#Ask A PT: Lower Back Pain Common Questions About Seeing a PT

Question:

I am having low back pain and saw your ad in Health Wellness magazine. I noticed the different services you offer and would like to see one of your therapists to assist and treat me. I have a few questions:

1. Do I need a referral?
2. Do you provide manipulation? If so, is it the same type a chiropractor performs?
3. Do you offer massage therapy?

Answer:

As to the question of MD referral, you can see a Results Physiotherapy physical therapist without a physician referral in many states and we will consult with your MD if the therapist determines if this is warranted based on your presentation. As to specific interventions, the similarity to chiropractic may be hard to initially discern by the lay person. I can tell you what physical therapists, within an outpatient orthopedic setting, would do. We provide a variety of physical therapy techniques using our hands which include varying grades of joint mobilization (likely similar to what a chiropractor might do), soft tissue mobilization (a form of massage), specific exercise to maintain the improvements made with our hands, and quite importantly, patient education of the findings, how to continue progress beyond the initial plan of care, etc.

What we know is the combination of all of these are what leads to the most successful patient outcomes.

If you are interesting in physical therapy, you can find a clinic near you under the locations  section on our website.