Back Physical Therapyin Seattle, Tacoma, and surrounding cities
Physical Therapy plays an important role not only in treating persistent or recurrent low back pain, but also in prevention and risk reduction of future occurrences. If you have experienced low back pain, you are not alone. Approximately one quarter of Americans report experiencing low back pain within the past 3 months at any given time. Low back pain often occurs due to overuse, strain or injury. This includes too much bending, twisting, lifting, and even too much sitting.
How Can You Prevent Low Back Pain?
Keep your back, stomach, and leg muscles strong and flexible. Maintain a regular fitness regimen – staying active can help prevent injuries!
Don’t slouch – keep good posture! Keeping your body in alignment allows it to be more efficient when you move.
Ask for help or use an assistive device to lift heavy objects. If you are lifting something heavy, keep the load close to your body.
If we are asking you to do something that is hurting too much, let us know! Physical therapy should not be severely painful. It is not common to be so sore that patients are in pain or it affects their daily life. If this ever happens during or after an appointment, let us know and we will adapt your program.
We recommend budgeting 40-60 minutes for a typical therapy session. The only exception to this will be your first visit, which can take about 20 minutes longer due to the physical therapy evaluation your therapist will provide. We also recommend showing up about 10-15 minutes early to your first visit. This way, you can complete the paperwork before your visit time and streamline the process.
A physical therapy visit lasts about 40-60 minutes. The actual contents of the visit vary based on your diagnosis/need, but typically what happens is:
You check in with the receptionist, make any appointments necessary, and we discuss your health insurance benefits with you.
You go into the gym. You can change clothes if you need to, then begin therapy.
You perform 6-8 various exercises and stretches. These can include therapeutic band exercises, light body weight exercises, or minimal weights. The stretches will promote strength, stability, improved range of motion, and pain relief.
We can initiate other techniques to include manual work, taping, cupping, and dry needling as needed.
The therapist makes recommendations based on your progress. These can include altering the frequency of visits, making additions/alterations to your home exercise plan, or things to do before your next visit.
You should wear loose clothes that make it easy to move. We also recommend sneakers. Workout clothes will work, but any comfortable clothing will work fine. Plan on giving your therapist access to your area of concern. The less your clothes restrict your movement and the more comfortable you are, the better. Shorts, yoga pants, or athletic/loose fitting pants and a tee shirt are all good options.
People in Seattle, Tacoma, and surrounding cities Trust RET PT
Hear from patients that reclaimed their lives.
I started PT after a car accident. The staff was extremely helpful not just with injuries from the accident, but also other issues that had been bothering me. They are very good at communicating problems and solutions and are friendly to boot. Can’t recommend enough.
Kevin
RET Patient
Attentive, responsive, pleasant in communication, knowledgeable staff. I got good results in a short time. Thankful to Dr. Andrew for useful information and for a program of exercises.
Elena
RET Patient
Doug Free, the manager at Mercer Island Physical Therapy, has a PhD in PT, and is an amazing diagnostic doctor who explains why a specific injury occurred. He also does fabulous work on your body. His entire staff is knowledgeable and excellent therapists.
Gary
RET Patient
I saw Anne at 7 weeks post ulnar nerve transposition. I’ve made more progress in 1 week with her than I did in those first 7. She is extremely knowledgeable and up to date on current research. I’d feel very good about sending my family and friends her way!
Holli
RET Patient
Kelly is amazing! I felt very comfortable and she asked all of the right questions, was super friendly, and knows exactly how to help. I always leave feeling so much better, and confident that if I do my exercises, I will heal!
Kelsey
RET Patient
Michelle has been amazing to work with. She quickly diagnosed the root cause of the issues that continued to plague me after recovering from hip replacement surgery that other PT’s (different companies) could not. She listens, is creative, resourceful, and very knowledgeable. Everyone at the clinic is always very professional and interested in our progress.
Conrac
RET Patient
I have been going to Summit Therapy for a shoulder problem. I’ve made steady progress and have gotten much pain relief. The staff is very friendly and great to work with. I recently had a sudden problem of vertigo. My therapist knew exactly what to do and performed a treatment that stopped the dizziness.