Whether you were injured in a car accident, at work, or while playing a sport, it takes time, patience, and a commitment to healing to get back on your feet. In addition to the carefully chosen treatments your doctor suggests to assist in your recovery; you may be prescribed physical therapy. Although often overlooked, physical therapy isn't simply an add-on to medical treatment; it's an integral part of it.
Physical therapy is the use of exercises (active therapy) and advanced technologies (passive therapies) to rehabilitate patients following injury, illness, or surgery.
The use of physical therapy is fundamental to managing chronic pain conditions like arthritis. As one of the conservative approaches to managing musculoskeletal pain, physical therapy often forms part of a patient's treatment program. Depending on your injury and current level of debilitation, a physical therapist will design a rehabilitation strategy that incorporates both passive and active techniques to restore you to as close to full mobility and functionality as possible.
Alleviates pain
A physical therapy program may incorporate massage techniques, heat and ice therapies, ultrasound, electrical stimulation, or a combination of these to increase blood circulation to the area of injury. This can help to reduce painful inflammation and speed up recovery.
Aids in mobility
Without regular activity, you risk suffering from permanent mobility limitations.
While our natural tendency may be to try and protect our injured body part from further harm, this will only lead to diminished mobility a prolonged healing period. A physical therapy program helps you find ways to move your body that will increase circulation to the injury and strengthen surrounding muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Moving and stressing injured muscles and joints prevents them from stiffening.
Strengthens muscles
Your physical therapist can provide you with specific exercises, stretches, and techniques that will increase the range of motion and flexibility of the injured area, improve the stability of the joint, and build muscle.
At Truwell Health, we offer patients our integrative StrengthCare treatment program in our on-site department dedicated to physical therapy.
The StrengthCare physical therapy program is a set of five resistance movements, each aiming to deliver an overload to the muscles involved in posture, physical function, and injury prevention.
By following a long-term StrengthCare physical therapy program, you can reduce the pain, joint stiffness, and loss of function that are hallmarks of arthritis. StrengthCare can form a valuable part of your treatment program if you have:
Even patients with significant pain and loss of function can benefit from a suitable physical therapy program, but certain people need to be cautious. For example, if you've had joint replacement surgery, you must have clearance from your surgeon to take part in a program like StrengthCare.
To find out more about the benefits of physical therapy and the StrengthCare program, or to speak to a member of our team about your suitability, call TruWell Health today at 727-361-2162 or book your appointment online.
