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October is National Physical Therapy Month

  • Published
  • By Maj. Lee Warlick
  • Robins Air Force Base PT Flight Commander
WASHINGTON (AFNS) --  October is National Physical Therapy Month, an annual observation hosted by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) to highlight how America's 88,000 physical therapy professionals can help transform lives by restoring and improving motion.  

This is reflected in the APTA's new vision: "Transforming society by optimizing movements to improve the human experience." 

Improving one's mobility can help not only improve musculoskeletal pain and function but also reduce the risk of life-threatening diseases and conditions, such as diabetes, heart attacks and strokes. 

The benefits of physical therapy abound, but here are a few of the major ones underscored by the APTA:

· "Physical therapists significantly improve mobility and ability to perform daily activities."
· "In many cases, physical therapists provide an alternative to painful and expensive surgery."
· "In many cases, physical therapists manage or eliminate pain without long-term use of prescription medications."

Physical therapists working in a military setting are allowed many unique opportunities.  They practice advanced clinical privileges, including but not limited to, seeing patients without a referral, prescribing certain medications, and at some facilities ordering diagnostic images and referring patients to a specialist.  These therapists also employ a variety of evidence-based services such as trigger point dry needling, aquatic therapy, gait analysis, running improvement, therapeutic taping, manual therapy and osteopathic manipulation.  Therapists and patients collaborate to set goals and a plan of care, and patients play an active role in carrying out their physical therapy programs. 

Most military physical therapists serve patients in an outpatient clinic, evaluating and treating neuromuscular and musculoskeletal injuries/conditions.  Others may work with inpatients, school-age students, special tactics teams.  Some therapists conduct research while some are physical therapy instructors.  When the call arises, physical therapists are deployed to care for patients in theater and even have the opportunity to serve in overseas humanitarian missions. 

For more information about National Physical Therapy Month in general, visit www.apta.org and www.MoveForwardPT.com, where the public can also learn more about conditions that can be treated with physical therapy.