Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

During your first visit, expect to arrive 15 minutes early to complete paperwork. During your evaluation with the therapist, you will discuss your medical history, your health habits, the current problems that led you to seek therapy, and any treatments you've already had. You will also discuss what goals are most important to you so your therapist is focused on your specific priorities.

After the discussion part of your evaluation, your therapist may palpate, or touch, the areas of your pain or problem. Your therapist may also check how well your joints move, how strong your muscles are and how well you can control them, and how well your nerves are sending and receiving signals. Your therapist may also initiate treatment if there is time.

By the end of the session, the therapist will have created a plan of care that includes expected treatments and goals that are tailored to you. Your therapist will also tell you how many appointments you should schedule per week and the expected number of weeks of therapy you should need.

1. Photo identification
2. Your preferred payment method
3. Physical therapy referral (required for Medicare, insurance authorization for Veterans Affairs) optional for all else)
4. Insurance Card (Medicare only)
5. How should I dress?
6. Wear clothing that does not limit your movement and may be easily manipulated to expose the areas to be examined. Athletic attire, yoga pants, and leggings are all good choices. If your neck is causing you problems, it is better to wear something with a low neckline rather than a turtleneck, for example.

Wear clothing that does not limit your movement and may be easily manipulated to expose the areas to be examined. Athletic attire, yoga pants, and leggings are all good choices. If your neck is causing you problems, it is better to wear something with a low neckline rather than a turtleneck, for example.

Our sessions are approximately one-hour long.

This is highly variable and depends on your diagnosis, the severity of your impairments, your past medical history, and numerous other factors that are specific to you. After your evaluation, your therapist will estimate how many treatments you will need. Your therapist will also re-evaluate you on a monthly basis to assess the progress you are making and decide whether any changes should be made to your plan

Most physical therapists have earned a doctoral degree in physical therapy, which requires 3 years of coursework beyond a bachelor's degree and a series of extensive clinical internships. If a therapist has earned this distinction, you will often see "DPT," doctor of physical therapy, after his or her name. Therapists who do not have their doctoral degrees, however, are some of the most experienced in the clinic, as the doctoral degree did not become widely available until the early 2000s. All therapists, regardless of entry degree, pass a national board and are licensed in their state of practice. To stay licensed, all must take continuing education courses. At Physical Therapy Your Way, most of our therapists take considerably more coursework than that required for licensure.

Physical therapists are experts in human movement. We work to prevent injury and immobility, and rehabilitate patients after non-preventable injury or surgery. Physical therapists work with people of all ages and with myriad movement goals, from getting out of a chair to competing in athletics. Some physical therapists, like those at Physical Therapy Your Way, specialize in the movement and function of certain parts of the human body - the inner ear, the jaw, the pelvic floor, the lymphatic system. All physical therapists, regardless of their specialty, are trained first as generalists and consider how your area of concern relates to your overall function. Physical therapists are the experts at helping you move more freely so you can do the things that matter the most to you.

The biggest difference between pelvic floor evaluations and other physical therapy evaluations is that some of the muscles, nerves, and connective tissues we are evaluating may only be observed with the patient undressed and may only be palpated internally through the vagina or rectum. Some therapists conduct this testing on the first visit, and others wait until the second, or later.

When you fill out your intake paperwork, you will find a form of informed consent for internal testing. PLEASE NOTE THAT WE ARE ABLE TO TREAT YOU, OMITTING ANY INTERNAL WORK, IF YOU DO NOT CONSENT, AND WE DO NOT PERFORM INTERNAL WORK ON PEDIATRIC PATIENTS. You always have the right to have a third person present in the room, and may either bring a person of your choice or inform us in advance that you would like us to provide someone. We'll be sure to have the appropriate staff available.

During a vestibular evaluation, you should expect testing of how you react to position changes. You should also expect more testing of your eyes because of the connections between the vestibular and visual systems. You may even be asked to wear special goggles so that our therapists may better see your eye movements. Some of this testing may temporarily increase dizziness or induce nausea. This is normal. We will provide time and space for you to return to normal before going home.

Choose Physical Therapy Your Way because you want attentive care from the most skilled specialty therapists in the area. Physical Therapy Your Way provides advanced care in the specialty areas of pelvic floor, vestibular rehabilitation, lymphedema management, and chronic pain. Our talented therapists have completed postgraduate degrees and attended extensive continuous education courses in their areas of specialization.

Our team listens to and thoroughly evaluates each patient, creating personalized, holistic plans of care to help you reach the goals that matter most to you. Each hour-long session is one-on-one with a physical therapist, not a technician, ensuring you get the time and attention you deserve. As a trusting patient-therapist team, we can accomplish amazing things! Call us today at (571) 312-6966 to get started.

Choose Physical Therapy Your Way because you want attentive care from the most skilled specialty therapists in the area. Physical Therapy Your Way provides advanced care in the specialty areas of pelvic floor, vestibular rehabilitation, lymphedema management, and chronic pain. Our talented therapists have completed postgraduate degrees and attended extensive continuous education courses in their areas of specialization.

Our team listens to and thoroughly evaluates each patient, creating personalized, holistic plans of care to help you reach the goals that matter most to you. Each hour-long session is one-on-one with a physical therapist, not a technician, ensuring you get the time and attention you deserve. As a trusting patient-therapist team, we can accomplish amazing things! Call us today at (571) 312-6966 to get started.

All of our evaluations are completed by licensed physical therapists who have passed a national board examination. Treatments are either with those therapists or with our one physical therapy assistant (PTA) who has earned a 2-year degree, passed a national board examination, and has more than 30 years' clinical experience.

Sometimes. Dry needling, for example, may be painful, but that is an optional treatment modality. Therapy is not painful for most of the conditions we treat at Physical Therapy Your Way. We use gentle techniques with our pelvic floor and chronic pain patients. Lymphedema management also uses gentle techniques. For many patients, one of the primary objectives of physical therapy is pain relief. We accomplish this using the latest in pain neuroscience, hands-on techniques, physical movement, and less frequently modalities such as ultrasound and electrical stimulation.

While your therapy will be tailored to exactly what you need, in general physical therapy treatments fall under the following categories:

• Manual Therapy: This is hands-on therapy for the movement of your muscles, joints, nerves, lymphatics, veins, connective tissues, and any other parts of your body that need movement to decrease pain and improve function.
• Therapeutic Exercise: This is strengthening, stretching, and building endurance in a way that is specific to your needs and progresses as you are ready.
• Neuromuscular Rehabilitation: This includes teaching you to better control your proprioception, your sense of where you are in space, and your kinesthetic awareness, your sense of how your body is moving. This may include work on posture or balance, breathing techniques to control your diaphragm and help your body relax, or how to correctly contract the muscles of your pelvic floor.
• Therapeutic Activities: This includes everyday activities practiced in a way that will help you return to living life fully. This may mean practicing correctly putting on lymphatic compression garments, practicing a pelvic floor muscle contraction before sneezing to help prevent a leak, or practicing progressive exposure to busy environments for patients being treated for certain vestibular disorders.
• Self Care: This includes discussion of how to care for yourself, for example learning details of skin care for lymphedema or post-surgical patients, or proper diet for patients with constipation or urinary urge.
• Modalities: This includes any agent used in your treatment. Examples include ultrasound, electrical stimulation, dry needling, electromyography, and real-time ultrasound. Some of these are used for pain reduction, others to help stimulate healing, and still others for biofeedback as tools to help you learn how to control and coordinate your movements.

No. Physical therapists do not perform massage in the way most people think of massage. We do perform hands-on techniques that sometimes involve softly stroking the skin to reduce swelling or kneading muscles to get them to relax, for example. These techniques may feel similar to massage. The difference is that we use these techniques in a targeted way, only when needed, with the ultimate goal of improving movement and function.

Medicare patients pay their coinsurance unless you have a secondary insurance at the time of service. Our office bills the Veteran's Administration for VA patients. All other patients pay for physical therapy services in full at the time of treatment. We provide an itemized receipt along with all the information you need to file a claim for out of network benefits with your insurance company.

Medicare patients pay their coinsurance unless you have a secondary insurance at the time of service. Our office bills the Veteran's Administration for VA patients. All other patients pay for physical therapy services in full at the time of treatment. We provide an itemized receipt along with all the information you need to file a claim for out of network benefits with your insurance company.

You will have to maintain your results. To keep our bodies healthy, all people need to exercise our hearts and lungs through aerobic exercise, maintain strong and flexible muscles, and maintain balance and agility. You may also have some specific exercises, ways of modifying everyday activities, or dietary practices that you should continue as part of a healthy lifestyle.

YOUR RIGHT TO A "GOOD FAITH ESTIMATE"

You have the right to receive a “Good Faith Estimate” explaining how much your medical care will cost. Under the law, health care providers need to give patients who don’t have insurance or who are not using insurance an estimate of the bill for medical items and services.

• You have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate for the total expected cost of any non-emergency items or services. This includes related costs like medical tests, prescription drugs, equipment, and hospital fees.
• Make sure your health care provider gives you a Good Faith Estimate in writing at least 1 business day before your medical service or item. You can also ask your healthcare provider, and any other provider you choose, for a Good Faith Estimate before you schedule an item or service.
• If you receive a bill that is at least $400 more than your Good Faith Estimate, you can dispute the bill.
• Make sure to save a copy or picture of your Good Faith Estimate.

For questions or more information about your right to a Good Faith Estimate, visit www.cms.gov/nosurprises or call our number on our website for more information.