Your Telehealth Physical Therapy Questions Answered

What is Telehealth Physical Therapy (AKA ONLINE PT)?

Telehealth PT is a new and ingenious method of delivering physical therapy to clients for their injury, rehab, or other health requirements. It can operate complementary to in-person care or in some cases even replace it.

Online Physical Therapy typically uses a secure video platform to connect the therapist with the patient. These days, it couldn’t be easier because you can access a PT on your phone, computer, or tablet. Depending on the specific role or service, Telehealth PT can also be called E-Visits, TelePT, Telemedicine Physical Therapy, Telemedicine PT, TeleRehab, remote physical treatment, virtual physical therapy, and online physical therapy.

Why Use  Telehealth PT?

Regardless of whether we’re in another lockdown due to COVID, or we’ve gone back to normal, online physical therapy is here to stay. It has become a simple and easy way to get physical therapy.

Online physical therapy can also provide a chance for you to understand why you must see a physiotherapist before exploring any surgical treatments, injections, or any of those addicting pain medications – right from the comfort of your own home.

What Kind of Physical Therapy can be done Virtually?

Almost anything that doesn’t require hands-on manual therapy. This will of course depend on your plan of care with your therapist but can include conditions such as:

1. Postpartum Recovery
2. Prenatal education and care
3. Post-surgical check-ins and procedure assistance
4. Back Pain
5. Shoulder Pain
6. Knee Pain
7. Neck Pain
8. Sports Injuries
9. Various wellness programs

What are the Advantages of Utilizing Telehealth PT?

Typically, consultations need to be face to face between physical therapists and patients. But with today’s technology, you can be face to face virtually! Most evaluations can be performed over the internet without requiring you to visit your doctor.

What Should I Expect From my First Telehealth PT Visit?

Your first visit with a physical therapist will consist of an evaluation, a comprehensive assessment, and an initial treatment. For example, at Project Physical Therapy, a clinic in New York, the whole visit can be done through a live video call where they ask you about your discomfort, your medical history, surgical treatments, etc. They might ask you to perform movements like stretches and various exercises. Then they can evaluate the root cause of the discomfort and give you guidance on how to get better. Project Physical Therapy creates individualized and custom exercise strategies that specifically target your condition.

What do you Need for Online Physical Therapy:

1. Internet
2. Phone, computer, laptop, tablet, basically any device that has a camera and can connect to the internet
3. A quiet location where you won’t be disturbed
4. Loose comfortable clothing so that you can perform any movements your therapist would like to see

Telehealth Physical Therapy is Helping During COVID-19:

Lots of people that caught COVID need some rehabilitation to get going again. Online physical therapy is the perfect way to do so if you either can’t or don’t want to go to a physical therapy clinic in-person.

Additionally, online physical therapy is a great option if you’re feeling stiffness, tightness, or pain just from being at home more. Depending on your industry, working from home (even if only a couple days a week) is likely to be a permanent shift in how companies do business. Being able to get medical help without going anywhere is the way of the future.