If you've ever had an injury and needed to get some rehabilitative assistance, you probably sought out the services of a physical therapist near you. Physical therapy can be a great way to treat physical conditions and address pain or instability at its core. Every once in a while, you may come across a physical therapist who isn't the right fit for you. Maybe they're not great at providing quality care to their patients. We've provided a list of signs to watch out for during physical therapy that may indicate that your care provider doesn't have your best interests in mind. (But it's important to remember that most physical therapists are qualified, experienced professionals who wholeheartedly care about your well-being.)
4 ways to recognize a bad physical therapist
- You have no treatment variety from session to session ” Your physical therapist should be implementing different exercises during your sessions. If you're doing the same exercises every session, this could be a red flag that your physical therapist is a bad one. You need a variety of movements to strengthen your body in several different areas. Doing the same repetitive movements could not only limit your growth but could even cause repetitive strain injuries.
- You make little to no physical progress ” It may take several sessions for you to begin seeing results, but after some time you should be able to gauge your progress, and your therapist should too. Therapists take notes during each session, recording exercises completed; these notes include progress goals and observations.
- Your therapist doesn't listen to your descriptions of your symptoms ” Your therapist should absolutely listen to your symptom descriptions, not only during your initial evaluation but also every session after that. This is an integral part of identifying the root of your pain or discomfort and coming up with an effective treatment plan.
- Your therapist treats you like just another task to check off their list ” Part of the job of a physical therapist is to be able to treat each of their patients with a high degree of professional care. A bad physical therapist treats you with little regard or sees you as little other than a box to check off of their to-do list. That's when you know it's time to see a new therapist.
Alliance PTP is ready to help you find top-notch PT for a variety of conditions
At Alliance Physical Therapy Partners, we're proudly bringing together physical therapy practices across the country to help people get the high-quality PT they need. Want to see a physical therapist in person? We can put you in touch with an Alliance PTP partner that's close to you and that can help you address your health conditions that a bad physical therapist may have overlooked.
Not keen on in-person PT sessions or not close to an Alliance PTP partner? No worries. We also offer effective and affordable virtual physical therapy through our Agile Virtual Physical Therapy platform.
Contact our team today so we can help you find the most effective physical therapy services for your injury or condition.