Many people view physical therapy as a short-term solution to jumpstart recovery, build strength, and achieve overall health. While it is a proven rehabilitative option, that is often only the first step. When combined with physical therapy informed wellness, it can be a helpful long-term option to help you live an active, independent, and pain free lifestyle. At EA, we are certainly physical therapy fanatics, but why exactly do we love it? We’ll do our best to sum it up in three reasons.
1. PT Promotes Overall Health & Wellness
As the trusty Webster’s Dictionary puts it, physical therapy is the treatment of disease, injury, or deformity by physical methods such as massage, heat treatment, and exercise rather than by drugs or surgery. This is an excellent definition; however, as licensed providers of physical therapy, we have dedicated our lives to focusing on the person in addition to the problem. That is why we developed the EA Way – a comprehensive program that begins with physical therapy and then transforms into physical therapy informed adaptive fitness and lifelong health and wellness.
To set everyone in our care up with the resources they need to be physically healthy, our team of professionals also focus on other aspects of life including nutrition, environment, emotions, mental health, and social wellness. Therefore, seeing a physical therapist is only the first step of the EA wellness journey. As the therapy progresses, visits with the physical therapist will become less frequent as the transition to working with our team of personal trainers occurs. Using the physical therapist’s guidance with our holistic approach to work with those seeking our support, our personal trainers can ensure that their commitment to physical therapy also promotes health and wellness in every aspect of their lives.
2. PT is an Intervention
Living with a complex medical condition or chronic pain can be debilitating. Often times, surgery and pain medication are options to provide relief, however, physical therapy is an important intervention to consider.
While there are several opioids available to help alleviate the pain, they often only mask the underlying problem. The CDC recommends choosing it in place of opioids in almost every scenario. It decreases many serious risks and complications caused by opioids including heart disease, diabetes, and depression.
In addition to being a drug free pain management option, it can also prevent or delay the need for surgery. Surgery might seem like the fastest solution to alleviate pain or injury; however, this is rarely the case as many surgeries include lengthy recovery. We recommend trying physical therapy before choosing surgery when possible. If surgery is necessary, it is beneficial to participate in pre- and post- physical therapy for a successful surgery and rehabilitation.
3. PT is Proven to Work
Meet Phyllis! She loves her family, being active, and enjoying life. She also has a history of living with chronic pain. After surgery, unsuccessful pain relief treatments, and months of sleepless nights, she started her journey at EA. With some guided support from our therapeutic health team, Phyllis committed to her therapy sessions and at-home maintenance plan. What does she love most about EA?
“I love the whole staff at EA. They are courteous, friendly, professional, and knowledgeable. They really listened when I told them about my problems.”
Physical therapy works and it’s a great starting point to achieving lifelong health and wellness. We love it, and we hope these reasons will make you love it, too. If you’re in need of support, take the next step and give us a call at 507-259-7570. Together, we will continue your wellness journey to move well, feel well, and live well. Learn more and stay up to date about EA happenings and offerings on Facebook and Instagram.