Physical Therapy worth the cost?

I hope no one actually takes this seriously. Are you a PT? You seem to think you know what PT's do, but this statement is definitely not all the way true. PT is not just exercise and not just aggressive exercise. Some people don't need aggressive exercise, they need more

fine control type of exercises to get them to activate correct muscles with the right timing. If someone is doing an aggressive exercise but compensating with the wrong muscles, it is useless. Also, manual therapy (joint mobilizations or soft tissue work) is definitely something PT's also do and something that can be beneficial. I agree that modalities are for the

most part useless and research does not support them. I work with 20+ PT's and none of us use modalities.

To the OP, I may be bias, but I definitely think PT can be helpful with running injuries or injuries in general. That is our job! Of course there are good and bad PTs, just like any profession so you may have to do a little homework first to research PTs in your area. But a good PT will use a combination of exercises, manual therapy (if needed ) and movement retraining. People get injured in the first place usually because they have muscle im balances and are not moving correctly.

800 dude wrote:

In my experience, PTs are much more useful than doctors. Even the star sports doctors I saw usually just said "stop running" or "run less." I've had two really good PTs who were able to quickly diagnose an issue and give me exercises to fix it. In both cases, I only went to a couple of sessions. They wanted me to do more (like 6 weeks), but I just kept religiously doing the exercises on my own, and the issues disappeared very quickly.

+1

Are PTs trained to do shockwave therapy?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20855554

or do you have to go to an MD for this?

There are different machines that are used to accomplish this. Some can be used by PT's, others not.This is no different than PRP and Prolotherapy (both injections), and Graston (conservative). The goal is to reintroduce the body's primary inflammatory response. In theory, they work, but the success is dependent on severity and chronicity of the problem, the accuracy in location of delivery of the treatment, and adherence to the self care after treatment.I have seen numerous patients have this for plantar fasciopathy and they all failed. All were placed in a boot after the treatment, which I think was the downfall. Graston is cheaper and you remain functional after treatment, which I personally think is important.

knockknock wrote:

Are PTs trained to do shockwave therapy?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20855554

or do you have to go to an MD for this?

Not specifically about running, but after my quack doctor misdiagnosed my torn shoulder as bursitis and prescribed antinflammatories, after 3 years my shoulder was so weak/inflexible that any sudden movement caused eye-watering pain. I went twice a weak to a PT for months, but at the end of that time I had the use of my shoulder back. Just going regularly, standard treatments, also doing exercises at home got me back. I believe more in PTs than doctors. The same doctor misdiagnosed by torn achilles as an ankle sprain, lol.

Thanks for the info. I'm particularly interested in shockwave therapy for high hamstring tendinopathy/itis. Not sure which i have but even with all of the improvement in my flexibility and strength, there is severe tightness and tenderness at the insertion points on both ham tendons that won't seem to budge after 10 weeks of complete dedication to PT.

This article suggests it works if done using this particular protocol. I wasn't sure if this is something the PT would be open to or not.

They may be open to it. Finding someone to do it may be an issue depending on where you live.

I broke my femur last November and also had a syndesmosis injury of my ankle.

The PT was absolutely worth it for me. I would not have progressed nearly as fast or as well without their help and assistance.

Of course this was a major traumatic injury not the sort of mild soft tissue running specific injury the OP is talking about.

A good physio can be extremely helpful. A bad/average one, is a waste of time.