2 Reasons You Don’t Need To See A Physical Therapist Right Now
By Don Hoang, PT, DPT, MFDc
This blog seems counterintuitive, right? I should be listing EVERY reason for you to seek consultations and treatments from a physical therapist to address your current issue, whether it is acute or chronic pain, tips to move better to optimize your functional mobility, prehab and rehab before and after surgery, or getting your strength and stamina back from recently being deconditioned. But wait, hear me out. There are a few reasons why you might not need to call up your favorite physical therapist IMMEDIATELY, and here’s why.
You just sustained an acute injury. Sustaining an acute injury can be devastating to your quality of life, but don’t fear it or think you need to seek treatment right away or else you will never recover. Your body is efficient at healing itself, given you don’t have comorbidities or bad lifestyle habits that hinder the healing. An acute injury (usually to the muscle) can self resolve anywhere between 3 days up to 2 weeks1, depending on the tissue involved and severity of the injury. With tendons and ligaments, it can definitely take longer. Instead of seeking professional treatment, the most important things to do are to protect the site and minimize aggravating activities. I like to implement an active approach with the M.E.A.T. protocol - movement, exercise, analgesics (for intolerable pain), and treatment (progressive loading or professional treatment if it is not resolving as quickly).
You saw a post or video on social media demonizing certain muscle imbalances or “incorrect postures” that need to be fixed ASAP. This is a gray area because there is insufficient evidence to blame these postural and muscle imbalances as the root causes for your pain and improper functional movement. Sure, addressing these imbalances may sometimes help you move and feel better (and I implement them in my practice). But that doesn’t mean they are detrimental to your movement health and that you need to fix them right away. Just because your right toes point out more, one hip feels higher than the other, or your right shoulder drops lower than the left, it doesn’t mean these are signs that you’re out of alignment and need fixing. They are just anatomical variations that may not even be contributing to your issue. Instead, focus on exercising enough during the week (at least 150 minutes/week according to ACSM and CDC recommendations)2, changing positions every 30-60 min, having a quality well balanced diet, managing your stress, and getting enough sleep (at least 7 hours each night)3 before addressing these “imbalances”. If you still continue to face issues or pain, then you can try having a physical therapist evaluate and address any imbalances you may have.
To summarize, it may be intuitive to see a physical therapist after sustaining an injury. But depending on its acuity, it may not be necessary. Our tissues and joints will eventually heal themselves over time, so we should give our body a chance to rest and recover. It’s also not necessary to address every asymmetry and “imbalance.” However, if you have lingering issues or nagging pain that just wouldn’t go away, it wouldn’t hurt to address these imbalances by getting it evaluated by a physical therapist or an exercise-based chiropractor.
References:
Vavken, P. Evidence-based Treatment of Muscle Injuries. Swiss Sports & Exercise Medicine, 67(1),16–21, 2018.
American College of Sports Medicine. https://www.acsm.org/education-resources/trending-topics-resources/physical-activity-guidelines
https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2016/p0215-enough-sleep.html#:~:text=The%20American%20Academy%20of%20Sleep,optimal%20health%20and%20well%2Dbeing.
