What Is A Doctor of Physical Therapy?
Have you ever broken a bone or had a serious injury leading you to see a doctor of physical therapy? Or maybe you’re not familiar with physical therapy at all. A doctor of physical therapy, or DPT, can help diagnose problems regarding someone’s tendons, muscles, and ligaments. It helps to watch how a patient’s motor skills work to best diagnose a problem.
When seeing a physical therapist, you may feel a bit uncomfortable, but that’s only because the doctors have to feel your insides to identify where the pain and decrease in movement is coming from. It’s normal to feel pain in your first session or two, so try addressing this with your doctor of physical therapy before going any further. In order for your experience to work out the best for you, it’s essential you put all feelings out on the table. Try being as honest and as specific as you can with where the pain is, how long you’ve been dealing with it, what makes it worse/better, and so on. This will help your doctor identify a solution much quicker.
The way a doctor of physical therapy can help you is by looking at the way you make everyday moves. For example, a DPT might ask you to go over there and pick that up. They might tell you it’s important to bend at the knees as opposed to being your back at a 90-degree angle. It’s little tips like this that a DPT can clue you in on. Some doctors may also show you different exercises that strengthen other parts of the body. If the injured area isn’t getting support from other parts of the body that are out of shape, this can put more strain on the focus point. A DPT might have you lift small weights, use large rubber bands and stretch them out, or use exercise balls. They may teach you at-home exercises to practice to get your body back up to speed as well.
If physical therapy is something that interests you, you may want to join a doctor of physical therapy program. To become a doctor of physical therapy, it takes a lot of school much like any other doctor. That’s why it’s important to find the best doctor of physical therapy program suitable for you. In today’s world, it’s very easy to find such a program, as physical therapy has become a popular study and careers are in demand. In the US, a doctorate of physical therapy degree is an entry-level professional degree. If you’re okay with working with people up close and personal, it’s the degree for you.