Advances in Mental Health

If your doctor has prescribed physical therapy to help you recover from an injury, you may wonder what you can do to help improve your results as you go through treatments. One thing you can do is to have open communication with your therapist. Use the following tips to help you communicate with your physical therapist.

Keep a Progress Journal

Since your therapist will only see you for about an hour two to three times a week, you have a small window in which you can discuss your progress or any symptoms you may be experiencing. If you forget something you wished to discuss, you will either have to call them after your session or wait until the next one.

To help you remember any issues, as well as to see how things are going, keep a progress journal. Your first entry should be completed before you go to your first therapy session. This entry should include any difficulties you are having because of the injury, as well as your pain levels.

Then, in the weeks ahead, document how you feel after each therapy session, as well as after every at-home exercise session. Bring the journal with you every time you see the therapist so that you can discuss any concerns you have, as well as show an overall view of your perceived progress versus what goals you and the therapist have set.

Let the Therapist Know about Discomfort

While you exercising with the therapist and at home, you may feel some discomfort as your injured body gets used to moving again. Some soreness after your sessions is usually normal.

However, if you feel sharp pains each time you perform certain exercises, this increase in pain could be an indication that your body is not ready for particular movements. If you do not tell your therapist when you have extreme discomfort, you run the risk of hurting yourself even more.

Make sure you always tell your therapist about any increase in pain. If they determine that a particular exercise is not good for you at the moment, they can make adjustments to your therapy and give you a more gentle movement that can achieve the same results without causing you discomfort.

Using the above tips can help you communicate with your physical therapist while you are undergoing treatments so that they can make adjustments and help you achieve the desired results. If you have any other questions or issues while you are going through physical therapy, speak with your therapist.