An important component of any physical therapy examination or treatment session is touching.Physical therapistsoften use their hands to examine, mobilize, and perhaps massage your body. Touching may be used to help you understand how to move properly, and it can be a helpful component in getting your muscles contracting the way that your PT wants them to maximize your functional mobility.
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Touching in Physical Therapy
Palpationis the act of using the hands to examine a body part. Physical therapists may use palpation techniques during their evaluation to help determine your problem and to find the best treatment for your condition.Touching usually involves direct skin-to-skin contact; your therapist’s hands are used to press into your skin to assess your condition.
Your PT may use palpation in various ways, including:
Sometimes, your injury may require your physical therapist to examine or touch areas of your body that are private or sensitive. This may require that you expose private parts of your body, like your hip or buttocks, and this exposure may make you feel uncomfortable. Add palpation and touching to the mix, and your discomfort with the situation may increase, and this may have a negative effect on your emotions and your overall rehab outcome.
Part of the training to become a physical therapist involves proper patient positioning and draping.This is meant to ensure patient modesty is maintained during your PT evaluation and treatment sessions. Draping techniques may involve using a sheet or towel to prevent unwanted exposure of your body that may make you feel uncomfortable.
Proper palpation and massage techniques are also taught as part of a physical therapy curriculum.This includes making sure that touch is appropriate, and that it is solely directed at assessing and treating specific impairments you may have. Maintaining patient comfort, trust, and safety is paramount when using palpation techniques.
When palpation is done in a professional and therapeutic manner and maintains patient safety and comfort, it is considered appropriate.
What If Your PT’s Touch Feels Wrong?
If you are seeing a physical therapist for treatment and you feel like you have experienced inappropriate touching or behaviors, you should take action immediately. Some things you can do may include:
Most often, speaking with your PT is a good option, as many times your PT doesn’t realize how his or her palpation is affecting you. By talking about what is going on with your feelings regarding touching, your PT can make adjustments to his or her approach to your care and minimize or eliminate any touching and palpation.
If you feel that your physical therapist has touched you inappropriately and this has violated you sexually, you should contact law enforcement officials. It is never acceptable for a PT, or any other healthcare worker or person, to touch you sexually or in a way that violates your body in a sexual manner. If you feel this has happened, you should protect yourself and contact law enforcement.
What If You Start To Feel Attracted to Your PT Due to Touching?
What if you are going to PT, and you like the palpation and touching? What if this causes positive emotions, and you become attracted to your physical therapist? Acting on these emotions is never acceptable. Your physical therapist may be a nice person, but the therapist-patient relationship must remain friendly and non-sexual. Although you may develop a personal relationship with your PT, this relationship must remain friendly and never romantic or sexual.
If you are having feelings towards your PT and this is becoming a barrier to you concentrating effectively on your rehab, you should probably ask to work with a different therapist. Your physical therapy sessions should always remain professional, and you should remain focused on improving your pain-free mobility.
Inappropriate Behaviors of Patients Against Therapists
Physical therapy is a two-way street. Both you and your physical therapist should be working together as a therapeutic alliance to help improve your pain-free mobility. That means your PT should treat you with respect and dignity, and you should treat your PT the same way.
Many physical therapists report harassing or inappropriate behaviors from their patients. This may include saying inappropriate things or inappropriate or unwanted touching. Inappropriate patient sexual behavior is defined as any verbal or physical act of an explicit, or perceived, sexual nature, which is unacceptable within the social context in which it is carried out. And healthcare providers—like physical therapists—are likely to experience this form of harassment while working.
A recent study published in thePhysical Therapy Journalexamined the problem of inappropriate patient behaviors towards physical therapists. The researchers surveyed 892 physical therapist professionals and PT students and found that 84 percent of them experienced some sort of inappropriate interaction or behavior from patients over the course of their career. The 12-month prevalence of inappropriate behaviors was 47 percent.
The study found that you are more likely to experience inappropriate patient sexual behaviors if:
The authors of the study concluded that there is an extremely high prevalence of inappropriate sexual behavior of patients towards therapists.Increased education for students and professionals, as well as focused workplace policy and support, may be necessary to help mitigate this problem.
Properly Performing Hands-On Techniques
If you are a physical therapist, you can do certain things to properly perform hands-on techniques, and you can help keep your patient’s mind at ease while performing your assessments or treatments that require palpation. These may include:
At all times, the patient’s feelings should be considered, and an environment where the patient is protected should be created. This may mean refraining from performing palpation or manual techniques and finding alternatives to those techniques if your patient verbalizes discomfort with your prescribed methods and treatments.
A Word From Verywell
One of the benefits of physical therapy is the close bond that may be formed between the therapist and the patient. This bond can help motivate you, and it may help you have a positive physical therapy experience. Sometimes, a caring touch from your therapist is all that is needed to comfort you and help you succeed in PT.
Sometimes in therapy, palpation and touching are needed to assess and treat your condition. And sometimes, your condition may require that your PT touch you in private or semi-private areas of your body. This touching should always be professional—no exceptions. The behaviors between the PT and the patient must always be friendly and cordial, and never overtly or directly sexual. Understanding appropriate and inappropriate touching and behaviors in the PT clinic can keep you safe and ensure that you have a positive rehabilitation experience with your physical therapist.
5 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Eberman L.Enhancing Clinical Evaluation Skills: Palpation at the Principal Skill.Athletic Training Education Journal. 2010;5(4):170-175.Wilson N, Hopkins-rosseel D, Lusty C, Averns H, Hopman W.Draping education to promote patient dignity: canadian physiotherapy student and instructor perceptions.Physiother Can. 2012;64(2):157-66. doi:10.3138/ptc.2011-09American Massage Therapy Association.Effective Palpation. November 2010.Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.About the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline.Boissonnault, JS, et al.Prevalence and risk of inappropriate sexual behavior of patients toward physical therapist clinicians and students in the United States.PT Journal.2017; 97(11): 1084-93. doi:10.1093/ptj/pzx086Additional ReadingRousch, SE, et al.Physical therapists' perceptions of sexual boundaries in clinical practice in the United States. Physiotherapy Theory and Practice; 2015. 31(5): 327-336. doi:10.3109/09593985.2014.1003420
5 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Eberman L.Enhancing Clinical Evaluation Skills: Palpation at the Principal Skill.Athletic Training Education Journal. 2010;5(4):170-175.Wilson N, Hopkins-rosseel D, Lusty C, Averns H, Hopman W.Draping education to promote patient dignity: canadian physiotherapy student and instructor perceptions.Physiother Can. 2012;64(2):157-66. doi:10.3138/ptc.2011-09American Massage Therapy Association.Effective Palpation. November 2010.Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.About the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline.Boissonnault, JS, et al.Prevalence and risk of inappropriate sexual behavior of patients toward physical therapist clinicians and students in the United States.PT Journal.2017; 97(11): 1084-93. doi:10.1093/ptj/pzx086Additional ReadingRousch, SE, et al.Physical therapists' perceptions of sexual boundaries in clinical practice in the United States. Physiotherapy Theory and Practice; 2015. 31(5): 327-336. doi:10.3109/09593985.2014.1003420
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Eberman L.Enhancing Clinical Evaluation Skills: Palpation at the Principal Skill.Athletic Training Education Journal. 2010;5(4):170-175.Wilson N, Hopkins-rosseel D, Lusty C, Averns H, Hopman W.Draping education to promote patient dignity: canadian physiotherapy student and instructor perceptions.Physiother Can. 2012;64(2):157-66. doi:10.3138/ptc.2011-09American Massage Therapy Association.Effective Palpation. November 2010.Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.About the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline.Boissonnault, JS, et al.Prevalence and risk of inappropriate sexual behavior of patients toward physical therapist clinicians and students in the United States.PT Journal.2017; 97(11): 1084-93. doi:10.1093/ptj/pzx086
Eberman L.Enhancing Clinical Evaluation Skills: Palpation at the Principal Skill.Athletic Training Education Journal. 2010;5(4):170-175.
Wilson N, Hopkins-rosseel D, Lusty C, Averns H, Hopman W.Draping education to promote patient dignity: canadian physiotherapy student and instructor perceptions.Physiother Can. 2012;64(2):157-66. doi:10.3138/ptc.2011-09
American Massage Therapy Association.Effective Palpation. November 2010.
Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.About the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline.
Boissonnault, JS, et al.Prevalence and risk of inappropriate sexual behavior of patients toward physical therapist clinicians and students in the United States.PT Journal.2017; 97(11): 1084-93. doi:10.1093/ptj/pzx086
Rousch, SE, et al.Physical therapists' perceptions of sexual boundaries in clinical practice in the United States. Physiotherapy Theory and Practice; 2015. 31(5): 327-336. doi:10.3109/09593985.2014.1003420
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