Individual Treatment Plans
One of our unique advantages is our experience. We’ve seen thousands of patients over the last 40 years and each person is unique. While there are certainly best practices for certain diagnoses (which we definitely follow), patients are often in different stages of recovery and therefore, require different forms of rehabilitative care. That’s why we perform a thorough evaluation and create a specific treatment plan for each and every patient.
For example, a student-athlete with a torn rotator cuff won’t go through the same program as a senior who has a torn rotator cuff. Both have the same diagnosis but each have different limitations and goals. This is why we develop a custom plan of care for each patient we see.
Same Therapist Every Time
Seeing the same therapist each time helps maintain what we call in physical therapy, continuity of care. When you see the same therapist each visit, we know first-hand what your problems and the plan of care we’ve designed for you.
Contrast this to the big-box corporations and hospitals where you see an a different person each visit and often an assistant with a lower level of training. Seeing different people makes it much harder for the treating clinician to know where you are at in the recovery process, how hard they can push you, and your response to previous treatments. Seeing multiple people during your physical therapy experience is NOT optimal.
Treating People Not Problems
Just because you have a herniated disc on at CT test, arthritic looking disc in your neck, or torn labrum on MRI, doesn’t mean you have pain. Your diagnosis or problem is not reflective of your weakness, limited motion, or dysfunction. On the contrary, you can have what you may think is a serious diagnosis (for example, a degenerative disc), but no pain or limitations at all.
For this reason, we evaluate the entire individual – their range of motion, strength, coordination and balance, and functional limitations. Then as we said above, we create a custom program for the patient. Rehab protocols can help but at the end of the day, we treat you not just your problem.
