Add your Annual PT Exam to your To-Do list!

I know my to-do list is a mile long, but it always feels so rewarding to check something off of it. Between the dentist, eye doctor, and your general practitioner, did you remember to add your annual physical therapy exam to your list?

In case you didn’t catch on, we at Advantage are fans of physical therapy and know how important this annual exam is. Your body keeps you moving and grooving through life, so make sure you are taking care of it. Pain often creeps up on us, so answer those questions of why you are hurting now. When you turn does your neck feel stiff? Does your knee hurt on the stairs? Or is carrying in the groceries a little more difficult than it used to be?

What occurs in a physical therapy exam?

During a full hour-long visit, we start by going over a history of your injuries and health. Then, we look at your strength, balance, flexibility, and functional ability. Then, we review your goals for the year or things that have been a little bit more difficult. At the end, we will create a home exercise program that is tailored to you .

Why does this matter?

Movement predicts your future health and resilience to disease. Many studies show a correlation between gait velocity and getting on and off the floor to a person’s overall health. A faster walking speed is correlated with less risk of being hospitalized as well as a decrease risk of falls. A good “sitting-rising” test speed shows that you are a lot less likely to die than someone who cannot perform this test. There are also other movement screening tests that can test various postures and motions, which can predict risk of injury and show where you might have movement or strength deficits.

So, if this is now on your list, give us a call at Advantage Physical Therapy in Falls Church, VA to schedule your annual exam today! In Virginia, the law allows you the right to obtain physical therapy without a physician referral/prescription for 60-days.

References

Why provide an annual physical therapy visit - https://www.apta.org/patient-care/interventions/annual-checkup

Ability to sit and rise from the floor is closely correlated with all-cause mortality risk -- ScienceDaily

Gait velocity as a single predictor of adverse events in healthy seniors aged 75 years and older - PubMed (nih.gov)

tags

arlington, vienna, check-up, annual exam, wellness, physical therapy, best practice, healthy

Author

Alana Hamilton Alana Hamilton is a physical therapist at Advantage Physical Therapy in Falls Church, Virginia. She is a proud Hokie from Virginia Tech with a major in Biology and a minor in psychology and sociology. Following graduation, she immediately got her doctorate in Physical Therapy from Radford University. She is an avid fan of Pilates, running, and hiking. On the weekends, she can be found hanging out with her family and baby as well as doing Spartan races with her old physical therapy classmates and friends. She is a big believer that during rehabilitation, "Motion is the Lotion" and that staying active is key to remaining healthy.