Who Is a Physical Therapist?

Why Physiotherapists Are Necessary

Sometimes people get injured and they can quickly recover at home. They might tweak their ankle and after a day or two of resting, elevating and icing it, it goes back to normal as if it never happened before. Other times, they might sustain a worse injury or be suffering from a condition that prevents their mobility. It’s not quite as easy then. The doctor might tell them they have to go see a physical therapist.

This usually leads to the next question: “What is a physical therapist?” People might have a vague notion of what it entails, but nothing concrete. One thing that they are not is just a “gym trainer”, which is not a knock on that job at all – there are many top flight trainers out there. Physical therapists go deeper in this understanding of the human body.

Wonder no more. This will go quite in-depth in explaining what a physical therapist is and how they come about getting this job.

What Physical Therapists Do

The main thing that they do is work with patients who need to regain movement in body parts, whether those parts were affected by injury, surgery, or disease. They do this several ways  – education, exercise, and helping them move the affected area if needed. Patients can range in age from newborns to those in palliative care. Their needs can be attributed to disability, surgery, or an injury. They can also work with healthy people who want to take a preventative approach to avoid a future injury.

When a physical therapist sees a patient for the first time, they do a thorough examination and take a history of what caused the visit. Based on that, they use their intricate knowledge of the human body to construct a plan to get them back moving, help them manage their pain, prevent any disability, and restore function back to their body.

They come up with a plan and work with the patient through it. The whole time, they are recording the progress so they know what to adjust or leave alone as the sessions go by.

The Road To Becoming A Physiotherapist

Physical therapists undergo a lot of education to be able to practice. They go to an accredited school and get a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree. The governing body that does the accrediting is called the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE). People who are interested in becoming a physical therapist usually need to apply through the Physical Therapist Centralized Application Service.

When they are in school, it takes roughly three years or more. Some of the schools offer a program where the students are admitted as freshman undergraduates and they spend a total of seven years.  During that time, they study everything from biology to physiology to biomechanics to kinesiology. They are also taught things like communication and ethics and values.

They spend approximately 80% of their time in the classroom and labs while the other 20% is devoted to being out in the field and learning what it takes to be a physical therapist. After that, they do a year-long residence, where they get even more training.

After that, it’s a matter of becoming licensed in the state where they want to practice.  They must take the National Physical Therapy Examination. In New York, there is a fee for licensing. Physical therapists also never stop learning – the field is always changing – and they take continuing educational classes.

More Information On Physical Therapy

You can find physical therapists practicing in many different places. They may be set up in a hospital, clinics, schools, gyms, office sites, and even in nursing homes. They can also come to people’s homes to do a session there. It’s a field where there is almost always demand in whatever part of the country they are living in – and people of all ages can need them.

A good physical therapist can think quickly on their feet and come up with a customized plan for each patient. They know that each case is unusual and will react differently to an exercise than someone else. There is no one-size-fits-all regimen that will cover everyone. Another thing a good physical therapist likes is communication: they should be able to succinctly explain their thinking to their patient and be very flexible with the change and communication per se.

This is a field that will always be in demand, because the vast majority of people in New York are active and they like being out and about in the city or one of the boroughs. A physical therapist can help get back to doing that. They can also be quite helpful in terms of avoiding surgery, since the patient can strengthen the surrounding parts of the affected area.

The only real limitations of physical therapy might be in terms of cost and insurance. Some insurance companies might only allow the patient to have a very low number of physical therapy visits before being required to pay out of pocket, which can be quite costly. People might have to wait a bit before being reimbursed, too.

When it comes to hiring physical therapists to work at Empire Physical Medicine and Pain Management, Dr. Steven Moalemi only brings in the best. Come and see for yourself – there are two convenient locations: Midtown Manhattan and Wall Street. Call today to make an appointment: 646-665-7109.

Published By:
Empire Physical Medicine & Pain Management
7 W 45th St floor 9,
New York, NY 10036
Phone: (646) 665-7109
Website: https://manhattanpainrelief.com