Get Your Annual Physical Therapy Exam Today!

The new year is the perfect reminder to schedule all your routine medical appointments including an annual visit to the medical doctor, or 6-month visits to the dentist. However, have you ever thought of scheduling your annual physical therapy exam? You may be asking how you would benefit from seeing a physical therapist prior to an injury or a mobility issue. Physical therapists are movement system experts and regularly create exercise prescriptions for our clients. Research has shown that exercise is a preventative medicine is able to reduce your risk of developing chronic diseases.¹ According to the CDC, regular physical activity reduces your risk of developing chronic conditions like obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancer, depression and anxiety, and dementia.¹ If there was pill that showed all the benefits of exercise, then it would be one of the most highly prescribed medications by medical doctors.

An annual physical therapy exam may look different than regular physical therapy visits for a specific problem. The annual exam may look different from client to client depending on individual’s wants and needs, and the impairments identified by the physical therapist. However, here is what you may expect in your annual physical therapy exam:

1. Take a Subjective History: This is the part of the exam where we build a better understanding of you from your perspective. We will ask you questions your medical history, current mobility status, any pain you may be experiencing, fall history, prior physical therapy experience, etc. A thorough subjective history will guide the rest of the exam and determine the best way we can assist you.  
2. Identify Impairments through an Exam: The objective portion of the exam is where we would observe your movements including walking for any deviations, assess your posture, and test your strength and balance to just name a few of our measures. Understanding your impairments will help us create goals and determine which exercises would be most appropriate.
3. Administer Individualized Test and Measures: In this part of the exam, we administer outcome measures. These outcome measures assess your walking endurance, static and dynamic balance, walking speed, and determine your risk of falling in the future. These tests and measures provide us baseline for your current mobility level and allows us to track your status year to year and progress during your physical therapy program.
4. Create Physical Therapy Goals and Exercise Prescription: At the end you and your physical therapist will collaborate to create customized goals based on impairments identified during the exam and your individual wants and needs. Finally, your physical therapist will create a customized home exercise program that will help you achieve your goals. You will be educated on why this home exercise program is right for you, your physical therapist will guide you through the movements, and then in upcoming sessions the exercises will be updated based on your progress.

Here at Live Your Life we offer physical therapy wellness programs including Live Your Life HEALTHY at both our Minnesota and Florida locations. Live Your Life HEALTHY is our version of the annual physical therapy exam. Click here to learn more about all our physical therapy wellness programs including Live Your Life HEALTHY and visit us at liveyourlifept.com/contact to contact us for a free consultation!

References

¹CDC. Physical Activity Prevents Chronic Disease | CDC. www.cdc.gov. Published May 14, 2020. https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/infographic/physical-activity.htm#:~:text=Regular%20physical%20activity%20helps%20improve