The Power of Physical Therapy – Why PT is more than just rehab

Physical therapy isn’t just about stretches or rehab—it's a science of movement. It is a clinical discipline focused on restoring motion, reducing pain, and improving function. PT goes deeper than exercise. It's about understanding biomechanics, neuromuscular patterns, and the body's natural healing timelines. PTs are true movement detectives—assessing, diagnosing, and guiding recovery with precision.

As therapists often say, "Motion is lotion." Movement heals—but only when it's intentional. When we stop moving, everything else slows down too. Research shows that physical therapy reduces reliance on opioids, prevents surgery, improves stroke and Parkinson's outcomes, supports heart health, and helps prevent deadly falls.

But PT isn't just reactive; it's proactive. From preventing injuries and improving posture to strengthening bones and muscles, proactive care keeps you living strong. Beyond the physical, PT empowers—building confidence, trust, and community.

What is your next step? See your PT for a baseline of strength, balance, and flexibility—don't wait for pain to start. Remember: physical therapy isn't a luxury; it's a lifeline.

Stay tuned for simple ways to stay strong, move well, and live healthy—because movement is therapy.

Stay healthy, California! 🌿

Thank you for listening to Healthy California.

If you have tried all my suggestions and are still having trouble with your health, and would like an appointment with me, please email me, text, or call me via the contact information below.

My contact:

Linda Brown, MPT, Doctoral Candidate Functional Nutrition

916-426-2543

linda@heal-throughfood.com

www.heal-throughfood.com

Transcript

Hello, and welcome to Healthy California Podcast.

00:00:07

My name is Linda Brown, and I am the host of Healthy California, where my goal is to help educate you on your daily choices so we all can become healthy.

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I believe you, your family, your neighbor, and your community are all looking for better ways and simple ways to return to being healthy.

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Many of you have health issues or have family that's going through tough times that seemingly have no answers. It's frustrating.

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There are questions about health, environment, foods, exercise, and lifestyle, and it can be all overwhelming.

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And who do you believe? And where's the science behind it?

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This podcast will unravel the mystery behind being unhealthy and talk about little things that we can do in our lives to make a positive change in our health from all angles.

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So to be healthy, we need to have physical health, mental health, environmental health, financial and social health, and of course, spiritual health.

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Let's answer some of these questions to get healthy.

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What good is just listening to a podcast?

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I will give you resources as well, ways to take steps and make positive changes in your life to becoming healthy.

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This is a journey, not an assignment, so be kind to yourself.

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Okay, welcome back, California.

00:01:17

This is Linda Brown, your physical therapist and your functional nutritionist here in California.

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This week, we are talking about physical therapy, one of my favorite subjects.

00:01:28

So what is physical therapy?

00:01:31

Physical therapy is a clinical discipline.

00:01:34

It's focused on restoring movement, reducing pain, and improving function, function in general, daily function, daily life.

00:01:44

But it's not just about exercises and stretches. It's about understanding the body's biomechanics. That's how we move, biomechanics.

00:01:54

And the neuromuscular patterns, like how your muscles move and the patterns that they have, and healing timelines.

00:02:03

PTs are movement experts. We're movement detectives. We assess, diagnose, and guide recovery with precision.

00:02:12

That's what we do.

00:02:13

We are the experts at movement, and the body is meant to move.

00:02:18

Sometimes you'll hear therapists say motion is lotion, which that is absolutely true.

00:02:23

Movement heals, but only when it's intentional.

00:02:28

So our body was meant to move. We have to move.

00:02:32

Our whole body and the systems in our body are dependent on movement.

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And when we don't move, the whole system stops.

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So movement is therapy.

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You hear people say that sometimes as well. Movement is therapy.

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The body was meant to move.

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It's how we are created.

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When we stop moving, everything comes to a stop, even our digestive system.

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Our ribs move in and out every time we breathe and that the movement of our ribs help our lymph system. It helps our blood return back to the heart.

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There's so many things that are dependent on movement that we have to move.

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So why is physical therapy important?

00:03:20

research shows that physical therapy can reduce reliance on medications, pain medications, opioids.

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Opioids are a big deal. They're very addictive.

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So physical therapy can reduce the reliance on pain medication.

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And actually can, not just the reliance, but it can reduce the need for pain medication because when you are moving and are active, you have more pain tolerance.

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Physical therapy can also prevent surgery in conditions like low back pain or meniscal tears or rotator cuff tears or anything that is a surgical condition.

00:04:06

Physical therapy can help prevent that if caught in time or help you through the process of movement or of stretching to be able to tolerate pain or movement so that you don't have to have surgery. Because surgery is not always the answer.

00:04:25

Physical therapy can improve outcomes in stroke, Parkinson's, post-operative recovery.

00:04:32

So if you do go through surgery, physical therapy can improve the outcome of that.

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So if you had knee surgery, you're going to do better after surgery if you have seen a physical therapist rather than if you've done it on your own.

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That is true over and over, especially with back surgery, with any type of surgery, shoulder surgery, back surgery.

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So physical therapy is necessary post-surgically.

00:05:00

Physical therapy can also reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

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And, you know, when we think of movement, we think of biomechanics.

00:05:12

That's what our profession is an expert at.

00:05:14

So how does physical therapy reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes?

00:05:19

Physical therapy can reduce the risk of a lot of diseases.

00:05:22

And that's just because of movement.

00:05:26

In general, movement is, if you're moving, your body is doing better.

00:05:32

Your immune system is going to be better.

00:05:34

Your movement patterns are going to be better.

00:05:37

Your digestive system is going to be better just by moving.

00:05:40

And physical therapy can get you moving.

00:05:44

Sometimes we don't want to move because we're in so much pain, and so movement is the last thing you want to do.

00:05:51

However, with physical therapy, we can show you ways to make movement easier, to make it less painful, or to find other ways to get around that movement.

00:06:03

Maybe your back is painful and you can't bend over to tie your shoe.

00:06:08

Maybe we can find other ways that you can do that. You don't know that until you have talked to a physical therapist.

00:06:15

So yeah, physical therapy can reduce some diseases just because we are showing you how to move and we're preventing you from getting other diseases because you are moving.

00:06:27

So movement is, again, is important.

00:06:30

Physical therapy can also help reduce things like falls. We do a lot of balance work.

00:06:36

There are more people that die from falls, after 65, there are more people that die from falls than from cancer.

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And we spend a lot of time trying to prevent cancer and do the right things so we don't get cancer as far as, you know, we get breast exams, we get prostate exams because we don't want to get cancer, but the chances are if you're 65 and older, you are probably going to die from a fall or fall-related injury, then you are dying from cancer.

00:07:10

So physical therapy will also design a routine specifically for you.

00:07:17

So you're not necessarily going to get a canned workout that everyone else gets.

00:07:22

Your physical therapist will design a specific routine or exercise program or stretch program or functional program that is specifically for you and your needs to prevent you from injury, from falls, or to improve your outcomes in life or in sports.

00:07:45

So what are the benefits?

00:07:47

I just told you why physical therapy is important, but what are the benefits really?

00:07:52

Physical therapy should be mostly proactive and not reactive,

00:07:56

When we think of physical therapy, we think of going to a physical therapist more reactively.

00:08:02

So like after surgery, we might see a physical therapist.

00:08:07

After an injury or a fall, we might see a physical therapist.

00:08:10

We may see a physical therapist for pelvic floor disorders or pain management or wound care.

00:08:17

You might see a physical therapist in a hospital or a nursing home or in-home care.

00:08:23

That's all reactive.

00:08:26

But what if you could prevent some of that?

00:08:28

So be proactive.

00:08:31

Your physical therapist can help you reduce injuries or pain or prevent you from surgery, so why not be proactive now?

00:08:44

So a proactive approach to physical therapy are physical therapists can optimize performance.

00:08:52

Athletes will use a physical therapist to optimize their performance in whatever sport.

00:08:59

You know, a physical therapist can show you how to be efficient in your movements, how to stretch or strengthen, to stay in balance, in postural balance.

00:09:10

So a physical therapist can optimize performance and not just in athletes, in anybody.

00:09:15

Physical therapists can help you prevent falls. and after a certain age, we are at higher risk for falls.

00:09:23

And then when we are at a higher risk for falls, our life gets smaller.

00:09:29

Our circle gets smaller.

00:09:32

So we may not go out and walk in a park anymore because we're afraid of falling.

00:09:37

We may not take stairs anymore because we're afraid of falling.

00:09:40

We may not go out with our friends because we're afraid of falling.

00:09:45

So our world gets small when we are afraid of falling, and physical therapy can help with that.

00:09:53

Physical therapy can help prevent repetitive strains.

00:09:59

So if you have a 8 to 5 job, chances are in that time, in that 8 hour time that you're working, you are doing the same movement over and over, many times, whether it's sitting at

00:10:13

a computer or at a cash register or picking fruit or in a store where you're putting clothes on a hanger, chances are no matter what it is you're doing in that eight-hour workday, you're probably doing a lot of the same things over and over.

00:10:31

So physical therapy can help you prevent or reduce repetitive strains.

00:10:36

Also, I can tell you I spend most of my physical therapy days correcting posture, correcting imbalances in your body, and imbalance in your body will lead to injury.

00:10:51

So if you are tight in the front and weak in the back, your shoulders are going to roll forward and then you're going to start having shoulder problems or back problems.

00:11:01

If you're tight in your hip flexors, you're going to start having back problems.

00:11:04

You're going to start walking almost in that like C-shaped.

00:11:08

So you have to work on your posture because the body was meant to be in a certain posture.

00:11:14

And when you are in that perfect posture, your lungs can expand, your digestive system can do what it's supposed to be doing, your bladder and your bowels are going to be working properly.

00:11:26

So just being in a good posture can keep you healthy, not just in your muscles and your joints, but also in your organs.

00:11:36

So I can tell you by experience that in my physical therapy practice, I am mostly working on posture correction.

00:11:48

And with physical therapy, you know, if you're going to be proactive, in physical therapy or using physical therapy to be proactive, you're correcting muscle imbalances.

00:11:57

You're building strong bones.

00:11:59

By exercising, you're building strong bones.

00:12:01

So if you do happen to accidentally fall, chances are your bones are going to be strong enough to take that hit.

00:12:07

So building strong bones is a proactive approach.

00:12:11

When you build muscles, you also build tendon and ligament strength.

00:12:16

And when you build strong muscles, you can take on hits.

00:12:21

So I'll give you an example.

00:12:24

I had a patient who was, that didn't work out, was not interested in ever doing anything to build any muscle, and they were driving through a parking lot and someone just bumped their bumper, not even very hard, barely left any dent on their car, just bumped their bumper, and they had neck pain

00:12:47

probably that's going to last forever.

00:12:48

I think they had herniated discs because the muscle in their neck could not sustain that little bump and it gave them whiplash.

00:12:58

And then I had another client who got hit by a car that was going 60 miles an hour and rear-ended them, but their neck was so strong that they were able to get hit and survive it. Didn't have any herniated discs, maybe had a little bit of whiplash, but it went away.

00:13:20

So that's the difference between having just strong muscles and tendons and not.

00:13:26

Because you just never know when you're going to trip on a sidewalk and fall, and then all of a sudden your neck is not going to be right, or your back is not going to be right.

00:13:34

You just never know what's going to happen.

00:13:36

Someone hits you from the side, they walk into you accidentally.

00:13:39

There's a lot of things that you're not anticipating,

00:13:42

But if your body's not ready to take a hit, then you can actually get injured by something that is seemingly an innocent hit.

00:13:52

So I want you to think about building strong muscles and tendons and ligaments and bones as a proactive approach to your life.

00:14:01

And a physical therapist can help you with that.

00:14:04

So how else can physical therapy affect you? What are some other things that physical therapists can do?

00:14:10

Recovery in general.

00:14:11

Recovery is physical, but it's also emotional.

00:14:15

If you have an injury and you are independent one minute and you're not independent the next minute, that's very emotional.

00:14:25

So getting back into a healing state is a very emotional process.

00:14:32

And physical therapy can help you through that.

00:14:35

Physical therapy is empowering.

00:14:37

One minute you can't do something, then all of a sudden you can and you have a cheerleader and that's your physical therapist.

00:14:43

So physical therapy can be empowering.

00:14:45

It can help you build trust with others and within yourself.

00:14:49

Many times people don't trust themselves. I can't take this cane away because I don't trust my legs, it's going to support me.

00:14:58

Physical therapy can help you learn to trust yourself and then you learn to trust others as well, your physical therapist for one.

00:15:07

Physical therapy is encouraging, confidence building, and it's also a sense of community.

00:15:13

I have plenty of patients who come to my physical therapy clinic and feel like it's their home.

00:15:20

And you build a sense of community within that clinic, but also you can build a sense of community just because you may be with other people that have the same injury as you may build community

00:15:36

In the sense that one minute you had so much knee pain, you couldn't go out and now all of a sudden your knee pain is gone and now you can go out so you can be more active.

00:15:46

Just being in physical therapy, you can build community.

00:15:50

And your physical therapist should be your lifelong wellness partner. When you go to physical therapy, you aren't just thinking about going to physical therapy as a one-time thing.

00:16:02

You should have a physical therapist that you like and trust so much that they are part of your lifelong wellness partner.

00:16:09

And I'll give you an example.

00:16:11

When you go to your dentist, does your dentist ever discharge you?

00:16:17

Does your dentist ever say, well, I'll never see you again?

00:16:20

No, that never happens.

00:16:22

So your physical therapist should be the same.

00:16:24

You should see your physical therapist as one of your members on your team.

00:16:30

And you should have a team of wellness partners.

00:16:34

You have a doctor, you have a dentist, you might have a massage therapist, you might have a personal trainer, or a chiropractor, or a nutritionist, or all of that, or a counselor.

00:16:46

You should have a team of people and your physical therapist should be part of that team, absolutely.

00:16:52

And you should be seeing your physical therapist on a regular basis, at least annually.

00:16:57

What else can physical therapy do?

00:17:00

Physical therapy can also improve your sleep, for many reasons.

00:17:04

Physical therapy can improve your sleep because you are becoming more active, because maybe you are in less pain, maybe you are being more routined, maybe you are being more physically demanding in your body, which is going to help you sleep.

00:17:18

So physical therapy can help you improve your sleep, and when you are sleeping, you are healing. So you do need to get your sleep.

00:17:28

You must get good sleep, at least seven, eight hours of sleep, because when you are sleeping, you are healing.

00:17:35

So from here on out, what can you do for your health?

00:17:39

What can you do from all this?

00:17:42

Well, you can get with your PT, find a PT, and set a baseline for yourself.

00:17:48

So on an initial evaluation with your physical therapist, even if you don't have a reason like a diagnosis necessarily from a doctor on why you're seeing your physical therapist, you can set an evaluation with them and say, I want to get a baseline for my balance, my strength, my flexibility, so that I know if I am improving or declining in my balance or my flexibility or my strength.

00:18:18

And your physical therapist will do that for you.

00:18:21

should be seeing your physical therapist once or twice a year for maintenance, and you have to set a baseline for that.

00:18:29

And it's really important.

00:18:30

Get a good physical therapist, put them on your team, and then stay in contact with them.

00:18:37

And then don't wait until you have pain, or at least if you have pain, don't wait until it gets worse.

00:18:42

Might as well take care of it now.

00:18:43

You don't have to get an x-ray or an MRI just to figure out what the pain is for.

00:18:49

Go to your physical therapist and your physical therapist will give you ideas.

00:18:52

Let's do this, let's stretch this, let's strengthen that.

00:18:55

And then, If the pain isn't getting better, then go see your doctor. But don't not see a physical therapist because you haven't had an x-ray yet. Think of your physical therapist first.

00:19:07

And physical therapy is not a luxury, it's a lifeline.

00:19:10

I know that not everyone has the ability to see a physical therapist. Not everyone has insurance. Not everyone has out-of-pocket money to see a physical therapist.

00:19:21

However, it should be something that's on the back of your mind. You should have a physical therapist at your access if you need it.

00:19:31

If you have insurance, you don't have to have a referral to have an evaluation.

00:19:37

And if you don't have insurance, if you're going to be paying out of pocket, your PT might give you a better cash rate if you are a lifelong client instead of like a one-time thing.

00:19:48

If you are a regular client, they might give you a better cash rate.

00:19:52

And if you don't have health insurance, then keep listening to this podcast. I'll give you simple ways you can keep yourself healthy.

00:20:00

And this reminds me of a scripture verse that I recently read. It's from Isaiah 40, verse 8. And it says, the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of God will stand forever.

00:20:15

and the word of God is the Bible.

00:20:18

But when I read the grass withers, the flowers fade, it reminds me that the world is constantly changing and constantly we're going through a withering and a fading part of our life.

00:20:35

Our life is eventually going to end. There's no one right now that's going to live forever. So as the grass is withering and the flowers are fading, so is our body.

00:20:50

And we have to take care of it as best we can.

00:20:52

If we are living to be 80, 90 years old, we want to be living 80 or 90 healthy, not our last 20 years being withered.

00:21:04

So take care of yourself and do the best you can and keep listening and we will try to get through this together.

00:21:13

It's hard out there, but we're here together. We can do this.

00:21:18

So stay healthy, California.

00:21:24

Thank you for joining me today.

00:21:26

I hope you learned something new.

00:21:28

Health care and treatment should focus on being proactive and preventative, emphasizing the importance of addressing the root cause of a disease or illness.

00:21:37

While the U.S. has an excellent trauma medicine system, helping patients when problems arise, our goals should be to prevent disease before they happen.

00:21:45

That's why this podcast is so important to you.

00:21:49

If you're needing further guidance or have questions on a particular matter, you can find my contact information in the show notes where you can set up a 15-minute consultation.

00:21:57

I also recommend you adding a functional nutritionist, a functional medicine practitioner, and a physical therapist to your healthcare team.

00:22:05

This podcast reflects my personal opinions based on extensive research and education.

00:22:11

It is not intended for medical diagnosis or treatment and should never replace the advice from your doctor or other healthcare professionals.

00:22:18

To continue providing this free information, I rely on your support.

00:22:22

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00:22:27

Don't forget to turn on your notifications to stay updated whenever I have a new episode released.

00:22:33

Educating you and empowering you to take back your health is my ultimate goal.

00:22:37

By gathering knowledge and implementing small but impactful changes, you can reclaim your well-being.

00:22:43

This is a journey, not a quick fix, so be kind to yourself, and I'll be there to help.

00:22:48

You've got this!