How To Prevent Pain: Preventative Care Is Much Cheaper Than Treatment

Our American healthcare system is flawed; we choose to recklessly spend money on treatment rather than spend just 10% of that value on preventative care.

This is true in all aspects of our healthcare system. Insurance companies know that they pay less in hospital expenses, inpatient stays, medication, surgery, anesthesia, etc. when their customers are healthy. For example, a 65-year-old male who is morbidly obese is far more likely to suffer a heart attack than their normal-weight counterpart, all other variables accounted for. This is why many health insurance companies have begun incentivizing their customers with financial rewards if they can successfully lose weight (and thereby, reduce risk).

You can make the same argument for orthopedics and physical therapy.

According to a 2021 Harvard Medical School post, more than 600,000 knee replacements and 330,000 hip replacements are performed in the United States every year. That means one person in roughly 400 will have a surgical joint replacement performed each calendar year. It’s true that some of these folks who undergo these procedures have end-stage arthritis and have not had tremendous success with conservative measures, including physical therapy. But generally, with high-quality, one-on-one physical therapy, many of these patients can avoid the surgery and its associated pain, swelling, infection and blood clot risk, time away from activity, and cost, simply by addressing the preventative aspects of knee and hip osteoarthritis.

We’re only human after all. I’ll be the first to admit it: I’m selfish. I want to get better as quickly as possible, as cheaply as possible. If I can take a “magic pill” and make my knee arthritis go away, why wouldn’t I do it?

But the “magic arthritis pill” doesn’t exist (yet). So as with all things in life, we must put the effort in. You didn’t graduate college without hard work. You didn’t raise bright and successful kids without hard work. So to get your orthopedic pain resolved, you need to be ready to put in the hard work, too.

Even better than resolving pain, let’s instead get ahead of it and prevent pain! Get your consistent 8 hours of sleep per night. Pay close attention to your diet and alcohol consumption habits. Monitor your weight and lose a few pounds if you need to. Drink an abundance of water. Seek out the guidance of your physician, as needed.

But it’s time for YOU to be SELFISH! Put yourself first! Take care of yourself for your own benefit but more importantly, for your family’s benefit. If you’re having any orthopedic pain, please give us a call here at Premier Physical Therapy- 980-766-9740.

Last but certainly not least: if you’re NOT having any orthopedic pain, give us a call anyway! Let’s get ahead of your orthopedic pains, trials, and tribulations. Be one of our ~20% of clients who seek only preventative care from us. After all, prevention is far more effective and cost-efficient! And there’s no replacement better than your own human body. 😊