For athletes, playing sports is a way of life, it consumes much of the week and many of their friends are from the teams they play on. Missing practices and games can be extremely frustrating and the desire to get back to sport is the top priority. Finding the highest quality of care that’s the right fit for your sports injury can effectively get you feeling 100% faster. Find a physical therapist that understands what it means to be an athlete, this means they understand the physical demands of playing sports, including strength, movement and conditioning. In my opinion, a physical therapist working with athletes should be an active person themselves. This proves they have an understanding of exercises and in a sense “practices what they preach.” Would you want a dentist working on your teeth who didn’t have good teeth themselves?
Unfortunately, the majority of physical therapy clinics are insurance driven models, meaning their treatments are influenced by how much money they are reimbursed for each patient. This significantly decreases the quality of care because the therapists are required to see multiple patients an hour. In most standard physical therapy facilities, the therapist can spend a MAXIMUM of 30 minutes per patient and some as low as 10-15 minutes per patient. A higher quality of physical therapy exists which makes the patient the top priority. Here are a few things to look for when looking for the right type of care:
Find a physical therapist that understands the demands of sports
- Athletes are active beings so their therapy should equally be active as well. Being an athlete and playing sports requires certain physical demands including being strong enough and moving confidently. Regaining strength and confidence are keys to recovering from sports injuries.
- Properly prescribing exercises in my opinion is one of the most important aspects of recovering from a sports injury. Patients need to be given challenging exercises that specifically target their needs without over stressing the injury. Having a therapist that is knowledgeable of advanced exercises and understands how to modify exercises is a skill that is absolutely necessary for working with athletes.
- You should not be going to therapy and performing the same 6 – 8 exercises every session. I expect all of my recovering athletes to feel they were challenged during every treatment session.
- Resting is NOT the right answer for recovering athletes. While the intentions are good, training around the injury and gradually addressing the injury is the best solution. Resting for 3-4 weeks means that all the surrounding muscles get weaker while the athletes conditioning also gets worse. They are then told to try playing sports again because their SYMPTOMS have improved but the CAUSE of the injury was never properly addressed.
Find a physical therapist that offers one-on-one hour-long appointments
- Standard insurance clinics offer 15 – 30 minutes directly with the therapist and then time spent doing exercises with a technician. This means less time for the patient to properly provide a status update and ask all the questions they would like. Additionally, performing the right exercises is a skill and should be done with the therapist.
- Hour-long appointments are necessary as it allows the physical therapist to effectively take the patient through the entire course of treatment. This includes taking the time listening to the patient, explaining how to properly perform each exercise, modifying exercises as needed and safely challenging the patient each session.
- In order to offer hour-long appointments, many clinics are shifting to an out-of-network model which does not directly take insurance. As stated above, insurances dictate treatment which forces therapists to see 2-3 patients an hour.
- While the initial upfront cost may be higher, getting higher level effective care will get you better faster saving you time and money later on. Additionally, your insurance may cover a percentage of the upfront cost for out-of-network therapy.
Find a physical therapist who has access to the right facility and equipment
- I personally believe incorporating an athletes sport as frequently as possible into their recovery process is important for developing confidence. Athletes need to be able to move confidently while playing sports and not worrying about their injury.
- Finding a sports physical therapy facility that has open space to sprint, jump and cut can help an athlete smoothly transition back to sports. For example, if you injured your knee while performing a cutting motion in soccer, I would want to ensure you are 100% confident cutting before returning to sports.
- Additionally, having equipment that properly challenge athletes is necessary for full recovery from a sports injury. This equipment includes weights (heavy enough to actually get stronger), squat racks, sleds, medicine balls, physioballs, plyometric boxes, real cardio equipment (a recumbent bicycle doesn’t cut it) and TRX to name a few.
- Lastly, psychologically, being surrounded by athletes makes patients feel more at home because they see other athletes moving around which serves as added motivation. The right physical therapist understands all components of recovery including understanding that injuries are not only physically draining but can be emotionally draining as well.
- Google the words “physical therapy clinic,” you’ll see a general trend of a facility with several treatment tables (to see multiple patients), limited equipment and open space. This is far from ideal for an athlete looking to get back to playing sports at 100%.
If you’ve made it this far, I hope this sheds some light that you have a choice in finding a real sports physical therapist that can help you get better effectively. Do not settle for an average therapist but find one that takes the time to listen and address your personal needs for your injury. I do want to mention that I have many peers who work in insurance based and are great clinicians. At the end of the day, finding the right fit is key and recognizing that you deserve the highest level of care which definitely exists.
I personally specialize in sports rehabilitation and understand how to properly challenge athletes during their injuries. I previously spent time in the standard insurance model and now work for an out-of-network facility. I used to always find myself wanting to spend more time with my athletes but was forced to only spend 20-30 minutes due to my busy schedule. I am now able to spend an hour with every patient and work in a facility specifically designed for athletes. If you are in the Rockville, MD area and are dealing with a sports injury, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me via e-mail at WesleyWang.DPT@HealthyBaller.com. You can also check out my website at www.WesleyWangDPT.com.