October is National Physical Therapy Month. Chuck Miller, licensed physical therapist with JET Physical Therapy in Wellman, spoke with KCII News this week about the types of patients that use their services and the conditions they treat them for, “Physical therapy is something for people of any age. We have patients in our clinic from toddlers up to people in their 90s. Most of the time in our clinic we see people with orthopedic injuries or conditions. We do see other things as well like vertigo, or balance deficits. Most of the time when people come here, they have something bothering them from a pain standpoint or they have an activity that they can’t do as well as they would like to do.”

 Physical therapy can be used as an alternative to other treatments. He says that a typical session is around 40 minutes in length and described what that entails, “We’re kind of checking in with the patient if it’s someone who is coming back in after their first visit, finding out how they responded. Other things like soft tissue massage, joint mobilization, strengthening, motor control, and stabilization activities too. There are other things we can incorporate into our treatment like dry needling, or other instruments to decrease muscle spasm. At the end of our session  we’re reviewing what they should be doing on their own.”

Miller advises prospective patients to make sure they check with doctors and insurance before using physical therapy to determine which services and procedures may be covered and if they need a referral.