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Why You Should Get PT NOW.

Pretend with us for a minute that you roll over next Tuesday morning and feel a twinge in your back. As you get up and get moving, that twinge continues to persist, even worsening throughout the course of the day. That evening, you take a few ibuprofen and head to bed, hoping that in the morning the pain will be gone. But it isn’t.

Now, while we certainly hope this doesn’t happen to you, what would your first move be? For some of you, the instinct may be to keep up that “wait and see” routine for a few days in the hopes that a few ibuprofen here and there and a little rest will do the trick. Others may go ahead and call their doctor to book the first available appointment. But how many of you considered a third route – physical therapy?

A 2015 Health Services Research study compared the routes, and the findings were eye opening. To paraphrase it for you, Patient A and Patient B went to their doctor on the same day. Patient A was referred straight to physical therapy, and was able to book an appointment two days later. Patient B was send to get an MRI, then see a specialist. Given current wait times for imaging and to see a specialist, Patient B was not seen again until three weeks later, when they were referred to physical therapy by their specialist.

Frustrating for Patient B, right? Every day counts when you’re in pain, and a few weeks can make a HUGE difference. But if the three week delay in feeling better doesn’t move you, let’s look at the dramatic cost difference between the two. Over the course of a year, Patient A spent $1,871 in low back pain related costs. Patient B spent $6,664. That’s a $4,793 difference.

Thanks to Oklahoma’s direct access laws, if a patient is suffering from musculoskeletal pain and wants to make an appointment with a physical therapist, they generally can now go straight to a PT.

Another added bonus of heading straight to the PT? The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine found that patients who were sent to a physical therapy consult were 35% less likely to be prescribed opioids, even if they didn’t keep up with physical therapy after the initial evaluation. Great news, since opioids are highly addictive and don’t treat pain – they only mask it.

If any of this sounds revolutionary to you, we’re sorry. We know that physical therapy is the best first line of defense against musculoskeletal pain*, but we’ve done a poor job of shouting it from the rooftops. So we’re making a change. Today, we’re unveiling a new campaign that’s making it easier than ever for you to schedule with us. We’re calling it PT Central NOW, because getting in NOW gets you better, faster and saves you a whole lot of money.

We’ve put ALL the convenient ways to contact us in one place, so if you’re feeling an ache, pain, or strain, simply click here to get started. Got a friend or family member you think could benefit from getting in ASAP? Tell them to visit PTCentralNow.org!

* Note: The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) thinks so, too. So much so that they’ve put physical therapy on the list of CDC-recommended alternatives to opioids. And they’re not the only ones convinced. Insurance companies are starting to take note and respond accordingly. Humana has lifted their prior authorization requirement for outpatient physical therapy and Medicare is no longer capping how much physical, occupational, or speech therapy beneficiaries are eligible for, as long as their doctor confirms the need for therapy.

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