Why Physical Therapy?​
Physical therapists are movement experts who team with physical therapist assistants to improve quality of life through hands-on care, patient education, and prescribed movement.(1)
Benefits of Physical Therapy
Specialized Care
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Get care that's specific to your goals, your body, and your lifestyle.
Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants help you maximize your movement, manage pain, avoid surgery and prescription drugs, manage chronic (long-term) conditions, and recover from and prevent injury.(2)
Maximize Your Movement
Physical therapists identify, diagnose, and treat movement problems. They help people maintain or restore as much function as possible. Physical function and movement are very important to:
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Health, wellness, and fitness.
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Managing pain.
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Earning a living.
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Independence.(3)
Avoid Surgery
Physical therapy helps to reduce the symptoms of many chronic diseases and conditions. It also can keep many problems from getting worse. Physical therapists can help you avoid the need for, and the costs and risks of, surgery.
Research shows that physical therapy is as effective as surgery for some conditions, including:
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Meniscal tears and knee osteoarthritis.
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Rotator cuff tears.
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Spinal stenosis.
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Degenerative disk disease.
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Before you have surgery, try physical therapy.
In some cases, surgery cannot be avoided. Physical therapy helps people prepare for and recover after surgery.(4)
Manage Pain and Avoid Opioids
While doctor-prescribed opioids are suitable for some cases, they only mask pain. Physical therapists help people manage pain without the risks of opioid use. Opioid risks include depression, substance use disorder, overdose, and withdrawal symptoms when stopping use.
To manage long-term pain, the CDC recommends safer options like physical therapy.(5)
Source: (1),(2),(3),(4),(5) Information for physical therapy consumers. The American Physical Therapy Association. http:www.apta.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Consumers/consumer1.html. Published November 2007. Accessed September 17, 2008.