The Best Time to See a Physical Therapist

Body pain can be experienced by all types of people, whether they are hard working individuals or couch potatoes who stay home all day and watch television. Luckily, Physical Therapist (PT) are present to help manage these problems. There are a wide variety of Physical Therapists that specialize in different fields like cardiopulmonary, geriatrics, orthopedic, and other classes of care. As a patient looking for care, it would be easy to find which type of physical therapist to seek help from because of these specializations. However, a common question usually asked by those who are in search of therapy is: what would be the best time to see a physical therapist?

This question is similar to that of when the best time to get a check-up is, and the answer is as early as possible. An important theory of medicine is that preventive care is better than curative care, meaning preventing a disease is better than curing one. This same theory can be used with physical therapy as well. It is important to see a physical therapist once acute body pain begins to try to prevent it from becoming a chronic problem. Once a problem becomes normally chronic, it would obviously be harder to get rid of it. It can also save a lot of money to seek early treatment, since treating a minor problem would call for less therapy time and therefore fewer expenses.

For some problems, physical therapy can prevent the need for corrective surgery. This is a huge advantage in seeking physical therapy as early as possible. The main advantage is the amount of money being saved when choosing to take therapeutic exercise. If physical therapy is used, extra expenses would not have to be spent on medication or possible surgery. Another advantage is avoiding the risk involved with going under the knife. Although the surgery may be a minor one, there is always a chance of something going wrong during the procedure and having a bigger problem afterwards can indeed be inevitable.

Lastly, and probably the most fulfilling benefit, is the satisfaction of recovering from an injury or problem on one's own accord. By learning exercises to cure the current problem, one can also use those same exercises to prevent future recurrences. It is also interesting to note that physical therapy has been proven to not only heal, but also strengthen muscles and bones. This is one reason that athletes commonly resort to physical therapy after surgery to revitalize their strength.

The phrase "The early bird gets the worm" perfectly describes seeking physical therapy. Simply put, the best time to see a physical therapist is as early as possible. Numerous problems can be avoided by looking for preventive care rather than having to search for curative care in the future. Not only would problems be prevented, but plenty of money can be saved by treating them before they turn serious. It is also safe to say future problems can be avoided by continuing the therapeutic exercises learned from treatment.