The coronavirus pandemic and the recent turbulent times have changed the practice and delivery of health care. Physical therapy is no exception. In-person medical care is harder than ever to get, making it especially rough if you need physical therapy or rehabilitative care.

Everyone is hurting, and everyone feels that disturbing back fatigue from sitting in their chairs for so long and experiencing a decreasing level of activities. We are spending so many hours sitting– desk chair, eating food chair, TV-watching chair– but people have been devoid of going places due to Covid-19, so they are not walking as much as they used to. 

During the pandemic, many people have experience isolation which can be detrimental to mental and physical health. This isolation is especially harsh on people experiencing pain or suffering from an injury.

For these reasons, healthcare practitioners took a chance to construct remote initial and continuing appointments through video calls or Zoom seances. With teletherapy, you could meet with your therapist via your phone, tablet, or laptop without leaving the comfort of your home. This allowed the patients to remain safe while completing their treatment.

Online rehabilitation also benefited physical therapists, allowing them to:

  • maintain continuity of MSK care, educate patients through remote consultation directly in their home environment.
  • minimize potential complications through the delivery of physical assessment, exercises, and periodical follow-ups.
  • monitor the progress of their patients, providing them continuous feedback and supervision.
  • stimulate their self-efficacy and self-confidence capacity, by alleviating fears and uncertainty, correcting maladaptive beliefs and expectations through education and advice

Many patients still need the addition of manual therapies to fully recover. This is particularly important in the first several weeks after an injury or onset of pain. Manual therapy may include treatment such as chiropractic spinal manipulation, trigger point therapy, muscle release techniques, and neuromuscular reeducation. That is why there is also an “At-home in-person” appointment option.

While regular in-person office visits allow therapists to track progress, at-home treatment makes it easy for patients to cheat a bit on their treatment plan. 

But here is the tip:

People need to know why you are telling them to do an exercise. If they don’t know why they’re doing what you’re telling them to do, it will feel stupid and boring. When you explain to them the reason, which muscle does what, and how this exercise will improve their function, they tend to buy in more because they understand now why it’s so important. Patients who understand why physical therapy treatment is needed are patients who will work to improve.