Congratulations! We all survived the first weeks of the coronavirus crisis dealing with our new environment i.e. telework, kids being out of school or figuring out new ways to do business. The APRS Team is committed to supporting you and our community and we are providing many new services including Telehealth and Evisits, which can be conducted in the comforts of your home. These services will help reduce stress, decrease pain and ensure you remain on track to run, bike, climb, swim and conquer whatever goal you made for 2020.
Please, do not give up on your goals because a race has been cancelled or your long-awaited trip to hike the grand canyon’s rim to rim is postponed. The Coronavirus will pass so put down the potato chips, hit pause on Netflix as you can still prepare for your goals while still maintaining social distancing. Here is how:
Telehealth: What is it and is it a great option for me? Telehealth is a video chat that is one on one with your physical therapist. You can get a diagnosis, evaluation, exercise progression, breathing techniques and yoga poses for stress reduction as well as alternatives to manual therapy. With recent changes most insurances cover Telehealth care or are considering this coverage. Therefore, if you are interested, we will check and see what your benefits will allow. This is a great way to keep you progressing with your therapy goals while practicing social distancing.
Evisits: This option is for Medicare and Aetna patients only and only applies to existing patients. Evisits can be a phone call, skype, facetime or telemedicine interaction with the patient. This is a great option if you have a few questions regarding progressing your home exercise program or if you are feeling isolated and alone to check in. Remember stress can increase pain! This is also an alternative for someone who does not have a smart phone nor a computer (like my Dad) and is also in the high-risk Coronavirus category. We can call you!
Lastly, we are still OPEN and seeing patients that are not demonstrating signs of illness and who are also finished with self-quarantine if returning from an affected area. Remember we are here to help you through whatever the next weeks and months will bring. Therefore, turn the T.V. off, get outside, create a daily schedule that includes exercise, stretching and meditation and focus on your family and future physical therapy goals. We are all in this together!
Ali Ramirez, DPT
Ali is a physical therapist at our APRS East clinic certified as a Pilates and Yoga Instructor as well as in functional dry needling. Ali is very active in outdoor and endurance sports and is passionate about working with our local community to improve overall health.
