What is physical medicine?

Physical medicine is also known as physiatry, and treats a variety of conditions that affect the brain, spinal cord, nerves, bones, joints, ligaments, muscles, and tendons. Physiatrists are capable of evaluating and treating injuries, illnesses, and disabilities, and can be trusted to design comprehensive treatment plans, custom-tailored to the needs of each individual patient. Physiatrists leverage state-of-the-art and traditional treatments to maximize a patient’s functionality and overall quality of life.

The bottom line is that physiatrists aim to improve a patient’s functionality, or assist patients in adapting to injury or disability. When pain, weakness or impairment is impacting a patient’s day-to-day life, a physiatrist may be able to help.

Physiatrists are board certified and licensed physicians who are able to perform detailed medical evaluations, including physical exams, electrodiagnosis with EMG, and multimodal imaging studies. They may also prescribe physical therapy, orthotics, prosthetics, or other adaptive devices to patients who need them. Additionally, physiatrists may leverage any of the following therapies in conjunction with patient care: manual therapy, electrical stimulation, ultrasound, injections and/or acupuncture.

Physical medicine is appropriate for patients of any age, suffering from ailments affecting almost any major body system.

While physical therapy and physical medicine treat the same variety of conditions, a physiatrist is a board certified and licensed physician who has completed medical school, plus four years of residency training. 

A physiatrist may prescribe physical therapy, though the physiatrist is not the one who will perform the therapies. Rather, the physiatrist is responsible for diagnosing, prescribing therapies as needed, and monitoring the patient as he or she progresses through rehabilitation. The physiatrist is also responsible for determining whether a patient is healthy enough to engage in physical therapy or rehabilitation.

A physical therapist, on the other hand, is an expert in the clinical features of musculoskeletal pathology, musculoskeletal examinations, and the development of a patient-centered treatment plan.

Physiatrists and physical therapists work closely together, but are not the same thing. 

Physical medicine is designed to treat conditions of the bones, muscles, joints, and nervous system—specifically, conditions that impair an individual’s ability to function. Since physical medicine can treat such a wide range of conditions, physiatrists sometimes specialize in treating certain conditions. However, the range of conditions that can be treated by physical medicine include:

• Neurorehabilitation
• Pain medicine
• Musculoskeletal care
• Sports injuries
• Post-operative care
• Pediatric functional and developmental disorders
• Specialized rehabilitation