With many options out there, why would you want to choose physical therapy, specifically GOfit Physical Therapy, over another discipline?
To answer this question, let’s first answer another question: What is physical therapy?
As a physical therapist I am now painfully aware that many people don’t really know what it is I do, or who exactly I work with.
When asked what physical therapy is, to those who have never experienced it, an image of an old lady working on her walking in parallel bars usually flashes in their head before they respond “don’t they work in nursing homes?'“
Yes, that is true, but working with geriatrics in a nursing home is only one specialty in the field of physical therapy.
Another common answer would be, “don’t they work with people after surgeries or injuries.”
Yes, again that is true, but it still is only a small part of the field of physical therapy.
There are a number of specialty areas in physical therapy including orthopedics, neurological, pediatrics, sports, geriatrics, and acute care. And there are specialties within specialties, like pediatric neurological physical therapy, spinal cord injury physical therapy, orthopedic manual physical therapy, acute care cardiac physical therapy, women’s health physical therapy, and lymphedema physical therapy just to name a few.
Much like the field of medicine, if there is a specialty patient population you can bet there are physical therapists devoted to the care of this group of people.
So, what do we specialize in?
The physical therapists at GOfit are fellowship-trained orthopedic manual physical therapists that specialize in treating active, athletic adults. That means we are a specialty within a specialty, within a specialty.
Most of the patient’s we see have specific activity goals in mind, whether that is running a 5k or marathon, participating in CrossFit, playing lacrosse, or hiking to name a few. However their goals are currently not being met as they are having pain or limitation with their activity. This could be for a variety of reasons from joint pain or muscle pain to possibly recovering from a surgery or serious injury.
As orthopedic manual physical therapists we are a bridge that serves to move a patient from their current state to their activity goals.
To accomplish this we identify and treat dysfunctions in the joints, muscles, and motor control system in order to allow a patient to progress towards their goals.
As fellowship-trained physical therapists we have a lot of tools in our treatment tool bags that range from joint mobilization and manipulation, dry needling, soft tissue mobilization, neuromuscular re-education, and scientific therapeutic exercise.
Why Choose GOfit Physical Therapy?
With so many treatment options that we can provide at GOfit, we are truly a holistic practice. Pain and limitation could be caused for a number of different reasons. We have the expertise to identify problem areas and then direct treatments to those specific areas. There is no one size fits all treatment approach to every patient we see.
We develop specific and targeted treatment plans that are individual to the unique needs and goals of a patient.
Two different patients with knee pain who want to run a 5k may have very different treatment plans because they may have very different causes of their pain and limitations.
Compared to other providers both in the physical therapy profession and in different disciplines, we afford the opportunity to look at a patient through a number of different lenses and provide unique and specific treatments to help patients achieve their goals.