22 | HealthLinksSC.com and a rotator cuff repair, she has also recovered a lot of her strength. “When I first came here ... I had no muscles,” Evans said. “I walked with a cane, I took pain pills, it was terrible. And David fixed me.” Evans also pointed out that while her twice-a-week therapy involves many exercises that people can do on their own, working with a therapist such as Dr. Carter has “pretty much turned my life around.” “Now I can actually deadlift 105 pounds, leg press 390 pounds, and now even work here as an aide,” she said. “And at one time, I could not even get off this (therapy) table.” Evans is only one of many seniors across the United States who are looking to physical therapy for recovery from a myriad of ailments — Parkinson’s disease, pelvic floor weakness, strokes, pain in the joints that connect the jawbone to the skull, and lower back pain. “Across the board, seniors come to us for lower back pain more than any other ailment,” Dr. Carter said. “So far, we have 150 different doctors that refer clients to Apogee.” And these kinds of referrals are only expected to go up. For example, in 2021, the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, estimated that 50 million Americans sought physical therapy for some form of chronic pain. NIH Researcher Laurita M. Hack further reported even then that the number of physical therapists is “10-20% less than the number of patients in need.” The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects physical therapy occupations to grow 15% through 2032, much faster than the average for all occupations. About 13,900 openings for physical therapists are projected each year, on average, over the decade. “And we’re already looking to open a third Apogee office in the upstate,” Dr. Carter said. In the next 10 years, Dr. Carter and other physical therapists are likely to be at the edge of a rehabilitative boom; the U.S. Census Bureau is projecting older adults to outnumber children by the year 2034 for the first time in U.S. history. Understanding what physical therapists can offer, as far as longevity and functioning, raises the demand. “ “ PHYSICAL THERAPY By the Numbers The projected growth rate for physical therapist employment is 18% between 2019 and 2029.* Approximately 80% of physical therapy clients in the United States are aged 18-64 years.* The physical therapy industry in the United States is expected to grow at an annualized rate of 1.9% from 2021-2026.* Telehealth usage in physical therapy practices has increased more than 1,000% since the COVID-19 pandemic.* Approximately 90% of physical therapy patients in the United States are covered by private health insurance or Medicare. ** Out-of-pocket payments for physical therapy services in the United States accounted for approximately 3.8% of payments in 2019. *Source: gitnux.org **Source: gitnux.org
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