Complex Medical Care

A considerable number of patients are struggling with complex medical conditions or have multiple comorbidities that are affecting multiple body systems. Complex conditions often contribute to pain,  poor mobility, loss of motion and weakness.  Patients struggle daily to manage their physical needs against the daily tasks that require their attention.  Most suffer mental and emotional exhaustion and aren't sure how to regain their function, strength or energy. 

Physical therapy can help, with providing an individualized plan of care to adress the most immediate needs while slowly working toward a patient's goals.

When someone goes to the emergency room, a health provider performs an intake, asking pertinent questions about current symptoms, past medical and surgical history, medications and function. They get vitals and hopefully get you into a room quickly to see a doctor. This is called triage. Others come to the emergency room in ambulances and triage is a physical assessment performed by emergency medical providers to determine what needs addressed first to save a patient's life. 

Physical Therapy "triage" is certainly less traumatic, but no less important for patients dealing with multiple areas of concern and an extensive medical and/or surgical history. Each factor needs to be taken into account in order to determine the best plan of care for the patient at that specific point in their life. This initial evaluation and objective measures that are taken help to determine goals and assess progress.

Most patient's that come to outpatient PT are in stable condition and can be treated appropriately without needing referred back to their provider, but PT's always monitor a patient's progress in order to determine if they are worsening, the same or progressing.  

For patient's with complex conditions, it is especially important to determine when someone is having symptoms that warrant further diagnostics or immediate attention. This is why it is necessary to monitor: 

• Vitals 
• Range of Motion
• Strength
• Mobility 
• Soft Tissue changes
• Pain
• Cognition

Assessment of these areas can sometimes prevent a significant problem from occurring later on. 

I have experience with complex medical conditions myself, since my daughter has rare diseases, auto-immune problems, developmental delays, difficulty walking, chronic pain, weakness and lack of motion. I understand, from a personal level, that it is often difficult to keep up with the number of doctor's appointments, tests, treatments and the constant worry if you will ever reach a place of stability and relative health...but it IS possible. And physical therapy is an integral part of addressing areas of weakness while helping patients adapt to the physical demands placed on them. 

The list of diagnoses that can lead to complex medical management are endless, but below I will list a few conditions/diseases that fall under this category, just to give you an idea. 

If you, or someone you know, are having difficulty with management of your complex medical needs, talk to your primary care physician about support and determine if physical therapy may be appropriate and beneficial for you.