What’s the difference between physical therapy and voodoo? Voodoo is spelled like it sounds. James J. Irrgang, a researcher in the department of orthopedic surgery at the University of Piitsburgh and president of the orthopedic section of the American Physical Therapy Association, tells New York Times health writer Gina Kolata that much of what is sold as physical therapy is very much like “voodoo.” But, he says, some of what is sold as physical therapy actually does some good. Irrgang says manual stretching, at least when applied to some shoulder injuries, “can eliminate a sports injury.” Stretching can also speed healing of sprained ankles. What about such common remedies as ice and heat? Good for pain, says Irrgang, but they do little for the injuries per se.
Read more from Gina Kolata about what works and what doesn’t.
Physical Therapy is just not heat and ice or even sports related for that matter. Physical therapists work to retrain people to walk after both orthopedic and neurologic injuries, such as stroke or spinal cord injuries. Much of physical therapy is also instructing patients how to avoid further injuries, as with the stretches mentioned in the article, but also with proper body mechanics, posture, avoidance of repetitive motions, and correcting muscle imbalances, especially in the trunk muscles. I’ve never heard of “voodoo” offering any of these services.
Try having a stroke and go to nursing home for rehab. You will get more voodoo physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and on and on. More than you can imagine. Big money makers for the facility. They justify it by showing insurance companies that patients are “improving” when most of it is a voodoo scam.
Figures! AMA and Dr’s psyche’s won’t ALLOW them to beleive that the injured and ill actually benefit from those that are NOT members of their little clique.
Physical Therepy is ALL I needed. Unfortunately, failed back surgery from “I fixed you better than God MADE you” dr. should NOT have been done years ago. Proper PT is giving me AMAZING results! Dr’s will never understand that because all they know is what AMA,med schools, and pharma industry ALLOW them to understand.
Wow, is this a can of worms! All I have to say is that the orthopedist who referred me to physical therapy for arthritic knee pain did me more good than I can say. The exercises got rid of a substantial amount of pain. Now I can’t say that time would not have done the same thing, but I credit the PT.
One part of PT that I did not understand though, was the laser therapy. I had a shoulder dislocated and one of the therapies was shining this blue laser on my shoulder. They said that “studies” had shown that the laser stimulated cell growth. I did a little research of my own and it is an accepted treatment, but I could not determine effectiveness.
The other thing about not going to a physical therapist and going to the gym is the training. For instance, knee flexes (extensions?) (putting resistance on the front of the ankle with the knee bent and straightening the knee against the resistance). I have yet to find a therapist or an orthopedist who thinks that exercise is a good idea, but you get a personal trainer or one of the gym managers, and that machine is is on your circuit. Or toe touches with straight legs. Not a therapist in the world will want you to do that, but ain’t nobody in the gym going to tell you that is a terrible thing for your back.
All in all, I think physical therapy is fantastic, cheaper than the doctor and more fun, but you have to think about what they are telling you.
Peter
Yes, a can of worms in that people’s experiences seem to vary so much. On a personal level, after major shoulder surgery PT was expensive ($25 copay for every visit!)and none of the ultrasound, laser or other therapies helped. My gym membership is about $30 a month for unlimited visits, so i just explored post-op care on the web and did it myself.
BUT, for many folks who aren’t or can’t be self-motivating, I think physical therapists can be very important and helpful (surgeons sure as hell aren’t there for you at that point). It may not even be so much what they do as the fact that they encourage and help and get you moving.
For a lot of people PT’s can be a primary human care providing professional. We often need that.
I am a 70 year old active male. At times i have had running injuries, lifting injuries and other injuries with no obvious cause. When the injuries don’t respond to rest, aspirin, ice, compression and elevation. I have found physical therapy very helpful.
Between appointments I have followed the recommended stretches and exercises without fail. The body has great healing powers. I suppose rest and the bodies natural healing power accounts for most of the actual healing.
After injuries physical therapy does improved my flexibility, which normally is rather limited. PT has improved the angle of joint motion and my strength, all of which I presume prevents further injuries and allows me to continue with exercise and a healthy life style. Certainly PT is better than drug therapy and inaction.
Agree with the MD! The board certified Pain Management MD I see feels MOST physical therapy is a scam, and the PT I had to have (after original injury) verified that for me. High co-payments, and no real one-on-one individualized help….in fact, the entire time I went (3x a week for months)they insisted on treating me for “frozen shoulder” even though that was not what I had; nor what the doctor treating me thought I had…It was a waste of time and money. I’m sure there are people with other outcomes, mine was negative.
my husband had shoulder surgery on Oct 16, 09. The dr. never told us his pain would continue for at least a year. He began therapy 3 days later and it has only caused more pain and more problems. He should never have had this surgery as now he is no better, if anything he is worse. therapy 3 times a week has not helped at all. After the surgery we were told he would need therapy for 3 to 4 wks. It is now Jan and have been told he still needs it. With the copay from surgery, hospital and therapy 3 times a week we are looking at a large bill. The physician assistant billed $7067.00 to our bcbs, almost as much as the surgeon lacking $1000. They have left my husband a gimp as far as his shoulder goes, as of this week we have stopped all therapy it is not working. Hope to save someone from getting into this financial mess.
my husband had shoulder surgery on Oct 16, 09. The dr. never told us his pain would continue for at least a year. He began therapy 3 days later and it has only caused more pain and more problems. He should never have had this surgery as now he is no better, if anything he is worse. therapy 3 times a week has not helped at all. After the surgery we were told he would need therapy for 3 to 4 wks. It is now Jan and have been told he still needs it. With the copay from surgery, hospital and therapy 3 times a week we are looking at a large bill. The physician assistant billed $7067.00 to our bcbs, almost as much as the surgeon lacking $1000. They have left my husband a gimp as far as his shoulder goes, as of this week we have stopped all therapy it is not working. Hope to save someone from getting into this financial mess.
Turns out the journalist did not quote Dr. Irrang (a PT) fully – for a different take on the story check out http://www.mikereinold.com/2010/01/awful-physical-therapy-article-in-new.html.
yeah my physical therapist decided after 2 1/2 after major shoulder surgery to “be more aggressive” and caused a brand new FULL tear in my rotator cuff. It then took 6 weeks of waiting and numerous visits back to the surgeon to finally get another mri ordered and approved by insur before “they” would acknowledge what i was telling them. So 8 weeks after my first surgery i had to have a 2nd shoulder surgery thanks to the physical therapist. After 6 weeks of more pt and no improve just more pain in shoulder, myh pt and i realized i needed to warm up my shoulder before her sadistic strecthing happened. Yes pt might work for some people but going to the gym and finally doing it on my own was cheaper and more effective. Oh the doc’s of course wanted to stop pain meds after 3 months even tho that time frame was only 4 weeks after 2nd sugery.
The surgeon wanted to do a 3rd sugery to shorten my tendon because i “might” have an abrasion that needed removal. KEY WORD “MIGHT”. aND NO REPSONSE TO LEGNTH OF TIIME FOR THAT RECOVERY. Doctors and surgeons and nothing more than glorified mechanics.
It sure sounds like a lot of you have had bad experiences with PT. There are some PT’s out there who can’t admit that they don’t have enough experience to treat certain things. There are some PT’s who see you for the initial evaluation and then push you off on a tech. There are some PT’s who push you too hard because they’re inexperienced on how to best progress a patient (how to progress a patient is part of what you learn in your clinical experience over time – you don’t start out with a perfect recipe for success – there’s no flat out plan on how to progress with A, B, C that actually works with EVERY patient). So yeah, there are some not so great therapists out there…there are some not so great patients also…ones who don’t do what the therapist suggested or don’t do it enough. Anyway, for whatever reason, if you’re unhappy with your progress in therapy – switch to another therapist!!!! DUH!!! Ask around and see who people recommend – who’s got the best reputation for one-on-one care with the quickest results….there are some of us out there that actually see our patients every single time and don’t make you keep coming for months if you’re not progressing! You can’t just say Physical Therapy doesn’t do anything and it sucks and all PTs suck when you’ve only seen one. Would you read one book and say all books in the entire world suck just cause that one did?
Physical therapy is the most effective ways of managing this.Meditation is also one of the best tools you have to master your mind.Anyway,thanks for the post,such a great information to share with.
mjd
Scam, bullshit, fraud… I don’t know how to name it, it’s all the same. Got Plantar fasciitis 6 years ago and my doctor sent me to the kinesiologist and…nothing worked, and guess what??? after 6 years I still have the pain. A lot of Money and time wasted…