Physical therapy is never much fun, but you can make the time go by faster if you set realistic goals. Setting goals for physical therapy requires a knowledge of how your program will progress as well as a consultation with your therapist. It is absolutely important that you set reasonable goals that can be achieved so that you aren’t setting yourself up for disappointment. Often, people who sustain serious injuries are susceptible to depression, which can increase if you aren’t able to meet your goals for physical therapy.
Researching physical therapy independent of your therapist and physician won’t be much help in setting goals because each case is different. Physical therapist set up a schedule for therapy based on a number of factors, including the nature of the injury, the physical condition of the patient and the risk for re-injury. If you’re going to set goals for physical therapy, it is best to do this in conjunction with your therapist. Ask about reasonable goals and what you can do to give yourself a better chance of accomplishing them.
Goals for physical therapy should be categorized in two ways: Long term and short term. A long-term goal is one that you hope to achieve by the end of your therapy, while short term goals might constitute daily, weekly or monthly achievements. It’s important to use the long term goals to keep yourself motivated to attain short term goals. For example, a long term goal might be to walk four hundred feet without any assistance. Knowing this, you might make three short term goals, one for walking two hundred feet with a walker, and then another for walking four hundred feet with a walker. After you’ve accomplished those, you could walk halfway with a walker and halfway without until you’re able to make the entire trip unassisted.
When you’re setting your goals for physical therapy, talk with your therapist about ways to maximize your success. For example, would it help if you soaked in a bathtub for twenty minutes each day? What about little exercises you can do at home? Sometimes, diet can even play a part in achieving physical therapy goals, so you’ll need to get qualified advice.
The next tip I can provide when it comes to setting goals for physical therapy is to avoid setting goals you know you won’t meet. It won’t do you any good to arrive at the end of the week and realize you were insane to ever think you could reach your goals. As mentioned above, setting realistic goals will allow you to actually succeed. You shouldn’t try to push yourself toward unrealistic goals because you might end up causing more harm than good. Listen to the advice your physical therapist gives about pushing yourself too hard and risking secondary injuries that could easily be avoided.
It is also important to focus more on the substance of a goal than the time it takes to complete it. As humans, we are very time-oriented and we want instant gratification. Rather than forcing yourself to complete a task in a week, just see how it long it takes. If you don’t get there in a week, keep working until you do get it, and you’ll be able to celebrate.
