Frequently Asked Questions

 First Appointment

  • Your initial physical therapy visit will include a thorough musculoskeletal evaluation, functional movement assessment, education about your condition, hands-on treatment, and the creation of an initial home program with self-treatment strategies to help you continue to make progress at home.

    After your initial evaluation, we will focus on a treatment plan that is realistic and works with your schedule. Your follow-up visits will include a customized combination of manual therapy techniques, corrective exercises, and self-treatment strategies.

  • No. New Hampshire is a direct access state, meaning you do not need a physician referral to start physical therapy. However, some insurance companies require a referral to approve reimbursement to you for PT services.

  • Something comfortable and easy to move in.

    Lower body injuries: great idea to bring a pair of shorts for us to be able to access the area better for assessment/treatment

    Runners: we may have you run, so try to bring the shoes you would run in normally

  • The average frequency we see people is 1x/week for 4 weeks. Then as symptoms improve and you feel confident with your home program we will drop frequency to every other week for a few more sessions. The average total number of visits we work with people is 6-10.

  • We are an out-of-network provider with all insurance companies. If you have out-of-network benefits with your current policy, you may be eligible to submit our receipts for reimbursement.

    We will provide the appropriate documentation needed for you to submit for reimbursement through your insurance company. Physical Therapy services do qualify for Health Care Savings Accounts (HSA) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA). 

  • Call your insurance company and ask them if your plan includes out of network benefits. If you do have out of network benefits, ask your insurance company the following questions:

    - Do I have an out of network deductible?

    - Have I met my deductible for the year? If not, how far away am I from meeting the deductible?

    - Is there paperwork that must be filled out when submitting the out of network claims? If so, do you provide that paperwork?

    - Do I need to be pre-certified for physical therapy sessions in order to receive reimbursement?

  • We are located inside Hybrid Fitness in Portsmouth, NH. To get to the room, you walk through the gym into the back hallway. We are the second door on the right!

    Parking: plenty of it, google “Anchor Physical Therapy & Performance” and it will take you to the right parking lot (we are a little tucked away).

 Sports & Orthopedic Questions

  • You will have your therapist's undivided attention in your individualized, hour long treatment sessions. We create a space where patients are truly valued so that they see results faster.  Throughout each session, mobility and symptom changes are constantly re-assessed, allowing us to fully tailor the interventions to you and your goals.

    You will have easy access to your physical therapist in between treatment sessions through our secure patient portal if you have any questions.

    You will have video demo instruction of all of your home exercises through the patient portal/mobile app in case you need a refresher on your home program.

    Another benefit of working with us allows you to schedule with your physical therapist quickly - no need to wait for a referral! 

  • Absolutely. The goal is that you are walking out of sessions feeling better than when you walked in, so it can be ideal to workout the same day.

  • Not usually. We understand how important your physical activities are to your mental health and overall wellness. We don’t take movement practices out unless we feel it is absolutely necessary. Many times we can work around your injury with a specific warm up, and workout modifications.

  • Absolutely not.

    Trigger point dry needling is something that can be really helpful for people in their care, but we can get to the same goal without it if it is something you are nervous about.

Pelvic Health Questions

  • If you are asking the question, than you need it. It is our opinion that everyone needs pelvic floor physical therapy to understand how their pelvic floor works, how to release extra tension, and how it integrates with our core.

    Common symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction are: leaking (even just a few drops counts!), pelvic pain, pelvic heaviness, pain with intercourse, general tension in the pelvic floor

    Pelvic floor dysfunction can also present as low back pain, hip pain, SIJ pain, and pubic symphysis pain.

    Don’t wait on seeking treatment, even if you think your symptoms aren’t “bad enough”. Book an appointment now.

  • It all depends.

    Most people we treat 6 weeks postpartum, and after they had their 6-week visit with their OB/midwives. This is primarily to allow for natural healing to take place prior to initiating more advanced treatment. We do not do an internal exam of any kind prior to 6 weeks for this reason.

    BUT if you are having pain or feeling like something isn’t right, please contact us sooner. Often times it can be helpful to just talk and trouble-shoot things. There are a lot of things we can do to help reduce symptoms that are gentle and safe early postpartum. If we need to, we can then get you in touch with other providers.

    We do not do home visits, but we know other pelvic PTs in the area that do and that could be a great option for you as well.

    In a perfect world, come see us when you are pregnant. We can review how to prepare for birth, and what early exercises you can do postpartum from the comfort of your own home.

  • Absolutely! You would be surprised how much we can still do when you have your baby with you. We know how challenging it can be to line up care for you to get to appointments.

  • Short answer: no.

    Long answer: We have had a lot of success treating pelvic floor symptoms without doing any internal assessment or treatment. So if this part of pelvic floor PT makes you nervous, it is not something we need to do right away, or at all.

    The reason we do internal exams: there is a lot of information we gain by assessing the pelvic floor that we can’t get any other way. We learn how strong each layer of the pelvic floor muscles are, we can feel for trigger points in the pelvic floor that may be the source of your pain, and we also assess for prolapse, which could change our treatment plan.