At Restorative Therapy Co, we value the important relationship we have with you and the trust you place in us.
Below, we would like to introduce you to our Top 5 Treatment Strategies at RTC and how they positively affect patient outcomes.
Please check out our website for additional information on our offerings and to get to know our team better.
Restorative Therapy Company’s Top 5 Treatment Strategies:
1. Active Listening: Simply put - we pay attention to our patients.
We give each of our patients a full hour of our time, but what we do with that time is more important than just being available. We fully concentrate on, engage in, and absorb what our patients tell us. We ask, without interrupting, related questions for clarification. We use active listening to gain the trust of our patients, understand their issues and the impact on their lives, and formulate a solution with them that is right for their needs.
2. Patient Education: As physical therapists, we understand that our patients need to understand why they are in pain or having trouble performing tasks that they previously could do without second thought.
If a patient is asked to do an exercise that they don’t understand the importance or purpose of, or are asked to interpret medical jargon during an evaluation that is difficult to grasp, there will likely be little to no buy in with the rehab process. This means the likelihood of them improving is slim.
We help our patients understand, usually with relatable metaphors, that we process a series of inputs and outputs and that pain is an output of the brain in relation to a perceived threat. Each visit we will review pain science education, postural education, activity modification education etc. in useful little nuggets or clinical pearls that will specifically help them in their situation. Patients are always asked to follow the stop light rule when determining if an activity is ok to perform or attempting to progress an exercise.
Each visit we will also review prognosis, timeline of goals/tweaks to goals, purpose of treatments and prescribe a HEP that appeals to their motivations.
3. Manual Therapy to Mitigate Pain: A high percentage of our patients will receive manual therapy which may include or combine dry needling, cupping, IASTM, and joint manipulation/mobilization as part of their treatment plan.
These treatments are incredibly valuable to us and to our patients but are not used to “fix” patients. Manual therapy is utilized to open a window of opportunity for improved movement in a threat free environment which allows the patient to perform a structured, corrective and progressive HEP and meaningful ADLs pain free. The goal in most cases is to eventually graduate to progressive loading exercises to strengthen tissue. Successfully and progressively loading the tissue(s) at fault will keep the window open. Manual treatments are used more often in the earlier phases of rehab but are also used in chronic conditions where flare ups are common in order to decrease tissue sensitivity, perception of stretch during mobility work, and to dissociate from learned response to threat.
4. Movement as a Form of Medicine: Exercise and movement is good for us. We all know that.
In fact, Pederson et al. found that 26 different chronic musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, metabolic, psychiatric, and neurological conditions have all shown benefits when prescribed exercise therapy- and specific recommendations about type and dosage of exercise are highlighted. But movement is also a great way to mitigate pain which is something that our patients are frequently educated on (see number 2 above), especially when fear avoidance or kinesiophobia exist. Repeated motions that are loaded at end range and isometrics are used to load/activate mechanoreceptors in a safe way to mitigate threat. Tissues will adapt over time to repeated loading and graded exposure which will then allow a patient to resume meaningful activity without increasing discomfort.
5. Continued Wellness: At Restorative Therapy Company, progressing function does not stop at physical therapy discharge.
We attempt to encourage and empower every patient to get involved in a lifelong form of exercise, functional fitness, or independent therapeutic activity to reduce reinjury rates, but more importantly, to improve an overall sense of well-being.
If you are in pain or know someone who would benefit from our approach, call 757-578-2958 or visit www.restorativetherapyco.com today! Thank you for reading and feel free to share.
Contributed by Andrew Lantz, PT, DPT, OCS, CSCS, CMTPT