Physical Therapists Are Movement Specialists

Physical Therapists Are Movement Specialists

Physical Therapists are movement specialists. You go to an internist when there’s something wrong with the inside of your body. You see an orthopedist when there’s something wrong with your joints, and a neurologist when there’s something wrong with your nerves… And you should see a physical therapist when there’s something wrong with the way your body is moving.

Our patients usually come in telling us about the pain they are experiencing, not that they are squatting wrong, or sitting poorly. But these are the things that have led your body down the road to pain. Pain is just the symptom

It is our job, as physical therapists, to watch you move, to check your posture, and to figure out WHY you have pain. We can watch you stand and see that the tightness in your hip flexors is leading to your back pain. When you squat, you might be overusing your quads, leading to knee pain. As you reach overhead, your shoulder blade might not be moving enough, leading to impingement in the shoulder.

It takes the trained eye of a physical therapist to find these movement dysfunctions, and to help you fix them. We know that you don’t care how strong your glut max is, or what degree of upward rotation your scapula gets.

Ultimately you just want to be pain-free when you walk, run, sit, or whatever activity you love doing. And that’s our goal, too!

—Korey Pieper, DPT, OCS