What to Expect at Your First Physical Therapy Visit

Walking into a clinic for the first time with an injury is stressful. Here is exactly how your first visit at VERT works, so there are no surprises.

The conversation comes first

We start by talking. What happened, when it started, what makes it worse, and — most importantly — what you want to get back to. A weekend basketball player and a marathoner with the same knee diagnosis do not get the same plan.

A full movement screen

Next we look at how you actually move: squat, hinge, single-leg control, ankle mobility, hip strength, and how you absorb force. Pain usually shows up at the site of the symptom, not the site of the problem. The screen tells us which one we are looking at.

Hands-on work and a first dose of loading

You will leave your first session having done something. That may be manual therapy to restore mobility, isometrics to calm an irritated tendon, or a first pass at loading the tissue in a way it can tolerate.

Your plan

Before you go, you get a clear picture: how many visits we expect, what you are doing between sessions, and what the milestones look like on the way back to sport.