for your needs, it’s imperative that you regularly have open conversations about your pain and discomfort before, during and after your PT exercises. Effective communication is key, especially because pain is so unique to the individual. We expect patients to respond differently to their discomfort, and we use this information to adjust routines or to push patients to make even more progress because they aren’t out of their comfort zone yet. We’re going to be regularly asking about your discomfort because it allows us to help you become the strongest and healthiest version of yourself.
If you’re worried about being overloaded with uncomfortable exercises in your first session, don’t be. First sessions typically consist of baseline testing and functional evaluations. We want to see how your body moves and what type of stresses it can handle before we tailor a PT program to your specific needs. If things are too uncomfortable, we’ll scale them back as we see fit, but we’re going to try to get the most out of you, and that may lead to some soreness.
So remember, physical therapy will not be a walk in the park, but when done correctly, it will help to treat pain and discomfort on a long-term basis by making you stronger, stabilizing key structures and protecting soft tissues as they heal. Let us help you make pain a thing of the past by helping you overcome an injury or recover from surgery. For more information, or to set up your first appointment with a physical therapist, reach out to the team at OrthoRehab Specialists 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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