A Message at 3:44 AM
A message came into Dr. Kristian Marcial's Instagram account around 3:44am on a Thursday, from someone experiencing a lot of pain: “Hey, how are you? I have a medical question. Last evening I just moved my head a bit and felt sharp pain through the right side, neck, shoulder, upper back. Later it became so painful and still is. Any movement and even when not moving. As you can see it's almost 4am and can't sleep from pain. Should I see an orthopedist or PT? Any suggestions?”
Once Dr. Kristian woke up and read the message, he offered a TeleHealth PT consultation. After a quick sign-up through the PTEverywhere system, he and the new patient got right into the session.
Real Relief, Same Day
The patient had pain on neck flexion (looking downward), rating it 10 out of 10, a score that dropped to 6 out of 10 during the session, with significant improvement in mobility and less muscle stiffness. Similar improvements were seen in other movements of the neck and right shoulder. Dr. Kristian provided an individualized home exercise program, and a follow-up TeleHealth PT session was booked for the next day, free of charge.
Beyond being free, the best part was that Dr. Kristian was able to help someone without needing an in-person or hands-on session at all.
TeleHealth Physical Therapy, Explained
A TeleHealth Physical Therapy session (also known as an e-visit) is another way to deliver physical therapy. It doesn't replace traditional, face-to-face in-person treatment, but it's an innovative, HIPAA-compliant platform for getting expert opinions, sharing information about pain and movement dysfunction, and even performing supervised exercises.
The president of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), Sharon Dunn, put it well: “First, do no harm. Reduce community exposure by cancelling non-urgent/emergent F2F visits, sign up to help our colleagues on the front lines (ER, acute, long term and critical care units), do tele-Rehab whether or not you get paid; step up in times of crisis, that's what we do.”
A Free Offer During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Tribeca Physical Therapy's Dr. Kristian Marcial and physical therapist Dr. Monica Saliu offered free 30-minute TeleHealth Physical Therapy sessions, believing this was the perfect time to step up, give back, and be there for anyone who needed their services.
If you'd like to learn more about TeleHealth Physical Therapy, you can submit an inquiry through our web contact form or call us at (212) 406-8080.