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Prescription Requirements for Physical Therapy

Therapists write their own brand of prescriptions. They are not medical prescriptions, but are exercise prescriptions. They guide their patients while exercising and show them the proper way to execute these exercises. Then they will recommend a regimen of exercises to be completed so many times throughout the day. This exercises should strengthen the damaged muscle over time and help the patient heal.

  1. Medical Prescriptions

    • Physical therapists cannot write prescriptions for medicines. They also may not advise doctors to give their patients certain medications. Physical therapists can only note what prescriptions their patients are taking and write them down in their background chart. Having a list of medications a patient is on will help the therapist better recommend and start physical treatment of the injured area. The only prescription a physical therapist may write is one for home exercise to strengthen damaged muscles.

    Workplace Prescription

    • Workplace prescription will vary from home prescription. This is because a physical therapy clinic gives the patient access to a lot of training and exercise machines that the patient may not have at home. While in the clinic the treatment, the physical therapist will begin by applying hot or cold treatment using pads, put the patient on a strengthening or exercise piece of equipment, and check their progress after that have used the machinery to determine which muscle group must be exercised.

    Home Prescriptions

    • Hone prescriptions generally consist of stretches for strengthening of the affected muscles. The therapist may have a patient use a towel to brace his foot against, while the patient pulls the towel towards his chest. There are also stretches, which use chairs and household items to aid with the exercises. There are also simple, gentle stretches, depending on the injury, such as trying to raise your injured arm above your head. The therapist will advise you repeat these motions several times per day at most every day. Home prescriptions vary from therapist to therapist.

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