Could You Benefit From Physical Therapy?
Have you ever woken up having a hard time controlling your body? If so, it may be worth checking in with a physical therapist. Exposure to daily tasks and everyday life makes all of us vulnerable to accidents and pain, and some people are born with conditions that make certain tasks difficult from the start. These are just a few of the scenarios where physical therapy can help.
Physical therapy, also known as physiotherapy, promotes care for people who suffer from pain, dysfunction, or anything else affecting their ability to perform their usual tasks. It aims to ease pain and help patients live better.
What Physical Therapists Do
Physical therapy is one of the allied health professions and is performed by licensed health professionals who have completed specific graduate training. Physical therapists help patients heal holistically, from diagnosis through the restorative and preventive phases of recovery, working alongside doctors and other health care professionals on serious illness and injury.
A PT will ask about your pain and other symptoms, your ability to move or perform everyday tasks, your sleep, and your medical history. With those details in hand, they devise a plan to address your needs. Physical therapists may provide supplementary treatment for a variety of medical conditions, though they typically treat musculoskeletal conditions independently.
Common Physical Therapy Treatments
Beyond hands-on manipulation and movement optimization, physical therapy treatment may involve several modalities:
Electrical stimulation (e-stim): Mimics the action of signals from neurons to aid muscle recovery and repair injured muscle, especially useful for stroke survivors relearning basic motor functions. The two main types are TENS, for acute and chronic pain, and EMS, which uses a stronger electric current to get muscles to contract.
Heat, moist heat, and cold therapy: Can benefit a range of conditions, including injury and muscle strain.
Iontophoresis: Uses an electrical current to introduce ionic medicinal compounds into the body, decreasing inflammation.
Light therapy: A non-invasive treatment using special lights and lasers to treat certain medical conditions.
What Conditions Can Physical Therapy Address?
Physical therapy has proven its ability to benefit and treat a wide range of patients. It can help manage pain and reduce reliance on opioids, and it also serves as a preventive measure against accidents and surgeries. It's been shown effective for people recovering from stroke, paralysis, injury, or trauma. Some conditions physical therapists evaluate and treat include:
• Skin conditions, such as diabetic ulcers, burns, and wound care
• Cardiopulmonary conditions, such as heart failure, cystic fibrosis, and chronic obstructive disease
• Musculoskeletal dysfunction, including joint disorders, back pain, arthritis, and osteoarthritis
• Neurological conditions, including traumatic brain injuries, stroke, Parkinson's disease, and spinal cord injuries
• Pediatric conditions, such as cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy
• Female health conditions, such as pelvic floor dysfunction and lymphatic obstruction
• Cancer-related impairments, addressing the extreme pain and disability treatment can cause
Physical therapists can treat many other problems beyond this list. As we grow older, we become easier targets for accidents and disease, the good news is that physical therapy benefits every age group. It has shown real efficacy in helping patients recover quickly and safely, and can save money through decreased overall health care expenses.