Why request or extend physical therapy for "severe type E pathology" in Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS)?
For some people with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), physical therapy is an essential long-term treatment: it helps stabilize joints, reduce pain, improve endurance, limit injuries, and preserve independence.
When physical therapy is recognized as a "serious condition type E," patients are eligible for a greater number of sessions (350 per year) and these sessions are better reimbursed by mutual insurance companies, according to the reimbursement rules in Belgium.
✅ Why is a consultation necessary for an extension?
Even if you regularly visit your physical therapist, the extension of type E sessions must be based on recent medical advice.
This consultation serves to:
• Assess your current situation (pain, instability, fatigue, limitations, comorbidities associated with SED and their treatments, including medication, orthotics, or other treatments), adapt treatments, and request any additional tests, etc.
• Check progress since the last prescription (improvement, plateau, relapses).
• Adapt physical therapy objectives (stabilization, proprioception, strengthening, progressive rehabilitation, etc.).
• Ensure that prescriptions are complete and comply with mutual insurance company requirements.
• Provide medical justification for continuing treatment in the event of an inspection.
👉 In other words: the consultation allows you to clearly document why physical therapy is still necessary, and what it aims to improve or maintain.
✅ An important point: this is not "administrative":
This approach is not intended to "complicate matters."
Health insurance companies may request further details, especially if the sessions are prolonged. A well-constructed medical file increases the chances of:
• Continue care without interruption.
• avoid rejection or requests for additional justification.
• Maintain continuity of care appropriate for SED.
✅ In summary
Consultation ensures that physical therapy for severe conditions such as E remains:
• medically justified,
• tailored to your situation,
• and complies with the reimbursement rules,
in the context of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
📌 If you need an extension, remember to make an appointment before the end of your sessions to avoid any interruption.
Requests by mail will therefore no longer be completed and returned without consultation.
- Please also print out and bring the serious illness application form (available on Dr. Daens' website, for example) to your rheumatologist.
Dr. Stéphane Daens
Internal Medicine – Rheumatology