So your Doctor has recommended Physical Therapy or maybe you have a friend or family member who praised their Physical Therapy experience and suggest you give it a try. What can you expect with your first visit and the visits that follow at Marquette Physical Therapy?
Initial Examination:
When you arrive for your first visit you will be greeted by our front desk staff who will have some brief paperwork for you to fill out in order for us to better treat you. Bring the following items with you:
- Insurance card
- Physician referral (referral is not required to be seen in the state of Kansas)
- Any protocols or reports that your physician has given you
- Remember to wear loose comfortable clothing that can expose the body part we will be treating.
You will be seen by an experienced licensed physical therapist; a physical therapist (PT) is a highly educated movement expert who can help to improve or restore mobility as well as decrease pain. During the evaluation your PT will ask you several questions about your injury or condition, medical history, and levels of function. Next, your PT will assess your injury by taking several measurements such as range of motion, strength, flexibility, and more! Your PT will then discuss their findings with you and inform you of their assessment and plan of action. As time permits, we are then able to move into treatment of your injury or condition. Based on your PT's assessment they will discuss the optimal number of visits per week to help you recover.
Follow up visits:
Visits following your evaluation will involve a variety of treatments based on your impairments. We value a balance between manual therapy, exercise, and modalities.
- Manual therapy is a hands-on technique that uses mobilizations of joints, muscles, and soft tissue. Manual therapy is used to decrease pain, increase motion, decrease swelling, and assists with muscle and soft tissue repair.
- At Marquette, we use the Graston Technique®. Graston tools are used to treat soft tissue restrictions as well as scar tissue in order to restore function, improve range of motion, and decrease pain.
- Several PT's at Marquette are also Dry Needle certified, and if necessary dry needing may be performed. Dry needling is performed with a thin filiform needle, which is placed into a trigger point in order to reduce pain or to improve range of motion.
- An exercise program that is appropriate for you and your recovery will be created by your PT. Exercises are meant to improve strength, balance, and flexibility based on your needs and injury.
- Modalities are also used to decrease pain, improve blood flow, promote healing, and reduce muscles spasms. Modalities may include the following: Ultrasound, electrical stimulation, cold laser, cold compression, as well as Kinesio Taping.
Your Physical Therapist will continually re-evaluate your progress with therapy and make adjustments to your plan of care in order to maximize your recovery. We will also communicate with your physician about your progress.
We have to work together:
We do our best to help you on your road to recovery, but recovery is a 2-way street in physical therapy. It is important for you as the patient to do the following:
- Keep your appointments by arriving on time and giving as much notice as possible when needing to reschedule.
- Maintain open communication with your PT: ask questions, tell us what is working and what is not.
- Complete your personalized home exercise program on a regular basis.
We look forward to working with you at Marquette Physical Therapy,
Michelle Claassen, DPT
