Seeing your physical therapist first when you’ve got musculoskeletal pain is a no-brainer, for a multitude of reasons.
You get better faster.
We know we’re stating the obvious – the sooner you get started, the sooner you get better – but we’ve got some research to back this one up.
A 2015 Health Services Research study compared the routes between two patients: one saw their doctor first and one saw their PT first. The findings are eye-opening. To paraphrase it for you, Patient A and Patient B went to their doctor on the same day. Patient A was referred straight to physical therapy, and was able to book an appointment two days later. Patient B was sent to get an MRI, then see a specialist. Given current wait times for imaging and to see a specialist, Patient B was not seen again until three weeks later, when they were referred to physical therapy by their specialist.
Unfortunately, in addition to the delays in getting started with physical therapy, Patient B wasted a lot of time attending unnecessary visits. Today, you don’t even need a referral for physical therapy in most states, meaning you can reach out directly and we can get you scheduled for an appointment within 24-48 hours.