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400 Collins Rd NE, MS 154-100 Cedar Rapids, IA 52498
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Physical Therapist Hiawatha
Expertise
This question may seem a bit too obvious, but you need to feel confident with your treatment therapist and their ability to execute proper exercises. If you don't feel like they fully understand what they are doing, you're going to struggle to get through workouts properly.
How can you gauge a therapist's knowledge? Talk to them about the procedures, about what kind of issues they treat, and then research their claims online. Although you shouldn't diagnose yourself online, you can get a feel for your treatments on the internet.
Friendliness
A good therapist should be someone to whom you can relate with ease. You don't necessarily have to be friends, but you should be friendly. They should be able to keep up a good conversation with you while you're going through challenging routines.
Friendliness is essential because it helps you stay calm and focused during your routines. However, a therapist shouldn't be excessively friendly or somebody who focuses more on conversation than your treatment. A delicate balance must be achieved to ensure that you get the best quality treatment.
Patience
At certain points during your treatment, you're going to struggle with a routine and may even get frustrated or lash out at your physical therapist. This kind of behavior isn't okay, but a good therapist needs to have the patience to wave it off and focus strictly on getting you the care and attention that you need.
For example, if you end up in a shouting match with your therapist because you said something that they didn't like, you may need to seek out a new treatment specialist. Not only will the two of you struggle to get along after such an incident, but they may also lack the patience to help you manage your issues.
Positivity
Positivism is often a challenge for a physical therapist to maintain. Simply put, they may be in a position where they have to help somebody who is demanding or who may not respond well to physical treatment. Even worse, they may work with somebody who's injuries are so severe that therapy can feel hopeless.
However, a therapist must maintain a positive attitude at all times during treatment and keep their patients focused on success. This skill is often a tough one to gain and support and can take a lot out of a therapist. However, an excellent medical professional will work hard to keep a smile on their face to keep their patients focused on success.
Realistic
On the flip side of a positive attitude is a realistic understanding of what to expect from a patient. Simply put, a therapist shouldn't make promises that their treatment just cannot keep. For example, telling a person with paralysis that they'll walk again may not be realistic and could cause them pain if they try to work too hard for their condition.
Even worse, unrealistic claims can cause a patient to expect too much from their treatment and to react when they don't achieve those goals. Therefore, you need to find a therapist who doesn't say everything that you want to hear but who has a positive attitude that real gains can be made if you work hard and focus on your treatment.
Memory
A good medical specialist typically works with hundreds of people and has many different cases with which they work. However, a great therapist is a lot like a teacher: they usually remember the names and personalities of most of their patients. If your therapist cannot remember your name or struggles to remember your case history, you may want to consider somebody else.
While a poor memory doesn't necessarily make a therapist bad, a weak memory can complicate your procedure. For example, they may forget that they already treated one treatment with you and try it again. This mistake could cause injury if the treatment is too hard on your body and wastes the time of both you and your treatment specialist.
Caring
When you're working with a physical therapist, you may experience a surprising array of problems and pains that can make your treatment challenging. Therefore, your therapist must be a caring individual who understands this pain and who can take steps to minimize it. Most of the time, you're going to find that most treatment specialists possess this character trait.
However, you may run into somebody who struggles to maintain an empathetic attitude or who wants to get their work done as quickly as possible. This situation can be very troubling because you may end up getting treatment that the specialist thinks is right but which doesn't feel right for you. So make sure that you do a lot of research about a therapist's personality before choosing one.
Communication
Although your therapist may possess many great traits that make them worth consideration, you need to find someone who can easily communicate. Working with somebody who fully understands your treatment modalities but who cannot discuss them with you is going to be a very frustrating situation that can complicate your treatment effectiveness.
For example, your therapist needs to know how to discuss your treatment calmly and rationally without getting upset if you have questions or need help figuring something out. Similarly, they must have the skills necessary to address each aspect of your care in a way that satisfies your needs without confusing you or surprising you later during your treatment.
You Need to Be the Priority
Last, but not least, you need to find a therapist who has your best intentions in mind. For example, you need to see a therapist who isn't trying to use you a test case and who can provide detailed treatment no matter what is going on in their lives. This kind of therapist offers the best care because they put aside their personal problems and work for you.
So if you're looking for a high-quality physical therapist in the Hiawatha, Iowa area who has your best needs in mind, please make sure to reach out to us at Rec Center Physical Therapy to set up an appointment. Our experts will work with you to manage your pain and help improve your mobility as much as possible.
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