Virtual Physical Therapy, Telerehab, Telehealth and Digital PT are some of the different names you may have heard recently to describe how you can still have access to Physical Therapy. All of these terms can be very confusing and lead to misinterpretation. In fact, most people don’t have a true understanding of what physical therapy is in the first place!
The purpose of this blog is to help clear up some of the confusion. We hope to give you a better idea of what Physical Therapy at PRO Therapy looks like, specifically Virtual Physical Therapy. With the information provided here, you’ll be able to make an informed, confident decision on what type of PT is best for you!
What is Physical Therapy (at PRO Therapy)?
We prefer to keep this answer simple. We help adults in the Twin Cities region and beyond, stay active and independent, to be able to do the things in life they LOVE to do! This may include but is not limited to… playing with your grandkids, golfing with friends, training for a 5K, taking walks with your spouse, riding your bike, playing catch with your kids, and much more.
Now, let’s ask – What is Virtual Physical Therapy?
It’s the same thing! Regardless of seeing you in our clinic or virtually from the comfort of your home or office, the goal is the same. Virtual PT will prioritize the exact same outcome(s) YOU hope to achieve as we would “traditional” physical therapy in the clinic. The only difference is the setting in which the Physical Therapy takes place.
We’d be lying to you if we said Virtual PT is exactly the same as “in-clinic” Physical Therapy. Here are some differences… Virtual Physical Therapy will allow you to plan visits more precisely around your schedule. All you will need is to find roughly 30-40 minutes where you can be in front of your phone or a computer. Most will agree that we spend at least this amount of time on our phones a day, why not spend it fixing your pain and preventing injury?
With virtual physical therapy, you will no longer have to worry about finding a babysitter for the kids. You won’t have to leave work early, to utilize your much needed time getting to the clinic. These visits can all be performed from the comfort of your home. We even have some clients complete their sessions out of their office at work.
A further benefit to virtual physical therapy is we can see exactly how you’re moving in your home. It’s very common that we’re working with people who are having issues standing from a specific chair at home, or have pain using their staircase or struggle reaching into their kitchen cabinets. With virtual physical therapy, you can show us the problem, and we can very precisely observe your body to make appropriate recommendations.
You can also take us to work with you and use a virtual session to show us your workspace to help problem solve in this setting.
What about the Manual Therapy and “Hands-On” care?
This is just one of many tools we use to help people reach their specific goals and is by no means always necessary to accomplish this task. With Virtual Physical Therapy, we can spend time teaching you how to perform some of these techniques yourself to help reduce pain and stiffness. Think of this as a positive!.
Ultimately, we want you to know that it is not a question of, “What is better, virtual physical therapy or In-Clinic Physical Therapy?” Instead, the right question to ask is, “What is best for you?” At PRO Therapy, our expert providers can help you to answer this question.
If you still have questions and would like to know more about our virtual physical therapy sessions at PRO Therapy, we have some options for you. Give us a call at 612-767-9917, and we can schedule you a time to chat with one of our Physical Therapists. We also provide FREE Discovery Visits where you can either trial a Virtual PT session or come into the clinic and meet with one of our Physical Therapists.
