Southwest Orthopaedic Physical Therapy Information Headquarters

A physical therapist is not a medical provider that every person typically sees in a year. It may not be until an accident or injury that you are even introduced to what physical therapy is and how it can help. It is this reason that may make people nervous about what to expect for their first visit. It is a nervousness that does not need to happen and can be easily avoided if you know what to expect. It is important to bring these things to your first visit to make your visit a lot easier:

When you become a physical therapy patient, especially if your injury involves the lower limb, you will most likely hear the term PROPRIOCEPTION.In a nutshell, proprioception is your sense of position throughout your body.But, before we explore this exceptional phenomenon further, let me explain to you the "Nervous System 101":

When a patient begins rehab, one of the first questions I hear as a physical therapist is "how long is this going to take to get better?". After 23 years of practice,it has become evident that there are many variables involved. Below are 5 of the top factors that determine the speed of healing and the progress of rehab after injury or surgery.

Growing pains are a very common complaint in young children and adolesents. Approximately 4-50% of all children and adolesents from the age of 5 to 14 years have complaints of some type of growing pains. Growing pains are usually a result of rapid growth. Inflammation can occur around the site of tendon insertion. The tendon will also pull on the growth plate, causing inflammation and pain. "Bone" aches and pains are common in the evening time and when the child is trying to sleep. Young athletic children will also experience increased pain during times of increased activity. Common causes of growth related pain in young athletes is Osgood-Schlatter Disease and Sever's Disease.

October 2010 was a very different time for our patient Valerie. She recalls feeling defeated by life and had no endurance or strength to complete her everyday tasks. In June, Valerie had been diagnosed with Pancreatic Acinar Cell Carcinoma and had 2/3 of her pancreas, 80% of her stomach, intestine and colon removed. She was referred to Southwest Orthopaedic Physical Therapy by the New Mexico Cancer Center after undergoing surgery and 4 months of Chemotherapy.

Shoulder Impimgement syndrome is a collective term that is a result of the shoulder acquiring tendinitis, bursitis or both. It is characterized by shoulder and/or arm pain when raising the arm and causes problems with arm function. Your PT can help you relieve the pain and treat your shoulder as well as teach you how to prevent shoulder problems from returning.

"Workers Compensation" may be a term that many are familiar with but you don't truly understand everything about it until you are injured on the job. People that are injured on the job in Albuquerque, New Mexico may be familiar with their companies' workers compensation company and their assigned adjuster, but many may not know about the Workers' Compensation Association of New Mexico. This group of people makes the work of a provider and adjusters a lot easier which in turn helps any injured worker. On May 11, 2011, the association began their annual conference and for SWOPT, it was the place to be.

Many people have never heard of physical therapy until a doctor suggests you try it for some sort of injury, after an accident, or if you have exhausted all other treatment options. Physical therapy is becoming more and more popular as a specialized treatment for many injuries and ailments people have. If physical therapy is unfamiliar to you, a big question you may have is how much will it cost. While we can not tell you exactly how much you will pay, we can give an estimate and explanation for what physical therapy will cost.

1. LOCATION: Albuquerque Metropolitan area is one of the largest metro areas in the US. statistics have shown over and over that the more convenient the proximity to the physical therapy clinic the direct correlation at to success of PT outcomes.

I will do my best to take some of the mystery out of some of the communication tools that have popped up on the Internet in recent years.