National Rehabilitation Awareness Week is a time to celebrate all of the wonderful ways rehabilitation can help individuals get back to doing the things they love. But what exactly qualifies as “rehab” and what does a rehab professional do? There are several disciplines within rehab and many settings where rehab professionals work.

For adults, physical therapy is often a first-line conservative treatment to restore movement and function. It has been shown to reduce opioid use, length of hospital stay and overall cost of care. It is a common misconception that physical therapy is painful, when we actually seek to reduce pain and teach patients how to manage their symptoms independently.

Physical therapists treat patients with a variety of conditions such as joint pain, sports injuries, stroke, pain from cancer treatment, vestibular dysfunction, amputations, and more. We provide more than just passive modalities such as heat and ESTIM – we prescribe specific exercises tailored to each individual and hands on care such as soft tissue and joint mobilizations to return to function, maximize independence and reduce risk of re-injury.

Little known fact: physical therapy is not just for people after injury or accidents. So if you have knee pain after 30 minutes of running or noticed that you can no longer reach the top cabinet, you could probably benefit from physical therapy!

For many patients, it’s now easier than ever to get physical therapy. You can schedule directly with a PT and we will send the doctor of your choice our initial evaluation with plan of care. We also accept referrals from the following providers: MD’s, PA’s, NP’s, DO’s, PDM’s, DDS’s and DC’s.

Just like other healthcare professionals, PT’s can specialize in a variety of areas. These include:

• Geriatrics
• Neurology
• Oncology
• Orthopedics
• Pediatrics
• Sports
• Spine
• Women’s health
• Wound care
• Cardiopulmonary & clinical electrophysiology.

We work in variety of settings including: inpatient, outpatient, schools, home health, skilled nursing, and fitness facilities. Physical therapy is for anyone and everyone with mobility restrictions and is a proven way to reduce pain and maximize function throughout one’s life.

Katherine Atiyeh, PT, DPT is a physical therapist at Ochsner Therapy and Wellness Lapalco. To schedule an appointment, please call 504-842-4348.