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People hate physical therapy because they feel powerless in the decision progress. Many people don't know what physical therapy is or what to expect. Many people don't know how much it will cost. Many people don't actively choose the physical therapist they work with.
This loss of control makes participating in physical therapy stressful. In this video I share some ideas that might help improve your physical therapy experience.
Visit our Blog: https://totaltherapysolutions.com/hate-physical-therapy/
About the author:
Hi, my name is Anthony (Tony) Maritato, PT. I am a licensed physical therapist and owner of Total Therapy Solutions. I have specialized in helping clients recover from total knee replacement surgery since 2002 and have created this video to help YOU.
Total Therapy Solutions
5900 Long Meadow Dr
Middletown, OH 45005
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0:00
Why do people hate physical therapy so much
0:03
So I saw that question posted on core and I thought this would be a great topic for a new video
0:08
If you guys don't know me, my name is Tony Maritado. I'm a licensed physical therapist
0:12
And basically when I see the question, why do people hate physical therapy so much
0:17
I don't think it's so much that they hate what physical therapy is supposed to do
0:21
Like everybody wants to feel better. Everybody wants to improve. Everybody wants to overcome the injury or whatever is bothering them
0:29
The challenge with physical therapy is the lack of control. You know, before I was a physical therapist, my mom developed frozen shoulder
0:38
That was my first introduction to physical therapy. She was a type 2 diabetic
0:43
She developed insidious onset frozen shoulder. And I had never even heard of physical therapy
0:50
But I still remember to this day, we had no idea who the therapist was going to be
0:56
We had no idea what she was going to be expected to do. going to be expected to do. We had no idea how much it was going to cost. And so we were sitting
1:04
in a situation where we were told, go do this thing, but we know nothing about it. And I think
1:10
that is the biggest frustration that drives that, you know, I hate physical therapy. It's not really
1:16
the PT. It's the lack of knowledge. It's the lack of control, the lack of being able to make
1:22
decisions for yourself. So briefly, I want to discuss each of those three topics
1:27
and maybe bring some information to the public, to the community here
1:32
So what is physical therapy? Ultimately, physical therapy is a service. The physical therapist is the licensed healthcare provider that delivers that service
1:42
There are countless different kinds of physical therapists So like I an outpatient orthopedic physical therapist I specialize in treating patients after total knee replacement But I have associates that focus on treating pediatric cases
1:57
treating children's. They could treat children in school, they could treat children in hospitals
2:02
I've got therapists who focus on neurologic conditions. So if a patient has a stroke or a brain injury
2:08
they're gonna work with those referrals. They're a certified hand therapist that specialize in anything
2:14
related to the hand, the fingers, they're involved in splinting and making devices
2:19
adaptive equipment, things like that. They're therapists that work with professional sports
2:24
teams. There are therapists that work in industrial work settings. The variety is huge, and
2:30
there's over 300,000 licensed physical therapists in the country that really treat everything
2:36
from birth to death, from, you know, orthopedic to neuro, almost every condition. So to
2:44
just say something is physical therapy. It's just too broad of a topic
2:49
The goal of the therapist is to really understand your situation, understand what's causing the problems
2:56
develop a program that will help achieve your goals. And that's an important component here
3:02
We're trying to achieve your goals. Now, the insurance company might have different goals
3:08
but we ultimately want to satisfy your goals. So that's the purpose
3:14
Number two, how much does it cost? Now there's a wide discrepancy on pricing
3:19
Most physical therapy is covered by insurance, but even within that, every insurance plan is gonna have a different deductible
3:27
co-pay co-insurance. You're gonna pay monthly premiums for your insurance. Depending on how much you utilized in a year the insurance might pay none of the cost of physical therapy It might pay all of the cost of physical therapy So each person would have to get a detailed report of exactly what their
3:46
insurance coverage is for physical therapy. But don't forget, there's also self-pay options
3:52
So we, myself, my family, we have a high deductible insurance policy. That means that we're going to
3:59
pay out of pocket based on the allowed amount. Sometimes it's more affordable for
4:03
for us to simply not use our insurance, negotiate a cash rate with the physical therapy provider
4:10
and just pay them directly. These are all situations that need to be addressed individually
4:16
but again, that contributes to the lack of knowledge and understanding. Most normal people
4:22
my wife, my husband, my mom, my dad, they're not going to know how to do these things. So I understand
4:29
that. I understand the frustration behind it. But I want you to know, if you go
4:33
to a hospital, if you go to a hospital website, hospitals in 2019 were required to start posting
4:39
their patient fees publicly. So you can see, but I'm warning you now, most hospitals are
4:46
charging three and four times higher rates than a private practice. That's just the way the
4:52
profession has evolved, but you can absolutely get direct pricing by calling the provider and asking
4:59
for it. So you want to know how much it's going to cost before you initiate
5:03
therapy services if cost is a concern. You want to know what to expect going into
5:09
the physical therapy provider, what they're going to expect you to do. And then finally
5:14
I would recommend you find out who the physical therapist is going to be. Who are you going
5:19
to be working with To simply show up show up at a clinic not knowing who your therapist is not knowing what they like not knowing their personality their idiosyncrasies that frustrating That fearful That increases the anxiety of the patient
5:33
which also increases the pain response. So I try to tell all of my patients, all of my family
5:39
all of my friends, don't just blindly go to any random therapist because you were told to go to
5:44
therapy. Talk to the therapist. Usually you can get a couple minutes over the phone
5:49
get a sense for who the therapist is, what's important to the therapist. Some patients want a more
5:55
militant, drill sergeant kind of therapist that's going to force them to do things they wouldn't do for
5:59
themselves. Other patients are going to respond better, more to a positive motivational therapist
6:07
who's really going to be there and be on your side. Some patients want more of a social aspect going to
6:13
therapy. Some patients just want to go get it done and get out of there as quickly as possible
6:17
So you want to be an active participant in this. I think the more you educate yourself, the more knowledge you have, the more control over the choices you can make
6:29
physical therapy all of a sudden becomes a much more enjoyable experience
6:33
So guys, if you have specific questions about physical therapy, if you've just been frustrated
6:38
maybe you had a bad experience, don't forget, you can always switch therapists
6:43
Within the same clinic, you can switch to a different therapist across different
6:47
clinic providers you can switch. I just had a patient recently switched from another therapy
6:53
clinic simply because our personalities matched a little better than what she was getting at the other
6:59
clinic. So guys, do not hesitate. Take control of the situation. It'll make the experience
7:06
far more enjoyable. And I would argue you're probably going to have a better outcome if you're more
7:11
involved in choosing the therapist you work with. I hope this was helpful. Subscribe to the channel
7:16
I'll catch you next time
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