Opioid abuse in America has recently reached staggering levels. The abuse of opioids can be in part related to their availability to individuals. The National Institute on Drug Abuse has found that the number of prescriptions for opioids in the United States has reached 207 million in recent years. With such a high number of prescriptions, the negative effects of these drugs such as depression, overdose, addiction and withdrawal has increased as well.
Although in some situations prescription opioids are appropriate to aid the recovery process, many situations do not require their use. Recently, physical therapy has been recognized as a safe and effective method to manage pain instead of opioid prescriptions. The idea of using physical therapy as an alternative to prescription opioids has recently taken hold as a national campaign.
The #ChoosePT campaign was implemented in June of 2016 to combat the increase in opioid prescriptions. This campaign encourages patients to seek physical therapy options as a way to treat their pain. Choosing physical therapy rather than an opioid prescription allows patients to treat their source of pain, not just mask it. In a recent press release, the American Physical Therapy Association stated, “Research shows that physical therapist treatment can reduce or eliminate the need for opioids by improving physical function, increasing range of motion, and decreasing pain”. Practices such as Advance Physical Therapy enable individuals living in Astoria, Wantagh, Valley Stream, and Lindenhurst to decrease their pain from injury by receiving world class treatment for their specific rehabilitation needs.
The services that Advance Physical Therapy offers can be considered the backbone of the #ChoosePT campaign. Advance Physical Therapy utilizes a comprehensive and state of the art approach to injury rehabilitation. Their experienced professionals offer rehabilitation programs for a wide variety of injuries. With convenient locations in Astoria, Valley Stream, Wantagh, and Lindenhurst they can be easily accessed from anywhere in the Long Island are. Their services allow individuals to avoid opioid dependence for pain relief, while healing and strengthening the patient’s body and mind in the process. Their website details their specific services, while also offering testimonies from past clients regarding their rehabilitation experience.
