Some of you may have seen me discuss this topic in past posts, blogs, or e-books but I wanted to expand upon it a little bit more. Maine is very lucky to allow anyone to get physical therapy from whomever they choose WITHOUT a referral. The freedom this gives a client in search of the best, most effective treatment for their pain is incredible! So in this blog I want to give a few examples of how getting to physical therapy sooner can save you time, money, and get you back to doing what you love pain free faster and more effectively.
Less Time in Pain
The first bonus of direct access physical therapy is spending less time in pain. This one is pretty simple. The sooner you get treatment for the pain you are having, the less time you spend having pain. But how does physical therapy do that better than other options? First, unless your symptoms are significant and urgent, it can take about 10 days on average to get in with your primary care doctor. It will take upwards to 30 days to get in with a specialist. AND most insurances require a referral from the primary care doctor to cover a visit with a specialist. That means you are waiting, on average, 40 DAYS to be seen when you are in pain.
Now those visits may lead to some pain relief of from an injection or prescription but those only work some of the time and are more of a bandaid than anything. In my experience, cortisone injections only work about 40-60% of the time. A study done in 2017 showed they were no better than injecting a placebo solution of saline into the joint. Other experts also agree that participating in physical therapy is a great first step BEFORE opting for an injection. Those injections can also be harsh on the tissues they are injected into.
So direct access physical therapy in Maine offers 24-48 HOUR wait times versus up to 40 DAYS of wait time and is better for pain relief while being safer on your soft tissues. Overall this means spending less time in pain and getting a better conservative treatment that is not invasive.
Addressing the Root of the Problem
Unlike the pain relief measures like injections and medications that may not work at all, physical therapy will address the root of the problem. Having direct access physical therapy in Maine allows the entire person to be evaluated. A physical therapist won’t just evaluate the one area or spot where your pain is (if they do, RUN). They will look at all areas that could be contributing to your pain.
This means all of the contributing factors to your pain will be evaluated and addressed with a program designed for YOU. Unlike medications, injections, and, in some cases, even surgery that will simply mask the pain or give temporary relief, physical therapy will give you the tools to treat the pain now AND prevent it from coming back.
Spending Less Money
By getting the most effective treatment for your pain sooner, direct access physical therapy in Maine also leads to saving money. But how? Lets look at two examples that I have commonly seen when someone is getting treatment for back pain.
Example #1: You notice the back pain for the first time during your work day. You didn’t do anything to bring it on, it just kept building. The pain got bad enough over the next day or so that it started to interfere with your ability to get ready for your day and made work very difficult. It wasn’t bad enough to stop working or doing your daily activity, but it made it all much more difficult. You thought it would eventually go away on its own. A week later it was still about the same with no real sign of getting better. You contact your doctor and the quickest they can get you in is the start of the next week.
Upon seeing your doctor, they ask you some questions, maybe watch you move around a little (but they only have 15 minutes with you so probably not) and they give you a muscle relaxer for the pain. They also refer you to a specialist. They may also order an x-ray (which doesn’t make much sense because they gave you a muscle relaxer. Muscle is soft tissue and no soft tissue injuries will show up on a x-ray but you are going to get one anyways).
It takes a week or two before you even hear from the specialist and then takes another 10-12 days before they get you in. That provider wants you to get an MRI and send you to physical therapy as the muscle relaxer helped take the edge off a little bit but you still are unable to move very well throughout your day without pain. Within a couple days of that visit you are in physical therapy.
You are able to get even more noticeable pain relief after just a visit or two of physical therapy. And they don’t even have the results of your imaging in front of them (we don’t really need it as we are trained to pick up on causes of pain without the use of imaging). That makes you think I should have done this from the start!
Costs from Example #1: You are likely going to have to pay at least a portion of: the visit to your doctor, the visit to the specialist, the x-ray and the MRI and you might have to cover a cost of the medication. Plus you have out of pocket expense for the physical therapy visits but you don’t mind paying for that because it is actually helping! Plus, this whole process cost you over a month in pain and with a few visits of physical therapy, the back pain is already improving more than it did with any other intervention you received over the course of the last month and a half.
Example #2: You utilize direct access and get to physical therapy within the same week. The pain is easier to identify and treat because you have spent less time in pain and have less compensations that have developed due to the pain. You have to pay for the physical therapy and…that’s it. Just the physical therapy. You go through a course of physical therapy (8-12 visits on average) and you are not only pain free but have a plan in place moving forward to prevent that pain from returning.
Costs From Example #2: Just the cost of your physical therapy visits and much less time in pain.
There is research to back this up as well. A study done in 2018 showed that people who received physical therapy for back pain sooner saved money and were less likely to be prescribed an opioid. Another study in 2019 reported that people that used full direct access had 13% lower costs at 30 days from the onset of back pain and 32% after 90 days. That adds up.
Direct Access to Physical Therapy Works
So there you have it. We are lucky to have direct access physical therapy in Maine and it works. I have seen it personally with my clients and there is some great information out there that shows less time and money is spent when direct access physical therapy is used to treat pain. I am on a mission to help as many people as possible avoid unnecessary pain medication, imaging, and surgery to treat their pain. Telling as many people as I can about the benefits of direct access for physical therapy in Maine is one way for me to work toward completing that mission. Here are a few other resources that can help:
My E-Books:
What is Concierge Physical Therapy?
https://mailchi.mp/4e48fc6470c4/ebook-on-concierge-physical-therapy
Back Pain Myths and Treatment Tips
https://mailchi.mp/d1bd9cc251ab/back-pain-myths-and-treatment-tips
Knee Pain Myths and Treatment Tips
https://mailchi.mp/953ecd9df282/knee-pain-myths-and-treatment-tips
How to Live Pain Free with Arthritis
https://mailchi.mp/4be74c5e2a89/how-to-live-pain-free-with-osteoarthritis
Along with the e-book on arthritis, I am excited to be offering the Arthritis Academy. An all inclusive, 100% personalized program designed to show you how physical therapy can effectively treat and prevent pain from even bone on bone arthritis without invasive procedures. Contact us to find out more about the Arthritis Academy and other services we offer to help you live pain free and work pain free!
