Your First Visit

Your first visit will last approximately 1 hour. During this time we will perform an evaluation and talk with you about your condition. The evaluation will include a review of your medical history, posture and movement assessment and special tests related to your current injury, symptoms or diagnosis. We will devise an individualized treatment program based on your physician's recommendations and on the results of the evaluation. We always take into account your expectations and goals, as well as your age and physical abilities in the creation of any physical therapy program.

What you should bring:

  1. Physician's prescription (if referred by a physician)
  2. Insurance card(s)
  3. List of current medications with dosages

Be sure to wear comfortable clothing that can easily expose the treatment area. For example, if you are receiving treatment to your shoulders or back, please wear clothing that can be easily adjusted to reach the treatment area. Also flip-flops or heeled shoes are not best suited when trying to work on mobility in rehab.

What to Expect with Physical Therapy at Bodies in Balance

During an initial assessment your physical therapist is going to ask you questions involving your current condition and what brings you into the office. Arriving early to complete your paperwork or completing your paperwork prior to arrival will allow you the most time with your therapist and provide you with an ideal first visit. Additionally, having a concise description of what activities of daily living are affected and patterns of your symptoms are very helpful for your physical therapist to establish a plan to best assist you.

During the evaluation, the physical therapist will take measurements based on your chief complaint. For example: your strength, flexibility, balance, walking pattern, and posture may be analyzed. Based on your goals, as well as findings for the measurements taken, the therapist will create a home exercise program for you to work on at home to help you decrease your symptoms. It may be appropriate in your plan of care to also receive manual therapy interventions to assist with improving flexibility and mobility. The goal of physical therapy is to restore function by teaching you what you can do to take care of yourself and putting your health into your own hands.

Physical activity is something that we encourage you to continue in order to improve your health and decrease your symptoms. Physical therapy is not something we expect you to attend forever. Your therapist will help establish a plan of care involving the frequency of your visits as well as the expected duration in which it will take to assist you with learning how to care for yourself. We expect that there will be some notable improvements and progression toward achieving better function within 3-4 PT visits. This varies for different individuals and is typically 1-2 times per week for around 4 to 8 weeks depending on the patient's diagnosis.

We hope you find this information helpful as we know people are unfamiliar with our profession. Bodies in Balance therapists use interventions that have been noted in research to have value and positive outcomes and are specific for each diagnosis. We value patient communication and feedback regarding what physical therapy strategies seems to be working well and if any appear to not be assisting toward progress.

We thank you for allowing us to help you return to improved ability to perform your daily routine and to get back to living life well.