What to expect during your first physical therapy session

Many people get anxiety thinking about what will happen at their first physical therapy session. There is no need to worry! This post will go over exactly what to expect and how you can prepare.

There are a couple of documents you should bring to your first physical therapy session

There are just a couple of documents you should bring to your first PT session. If you had an X-Ray, bring a photo of the X-ray on your phone if possible. You can also bring a CD, however some computers are not able to open the files. If you had an MRI or CT scan, bring the radiologist’s report of the findings. It’s not necessary to bring CD’s of the scans themselves.

The images (X-ray, MRI, etc) are not always necessary but it doesn’t hurt to bring these things. Here are the reasons why I would want to see a radiograph (X-ray):

• To see the exact location of hardware placement. I like seeing exactly where the screws, plates, and pins are located so I know how the nearby joint should be able to move.
• To see the location and extent of a fracture
• To see the location and extent of a bone or joint malformation/deformity

Times I don’t need to see a patient’s imaging are typically when someone comes in for a random ache or pain and there were no findings on imaging. This is because physical therapists don’t rely on imaging to treat patients. Physical therapists examine the patient and see how the patient looks in front of them. Imaging doesn’t always tell the whole story. Sometimes during the course of treatment if a patient doesn’t respond to therapy the way I feel they should, I will either look back on previous imaging or request additional imaging. If you’re concerned, I always encourage asking your therapist questions.

Lastly, if you had surgery please bring the post operative protocol from the surgeon. The protocol simply lets your therapist know the early limitations in your rehab. Most of the time your therapist will already know this information since we are very familiar with post operative care. However, some surgeries have special considerations.

If you’re having your lower body examined, please wear shorts. If you’re having your upper body examined, please wear a tank top.

For your first physical therapy session your therapist will examine how your afflicted body part moves. Your therapist will also examine how the regions surrounding this body part move. For example, when I treat a patient’s neck I also examine their shoulder. When I examine someone’s knee I also look at their hip and ankle. This is because neighboring joints affect each other – our joints don’t function in isolation.

In general, it’s helpful for you to wear workout clothing to physical therapy. This will be helpful for your therapist to access appropriate areas for massage if necessary. This will also be helpful because you will be prescribed varying exercises to improve your pain.

Your first physical therapy session will consist of an interview and an examination

Typically, your therapist will begin by asking you a series of questions. The main question is: What brings you to therapy today? You will likely be asked questions such as “What makes your pain better? What makes your pain worse?” If you had a surgery the questions will focus on what type of surgery you had, how you got injured, and what activities you were involved in before your injury/surgery.

During the examination your therapist will examine:

• Your range of motion
• Your strength: either for both sides or only the un-injured side if you had surgery
• Special tests to rule in/out possible causes of your pain (Unless you had surgery, because then it is very straight-forward)

After your examination, your therapist will give you some exercises and/or stretches for home

Your therapist will provide you with a small list of exercises to perform at home. This is a critical part of physical therapy. You’ll receive a handout to take home with pictures and descriptions of each exercise, as well as how many of each to perform and how often.

I will be very direct with you: you can’t expect to get better if you don’t perform your exercises. Your therapist will likely tweak and change your exercises as you move through therapy. As you get better, your exercises will change in order to keep challenging and therefore helping you.