Welcome to what I hope is a regular blog about the world of physical therapy. There are a million physical therapy blogs out there so I’m going to mostly focus on educating patients and clients on how physical therapy works and how it can benefit them.  I think for those who work in the PT world, we take for granted that people know what PT is and the process of how it works.  Unfortunately most people don’t. Over the next few blogs I’m going to talk about the general process of starting physical therapy and how to choose your therapist/clinic.

First of all, if there is one idea you take away from today’s blog it is this:

YOU HAVE A CHOICE OF WHERE YOU HAVE YOUR PHYSICAL THERAPY.

Similar to how you would get a prescription for medication and then go to any one of numerous pharmacies, you can get a prescription for physical therapy and go to a clinic of your choice. (I am referring to PT in the state of Texas. Unfortunately politics got in the way of allowing direct access in Texas, unlike in 47 other states where you can go directly to a physical therapist and get treated without a prescription. This will be a future blog.) If a doctor prescribes physical therapy but is trying to make you go to a specific clinic (or their own) but you want to go elsewhere, ask for the prescription. If they refuse to give it to you, report them to the physical therapy board.

http://www.ptot.texas.gov/page/file-a-complaint

So what do you do now that you have a physical therapy prescription?

I will give you a list of what I think is important when looking for a physical therapist.

1)   All else being equal, a physical therapist (PT) or physical therapist assistant (PTA) treating you one on one is in my opinion the most important thing .  What is essential for readers to understand is that a PT/PTA are licensed professionals, while aides/technicians are not. If you are not being treated by a PT/PTA you are not receiving physical therapy (this is my opinion but with some insurances, mostly Medicare and some workers compensation these are the rules and therapists/clinics are not allowed to bill for time not spent with the patient).  Again, with all other things being equal there is no way that a physical therapist can provide the same level of care and attention when seeing multiple patients at one time compared to a therapist treating one on one. As a patient, ask for this and if not provided look elsewhere. This will be a future blog post covering in more detail.

2)   Look for a physical therapist that has experience and knowledge with your specific problem. For example, I think I do a really good job with ACL reconstructions and return to sport. I also think I do a good job with overhead athletes (baseball/softball/volleyball/swimming). I wouldn’t be a good option for a patient who had a severe stroke or other neurological issues. It is similar to how a person wouldn’t go to their cardiovascular surgeon for a knee replacement. Find a therapist that is an expert with your particular situation.

3)   Look for a therapist who is a good fit for you and you are comfortable with. In general a physical therapist should be empathetic, listens and genuinely acts like they care.

4)   Do your due diligence. By this I mean do a little research and don’t just go to the cheapest therapist you can find. Ask friends who have had therapy where they went and if they were happy. Ask if you can meet with the physical therapist for a free consultation. Look up the physical therapist on the state board and see if there are any disciplinary actions. If there are any disciplinary actions you can typically find out more online but you may have to request the records.  You can do the same for physicians, chiropractors and podiatrists.

Physical therapy:  http://www.ptot.texas.gov/page/pt-license-search

Medical Doctors: https://public.tmb.state.tx.us/HCP_Search/SearchNotice.aspx

Chiropractors: http://www.tbce.state.tx.us/verify.html

Podiatrists: http://www.tsbpme.texas.gov/verification.online_verification.htm

Next time I will expand on why I think one on one treatment is so important.

If there are any questions feel free to contact me. 

Hello and welcome to all those reading the first blog posting of Fairfield Physical Therapy! I wanted to use this first posting to give readers an overview of Fairfield Physical Therapy and what it offers and how it is different than most physical therapy clinics.

Starting off, my name is Laurence Truett and I have been a physical therapist (and Fairfield resident) for about 6 years. I spent most of my career at Texas Sports Medicine in Tomball, TX.  TSMC was a great opportunity where I got to work with athletes of all ages and levels, from high school athletes to Major League baseball players and everything in between. As exciting as it sounds to say I worked with high level athletes the majority of my patients were every day people (athletes in their own way) who wanted to be out of pain, get back to their sports/hobbies or recovering from surgery. I treated everything from neck/back pain, surgery for just about every body part, sports injuries, ACL/injury prevention along with many more.

I am a graduate of Texas A&M and received my Physical Therapy degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. For those wondering why a Houston native went all the way to Wisconsin, my wife Tara is originally from Wisconsin so I married into a Badger family. It was a great experience and the school is ranked as one of the top 20 PT schools in the country. Since graduation I have been a continuing education junkie. Most of my efforts have been toward an advanced ScD degree in PT (similar to a PhD rather than the entry level DPT) which has a heavy emphasis on manual therapy. The manual therapy classes have been through the IAOM-US and they have been great in learning advanced manual therapy/treatment skills and differential diagnosis. In addition I have taken many additional such as kinesiology taping (RockTape FMT certified), kettlebells, and I’m currently completing a Performance Specialist Certification through EXOS (formerly known as Athletes Performance and one of the top sports performance facilities in the country).

I know that this blog post is starting to get long so I will wrap it up with one more thought.

My treatment philosophy is simple: everyone deserves high quality, one on one treatment by a caring professional.  Too often the focus is on numbers and how much money can be made rather than focusing on the patient first and I look forward to providing that service.

One last thing before I end this post, I want to thank my wife Tara, and my children, Grace and Reid for their support. I also want to thank the rest of my family, especially my mom, for everything they have sacrificed for me so that I’m able to be where I am today.