Your first physical therapy appointment

Your treatment at the OHSU Comprehensive Pain Center (CPC) begins with an initial evaluation. This is an important visit because it helps us better understand all the issues related to your pain.

During this visit we:

• Establish baseline (first) measurements of your movement and function
• Make a physical therapy diagnosis
• Organize a plan of care for physical therapy services

Your physical therapist will be part of your larger multidisciplinary plan that includes medical and psychology services.

Before your first evaluation, we encourage you to set three realistic goals for daily activities. During your visit, we will talk about your goals and adjust them if necessary. To prepare for your first visit, please keep in mind:

• Wear loose comfortable clothing --shorts are best
• Gowns are available if you need one
• Your evaluation takes approximately 45 minutes

Your first visit is for evaluation. You see a licensed physical therapist experienced in complex pain-related conditions.

Your care at the OHSU Comprehensive Pain Center is more than just physical therapy and includes a variety of specialists. All members of your healthcare team work together to create the best plan for your care.

Follow-up physical therapy appointments

Once your healthcare providers at the OHSU Comprehensive Pain Center discuss your plan of care, we may ask you to schedule follow-up visits with your physical therapist. Based on your first physical therapy evaluation, we will recommend how often you go to physical therapy and for how long.

We will coordinate your services, when needed. To prepare for appointments, please be aware that:

• You have follow-up physical therapy visits with the same physical therapist who did your first evaluation.
• Your follow-up visits take approximately 30 minutes.
• In addition to clinic visits, we give you activities to do between visits.

We evaluate your progress during each visit in relation to the baseline (first) measurements from your first evaluation. To help us evaluate, we may:

• Ask you to complete brief questionnaires from time to time.
• Your answers help us measure your progress in normal daily activities.
• Re-evaluate your goals and set new ones as your ability to move and do activities gets better over time.
• Consider stopping physical therapy once you meet your goals and can move and do daily activities at your maximum level.