Do You Know What Conditions Physical Therapists Can Treat?

There are so many times where I am meeting new people and the topic of my being a physical therapist comes up. This is often accompanied by, “Can physical therapists treat….- insert condition- ?”

Most of the time my answer is either “yes” or “it depends”.

Here are some of the better known conditions that physical therapists can treat.

The more well known conditions physical therapists can treat:

• back and neck pain, both acute and chronic
• post operative recovery: think orthopedic procedures such as rotator cuff repair, knee replacement, ACL reconstruction, hip replacement, ORIF – the list could go on for several pages
• General joint pain: think knee pain, shoulder pain, ankle pain, etc

There is an even longer list of things I have found that most people do not know physical therapists can treat:

• ankle sprains
• osteoarthritis
• pelvic disorders including pelvic pain, incontinence, and more
• post partum pelvic disorders
• disorders of the hand, wrist, and elbow
• Pain and dysfunction of the shoulder, knee, foot, ribs, spine
• Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction
• Parkinson’s Disease
• dropfoot
• Post op recovery following spinal surgeries
• Stroke, concussion, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury
• vestibular disorders (commonly referred to under the umbrella term of “vertigo”)
• Decreased balance
• carpal tunnel syndrome
• associated issues with cerebral palsy

I could go on for pages and pages with this list!

There is a lot of misinformation out there regarding what physical therapy can and cannot help with. This has improved in recent years but I still find that people commonly do not know that physical therapy is an option for them and they don’t have to suffer as much as they are. There is a lot of information in this blog on varying conditions physical therapists can treat. Read through to learn more about a condition you’re dealing with, and how a physical therapist can help.