What If You Aren’t Moving Forward?
Patients typically want to know how long before they should start to expect positive results from therapy with me. I usually say they should be able to see some changes in 1-2 sessions. I tell patients that I typically see people for 4-6 sessions total - give or take. Some patients see an immediate change in one session.
Some patients will see a therapist for years. Unfortunately, I’m seeing pretty complex patients who have had pain for years. It’s unfortunate for them, but I am happy to get the opportunity to treat them. The longer someone has had pain, the more opportunity their nervous system has had to become centrally sensitized and that can make progress slower.
But, if you’ve been going to therapy for a few months (or at least six visits) and you are not making headway or you are feeling worse, then it’s time to have a conversation with your therapist.
Here are a few topics to consider:
Review your goals – Make sure that your therapist understands what you are looking to achieve in therapy
Ask about how the techniques your therapist is performing is supposed to be helping you
Ask if they know of any other techniques that could help
Medical management – Maybe you or your therapist need to discuss pharmaceutical or hormonal options or procedures like trigger point injections or nerve blocks or small in-office surgeries.
Environmental allergens – Could your symptoms be effected by anything in the air, anything you are wearing or applying to your body?
Lifestyle changes – Do you need to modify how you are working at your job, is there a need to modify your diet or exercise plan or how you sleep or wash?
Sometimes it can be awkward to have a conversation about changing the course of physical therapy. Patients feel that their therapists are the specialists so they should obviously be steering the ship. Some patients feel embarrassed to say anything because they don’t want to offend their therapist. Probably every therapist has been in this position at some point in their career. We’ll get over it. The goal is for you to get better, so don’t worry about your therapist’s feelings, just be honest.
If you’ve covered the suggested topics that I outlined above and you still feel like you aren’t getting the right treatment, ask if your therapist can set you up with another therapist. It’s always helpful to have another pair of eyes looking at you. This isn’t a sign that your therapist was bad, it just means that everyone needs to reset and brainstorm a bit. This is a good thing for you.