Treating the Person Versus Treating the Diagnosis
You’ve heard us say it time and again. We treat the whole person, not just the diagnosis! Well what do we really mean by that? This is an important concept to understand in order to distinguish the quality of your physical therapists. Why? Because you deserve the best care possible, and nothing less.
Let us use the term “sciatica” for example. This term is slowly being phased out in the health care world because the cause of these symptoms can be too numerous to count. Sciatic symptoms can originate from your back, your hip, or your thigh. It can come from how you move, not moving enough, or even a traumatic injury. It can originate due to mobility deficits or even stability deficits of the core or lower extremities. This is why one standard list of exercises cannot improve your symptoms. There are too many factors as to why you may have sciatic symptoms, and it’s your physical therapist’s job to determine the root causes. Notice I said causes, as in pleural. Human beings are too complicated to associate symptoms with one cause. And this, my friends, is why we must treat the whole person.
A good physical therapist will undergo an extensive evaluation, involving history, symptoms, and goals. The examination portion can, and most likely will, involve range of motion assessments, strength assessments, palpation, movement analysis, neurological testing, functional movement assessments, special testing for pathologies, etc. Therefore, physical therapy should always involve analyzing more than one body part. Do you have a bad case of plantar fasciitis when you run? Then your therapist better be at least evaluating the entire kinetic chain (the whole leg), because your foot pain may not actually be originating from the foot. These are just a couple examples (out of hundreds) of why treating the entire person is so important. Treating the diagnosis or symptoms may take the edge off of things, but it won’t solve your problem forever. We must treat the whole person!
Have you had a bad experience with physical therapy? Was your therapist as thorough as you know he/she should be? If you are having pain limit your activity, consider scheduling a free phone consultation with us, where we can discuss your symptoms, goals, and answer any questions or concerns you may have. At The PATH Rehab & Performance, you will be treated as a whole person, not a diagnosis. Reach out to one of our providers so you can solve this problem forever and get back to the activities you need to do the most!
Cody Benavides
PT, DPT, MFDc
Co-Owner of The PATH Rehab & Performance
