October is designated as National Physical Therapy Month, sponsored by the American Physical Therapy Association.  Raccoon Valley Radio spoke with Clint Lutterman with 21st Century Rehab about what the purpose of National Physical Therapy Month is exactly.  “The whole goal is really to get the word out about physical therapy and provide education to patients,” Lutterman explains.  “Most professions have a month or a week that they celebrate just their profession in itself.  Recognizing all the good things we do as a profession.”

Physical therapists really focus on looking at movements and patterns, determining what is moving well or not, and also making sure that a person’s body is not just moving but moving in the right way.  Lutterman said that the big thing he hopes people take away from National Physical Therapy Month locally is a better knowledge of physical therapy.  “I think the big thing is just education,” Lutterman states.  “Learning about physical therapy and what we can do and what we can provide.”

Lutterman realizes that sometimes people are apt to only think about physical therapists after negative events have happened, but he wants Dallas County residents to realize that they are there for preventative measures as well.  “I think a lot of times people think of therapy only post surgery,”Lutterman reasons, “but we do so much more; we provide care for people that have just gotten ill and are weak or people that get hurt at work or just in general.”

Lutterman states that the biggest thing that people can do for themselves to improve their overall health and avoid going to physical therapists because of ailments and accidents is simply exercise and he says that some of the biggest issues the country is seeing today, chronic issues like diabetes, obesity, and heart diseases can be battled with more exercise.

21st Century Rehab is located on the north side of the Dallas County Hospital.