In this era of wellness, you might engage with multiple health professionals—from your primary care physician and dermatologist to your therapist and dietitian—to take care of all aspects of your body. That may soon include a physical therapist.
“I know a number of clinics that are trying to implement an annual visit to a physical therapist—similar to how you would see your primary physician for a yearly physical,” says Katie Flores, a professor of physical therapy at California State University, Northridge.
What Is Preventive Physical Therapy?
Typically, you go to physical therapy because you’re trying to recover from an injury. But at a preventive physical therapy check-up, you can expect to take similar tests of strength, flexibility, balance, and gait. The results of these assessments determine where you could be prone to injury when walking, running, playing sports, or even just performing daily chores, Flores says.
In the same way that tests at your annual physical might indicate high blood pressure or an irregular heart rate, the results of these evaluations can do the same. “For instance, slower…
