While you may be inclined to wait until after the holidays to get that surgery or start physical therapy, there’s a few reasons you shouldn’t. This is something you won’t want to procrastinate on for both financial and medical reasons!
Your Insurance Deductible and“Out-of-Pocket” Maximum Resets
Did you reach your insurance deductible or out-of-pocket maximum? If you’re not sure, then you should check with your insurance company. These are the maximum amounts of each expense you’ll need to pay based on your insurance. If you have reached either or both of those, then the amount you’ll have to pay for physical therapy will be less now than it will be in January. Most insurance companies reset the balances to $0 at the beginning of the calendar year, and you will need to start paying those expenses all over again until you reach your limits in the new year.
Rehab Can Be More Difficult
Whether you are rehabbing from surgery or an injury, you want to avoid scar tissue build-up as much as possible. Scar tissue is a type of tissue that the body naturally creates to help an injury heal. This includes any surgeries that the body will think is an injury. Scar tissue builds up quickly around joints, so if you are rehabbing your knee, ankle, shoulder, wrist, etc., rehab will be much more difficult. Physical therapy aims to help the body heal by strengthening the muscles and not allowing it to build up scar tissue to support the joint instead.
The Injury Could Get Worse
If you’re rehabbing an injury, you absolutely don’t want to wait too long to start physical therapy. If your doctor has cleared you to begin physical therapy, then you should act fast. Waiting for months without building up the muscles around the injury can make a re-injury more likely.
Don’t wait until next year to start your PT. Visit us as soon as you can! We’ll help you begin the rehab process and get you to feel better sooner.