Physical therapy is a crucial part of the recovery process from an injury, and without it, healing can be slower and less effective.
People often worry about going to physical therapy because they don’t know what to expect or they think they will be embarrassed by how bad their injuries are. But a therapist’s goal is to make the patient feel at ease and comfortable.
Physical therapists will not ask about your personal life, nor will they judge you on how you got hurt. They just want to help you get better as quickly as possible!
Physical therapy can be beneficial for different types of injuries. You may need neck and back physical therapy, or you may be suffering from joint pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, sprains and strains, foot problems, shoulder pain, or knee pain. Regardless of your type of injury, a physical therapist can definitely help. Therapists help with improving joint mobility and strength as well as easing the symptoms of any injury or surgery.
There are many benefits to getting physical therapy. Here are a few of the biggest.
Pain Management
Physical therapy is a natural way to heal your body and reduce your pain. It strengthens and improves mobility of the joints, heals injuries, and restores power to muscles.
Physical therapy can help with pain management by providing exercises to strengthen weaker muscles and improve range of motion. It also helps improve balance and coordination. Other effects include prevention of decrease in range-of-motion (decrease in flexibility) and improvement of muscle strength, endurance, activity tolerance (the ability to maintain a physical activity for a long period) and quality of life.
You Might Avoid Surgery
Physical therapy is not a solution for every person, but it can help you avoid surgery and is used to treat many types of pain and injury. It’s recommended that people visit their doctor first before they start physical therapy, because their doctor may prescribe them medication or other treatments that will help them heal more quickly.
Physical therapy is the practice of using mechanical force and manual techniques, like massage or joint mobilization, to improve mobility and relieve pain. Physical therapy can help patients recover from an injury or illness, as well as improve their fitness level and reduce the risk for future injury or a daunting surgery that you don’t want to have.
Restore Mobility Lost
Physical therapy can help restore mobility to people who have lost it. The physical therapist will teach the person the best way to use their body so they can function as well as possible.
Physical therapy is a type of treatment that is used to help people with injuries or illnesses recover movement and stability in their muscles, bones, and joints. These sessions are typically done one-on-one between the patient and a physical therapist for an hour at a time, three times per week.
Physical therapists use different methods to restore mobility lost including massage, stretching exercises, electrotherapy (e.g., ultrasound), manual muscle testing, education about appropriate activity levels for recovery, therapeutic exercises involving weights or pulleys, and braces or orthotics.
Faster Recovery
Physical Therapy is a form of treatment that can promote faster recovery. During Physical Therapy sessions, patients are encouraged to use their muscles in ways they cannot do by themselves.
People who are undergoing physical therapy for an injury should be aware that it’s not just about the injury but rehabilitation as well. Physical therapy can help in faster recovery from an injury or chronic health condition by helping the body develop its own healing abilities.
Eliminate the Need of Opioids
Physical therapy can be done without the use of opioids. This means that injury or pain sufferers will not have to do anything that they are not comfortable with or avoid using drugs to treat pain.
Physical therapy can also help people who are dealing with chronic conditions like arthritis and lower back pain. These treatments work for people who don’t want to take any drugs for their condition and it is a better solution than medication because it treats the cause of the problem instead of just the symptoms, which gives them more relief in the long-term.
Plus, it decreases the chance of developing addiction to opioids or pain killers.
