FAQ | BE Fit Physical Therapy

What is Physical Therapy?
No matter what area of the body ails you – neck, shoulder, back, knee – physical therapists have an established history of helping individuals improve their quality of life.  A physical therapist can help you move freely again without pain and discomfort and feeling renewed and ready to move on. They can even help you prevent an injury altogether.  Physical therapists are health care professionals trained and licensed to promote health, prevent injury and disability, and rehabilitate people affected by pain, disease, or injury by promoting mobility, strength, and function.  You can learn more about physical therapists at this site run by the American Physical Therapy Association:  www.moveforwardpt.com

What makes BE Fit different?
BE Fit is a small, friendly, open office focused on helping individuals of all ages in the Upper Valley maintain an active lifestyle.  That makes us unique because of our focus on sports and orthopedics, helping get people get back to a high level of fitness as well as health.  We also are unique in our emphasis placed on hiring only highly experienced physical therapists who share our focus, rather than assistants, aides, or new therapists. As we value spending time with our patients, we provide 1 hour evaluation sessions and 30-45 minute follow up treatment sessions when necessary.  Find out more about our philosophy here.

Who are the owners of BE Fit Physical Therapy?
David Barlow and Eric Ellingson started BE Fit in 2009, having worked at a variety of other clinics in the previous 10 years, and wanting to shape a clinic to what they thought physical therapy should be.  They felt the name BE Fit reflected their belief that fitness is a vital part of general wellness and they want their physical therapy care to reflect that.  If you have ever wondered why we capitalized or name: The B and E have the dual meaning of Barlow – Ellingson Fit Physical therapy, hence BE Fit.  Click here to visit our staff bio page.

What kinds of problems does BE Fit treat or specialize in?
BE Fit specializes in all facets of managing orthopedic and sports injuries – prevention, acute injury management, chronic injury management, rehabilitation from injury or surgery, and performance enhancement.  Injuries can be new or years old and need not be sports-related.  We treat a wide variety of musculoskeletal injuries to all parts of the body, including shoulder, knee, foot/ankle, hip, and spine injuries.  BE Fit accepts patients across the age spectrum specializing in those who desire to maintain an active lifestyle.  For more information on specific types of injuries that we treat, please see: Injuries Treated or do not hesitate to call or email us and see whether your injury or problem is something we can help with.

What equipment do you have?
BE Fit is designed to provide a variety of equipment options to be used for your rehab needs.  While our equipment mimics what is available in most gym settings, we also tailor our programs for those who workout primarily at home, outdoors, or in alternative settings.  Examples of our equipment include treadmill, bikes, UBE (upper body ergometers – a bike for your arms),  total gym (for strength training of the arms and legs including plyometrics), foam rollers, theraballs, kettle bells, therabands/tubing, free weights, and more.   We also have equipment for providing ultrasound, iontophoresis delivery of medicine, and electrical stimulation on site.  Some bracing needs are carried in-stock as well as a full line of semi-custom orthotics.  BE Fit does carry some equipment for sale, and we can guide you about where to get other equipment as needed.

What should I expect from a course of physical therapy?
Physical therapy starts with a comprehensive evaluation the first day involving questions about how the problem developed and what trouble you are having.  Your therapist will then test out various aspects of your strength, range of motion, posture, and see how you move for certain activities involved in your problem.  Following this examination, your therapist will explain the cause of your pain and what physical therapy can do to help alleviate.  You will together develop a plan to help solve the problem and begin treatment.  Treatment plans generally involve a combination of hands on manual treatment as well as instruction in a variety of exercises that you can do at home or in the gym to help alleviate the impairments in strength or motion that have been found.  Frequency of further treatments will depend on how much hand-on time you need with your therapist versus how much of it can be addressed independently at home.  This will be discussed with you at that first appointment and can be adapted to your schedule and needs.

Do you take my insurance?
The short answer is yes, we almost certainly do.  We do not want cost or insurance to be a barrier for anyone coming here.  We also offer private pay options for those who will not be using insurance to pay for their care.  BE Fit will make sure that you understand exactly what your insurance’s physical therapy benefits are and what cost (if any) will be passed on to you before you start care with us.  More information about our insurance coverage can be found here.  Please also feel free to call or email with questions specific to your insurance or financial questions and needs.

Do you accept private pay clients?
Yes.  BE Fit offers private pay rates for initial consultations, additional treatments needed, and personal training appointments as appropriate.  Please call us for more information regarding these rates if you are interested.

Where are you located?
BE Fit has two locations in the Upper Valley.  Our original NH office is located is in Hanover, NH, one mile north of the Dartmouth College green, at 45 Lyme Road.  We have ample on-site parking and are also accessible by the Advance Transit free bus line.  We opened a satellite clinic  as part of the Upper Valley Aquatic Center in 2017. More information about both of our locations can be found here.

Do I need a membership at UVAC to be seen at the UVAC location?

Although we encourage an active lifestyle which could include a membership to UVAC, our patients do not need a membership to attend our UVAC location. It is important to note that if you are seen for physical therapy at our UVAC location, you are granted access to the locker rooms and gym equipment the day of your therapy visit. We do participate in UVAC’s 60 days for $60 program which also may be of interest to you and is a good way to transition for skilled physical therapy to a more independent program to maintain a pain free and (hopefully!) injury free.

Does BE Fit provide aquatic therapy?

We do not provide hands-on aquatic therapy, but we can construct a personalized aquatic therapy routine for our patients to perform independently. If patients want to independently perform exercise in the pool at UVAC, they can purchase a day pass through the Upper Valley Aquatic Center or participate in the 60 days for $60 program.

How are your clinicians trained?
Currently, a physical therapist must complete a Bachelor’s degree with certain specific coursework, followed by a three-year Doctoral program (“DPT”) at an accredited physical therapy program.  They must pass a national licensing exam and maintain state licensure requirements including continuing education throughout their career.  Many current clinicians in the field have a Bachelor’s (“PT”) or Master’s degree (“MPT”), not a Doctoral degree, because that was the standard when they attended PT school.  This is not an indication of lesser skill or education overall, as they have continued to get further education and experience throughout their careers. Further education such as additional Master’s degrees or doctoral degrees can also be obtained in specialty areas, as can certification as experts in certain areas of clinical practice (eg, Orthopedic Clinical Specialist, “OCS”).

BE Fit is dedicated to staffing our clinic only with experienced clinicians who have extensive experience in the outpatient orthopedic realm, treating patients with needs like ours.  That means that at BE Fit, you will always see an experienced, well-trained PT who knows how to treat your injury, and get you back to full function.

Will I see a PT at every visit?  Will it be the same PT?
Yes, you will see a PT at every visit.  BE Fit hires only experienced physical therapists, so your treatment will always be of the best quality possible.  Your treatment will never be done by an assistant or aide.  We try to schedule a patient with the same PT for each visit, unless it is advantageous for a patient to see more than one – for patient schedule reasons or for added information/expertise for certain cases.  In instances where a patient does see someone other than their primary therapist, those therapists will have discussed the case in detail before the patient arrives for care.

Why isn’t my question here?
Because we didn’t think of it – but we would still love to answer it!  Please email or call us to let us know how we can answer your question.