Chronic neck, back or shoulder pain affects an estimated 85 percent of adults in the U.S., is the most frequent cause of disability in people younger than 45 and costs more than $25 billion in direct medical care each year.

Physical therapy is an important form of treatment, yet once patients leave therapy there are few resources to help them maintain the results achieved. That is, until the introduction of Physical Therapy To Go, a set of medically produced videos that take viewers through 30-40 minutes of exercise targeting the neck, back or shoulders.

"Too often I was seeing patients who had achieved relief in physical therapy only to be back in my office when their condition deteriorated because their only post-therapy resource was a list of exercises,” says Sue Schler, MD, an internist and creator of Physical Therapy To Go. “Unfortunately, a piece of paper is inadequate to effectively guide patients in the ongoing exercises that are vital to remaining pain-free and functional.”

She adds, "It became clear to me that a video with medically correct exercises they could follow at home would be beneficial not only for patients who have finished therapy, but for anyone suffering from chronic low-grade back, neck or shoulder pain."

Physical Therapy To Go is a series of videos outlining physical therapy exercises for at-home use by those wishing to safely strengthen and harden the body for more strenuous exercise, as well as for those seeking sustained pain relief and better health. Available online at www.pttogo.com, each video targets a different region of the body and features:

• Information on the neck, back or shoulders, how problems develop and how therapy helps
• Instruction on the correct performance of a variety of daily activities to prevent injury
• A complete, medically supervised physical therapy session guided by a professionally trained, licensed physical therapist and demonstrated by a model patient
• Instructions on modifying the exercise program based on the patient's current condition to achieve the best results

According to Schler,  the exercise programs on PT To Go are safe and effective, and have been approved by hospital rehabilitation centers and rehab physicians.

"They are ideal not only to alleviate chronic pain, but also to build bones in people who have or are at risk for osteoporosis,” Schler says. “These exercises also help strengthen the body's core and, when added to an aerobic fitness activity such as walking, create a complete exercise program."

Source: Physical Therapy To Go