Physical therapy
Physical therapy, one patient to a therapist.
Orthopedic injuries, neck and back pain, chronic pain, arthritis, auto accident and work injuries, sports injuries, pre and post-operative care, and balance training. In Louisiana you can usually start without a referral.
Chapter 01
What direct access means here, and the one case it does not cover
Louisiana is a direct access state. In plain terms that means you do not need a physician to send you before you can begin physical therapy, and most insurance plans allow you to come straight to us. It is the single most common thing people get wrong about starting, and it costs them weeks.
There are two honest caveats. Some insurance plans still require a referral as a condition of paying, so it is worth one phone call to your plan or to us before you book. And occupational therapy is genuinely different: that does require a doctor's referral, every time. If your problem is a hand or wrist, read the hand therapy page instead.
If you are not sure which of the two you need, call and describe what hurts. Sorting that out on the phone is faster than sorting it out in the waiting room.
A therapist supporting a patient's shoulder and arm on a treatment table at Action Therapy & Wellness in Gonzales
The evaluation, and what actually gets measured
The first visit is an evaluation. Bring a valid ID, your insurance card if you are using insurance, and a doctor's referral if your plan requires one. Expect to talk more than you might have assumed, because the history is where most of the useful information is.
From there it is range of motion, strength, and how the painful movement behaves when it is loaded and unloaded. The point is to find the movement that reproduces the problem, not simply to confirm that something hurts.
You leave the first visit knowing what we think is going on and roughly how long it should take. If that estimate changes, we would rather tell you than quietly extend it.
Chapter 03
Manual therapy and exercise, in the same hour
Treatment here is hands-on and then loaded. Manual therapy covers soft tissue mobilization, instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization, joint manipulation, therapeutic cupping, Kinesio taping, and joint distraction for the cervical and lumbar spine. Functional dry needling is available and Hailey Leindecker is certified in it, along with blood flow restriction therapy.
Hands-on work opens a window. Exercise is what makes the change hold once that window closes, which is why the two run together rather than in separate appointments.
You get one therapist for the session. The clinic's own way of putting it is that you will never be just a number, and the practical version of that is nobody hands you to a machine and walks away.
Auto accidents, work injuries, and the paperwork nobody explains
Motor vehicle accident and whiplash injuries, and work-related injuries, are both named parts of the caseload. These are the cases where the treatment is usually the straightforward half and the administration is the part that stalls people.
We work with most insurance companies and accept American Express, Cash, Discover, MasterCard and Visa. If running it through insurance is not the right move for your situation, there is a self-pay option and we will tell you the number before you commit to anything.
Call the office and you will be contacted within 24 hours. Post-surgical recovery, stroke rehabilitation and neurological conditions such as Parkinson's and MS are also treated here.
Action Therapy & Wellness works with most insurance companies and has self-pay options. Call (225) 644-7044.