When most people think of physical therapy, they think of something generic that a doctor orders after an injury. But p.t. can be much more. By analyzing the way you walk, bend, sit, and carry yourself, physical therapists can prevent injuries and help you avoid future surgeries and chronic pain.
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That’s why Dr. Shirley Sahrmann, professor emerita of physical therapy at Washington University School of Medicine, whose renowned career has spanned more than half a century, has been strongly recommending annual physical therapy exams. Think of it, as a routine check-up, much like dental cleanings.
Why do we need it? Sahrmann explains to St. Louis magazine: “When you do an activity over and over again, your body adapts to that activity. If you play tennis, your arm gets bigger on that side; if you do karate you get adaptations in your hip and leg. Even if you just sit, you lean, you slump, your neck goes forward.” The result is that either your body fails to build up the muscles to support itself, or it overbuilds certain muscles and throws off your skeletal symmetry.
Sahrmann, who began work at the end of the polio era and spent nine years taking care of patients who’d suffered head injuries or strokes, has become one of the nation’s pioneers in pushing the concept of a movement system, emphasizing the subtle, necessary interconnections of muscles and bones and nerves but also heart, lungs, and the endocrine system.
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“You need to have an exam by a body expert at least once a year,” she states. “Even if insurance doesn’t cover it, the cost is no more than you’d pay a personal trainer. I think we could substantially reduce the number of injuries and slow the process of osteoarthritis as people age.” She’s not saying arthritis can be eliminated altogether—but it can be delayed and its effects minimized. “There’s evidence that if a joint is lax, or you have injury, or your muscles are weak, you can get these arthritic changes.”
Ultimately, she’s saying, if you move right, you lower the chance of injury—whether you’re an Olympian or a couch potato.
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Curated article from St. Louis Magazine
