What Is Physical Therapy, And How Can It Benefit You?

Physical therapy can be beneficial if you deal with an acute injury, post-surgical rehab, or a chronic condition that may impact your physical function. Physical therapy helps get you on track and makes you feel good again. Let’s understand physical therapy first. 

What Is Physical Therapy?

Physical therapy murfreesboro, TN is a type of rehabilitation and care that focuses on treating, diagnosing, and treating acute and chronic conditions and movement dysfunctions. Physical therapists are health professionals who use targeted techniques and treatments to restore mobility, improve range of motion, decrease pain, and improve physical function. 

A physical therapist is a trained and experienced personnel who is trained to work with people of all ages through prescribed exercise, manual therapy, and patient education. 

The focus of physical therapy is to help improve or restore mobility, strength, movement, range of motion, overall functioning, and quality of life. It also aims to decrease pain and prevent further injuries. Physical therapy can occur in outpatient clinics, hospitals, rehab centers, assisted living facilities, nursing homes, schools, sports and fitness settings, and occupational settings. 

Benefits Of Physical Therapy

There are various benefits of physical therapy. They are as follows:

• Rehab from a sports-related injury - Not all sports-related injuries require surgery. But to prevent further damage, they need targeted interventions that can decrease pain, strengthen the injured area, and help you get back to competition. 

A physical therapist can design a plan to help rebuild the injured area’s range of motion and strength. It may include targeted exercises, massage therapy, aquatic therapy, ultrasound, or cold and heat therapy to help strengthen muscles and joints and prevent further injury. 

• Reduce Pain - Some pain requires prescription medications or surgery to improve, while other types of pain can benefit from physical therapy and exercise. Acute pain generally has a known cause and starts suddenly. However, it often gets better with time, treatment, and healing. 

On the other hand, chronic pain lasts more than three months and is typically caused by an injury, disease, inflammation, medical treatment, or in some cases, an unknown cause. Opioids and other powerful drugs are often recommended for pain management. 

• Support Neurological Conditions - Physical therapy murfreesboro, TN techniques may help support symptoms caused by neurological conditions such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and issues related to spinal cord injuries. 

More specifically, researchers saw a reduction in falls for up to 12 months and an improvement in gait performance and walking capacity for up to 6 months after training. 

A physical therapist can also assist with symptom management for people with multiple sclerosis. 

• Provide Relief From Arthritis Symptoms - Joint inflammation, pain, tenderness, swelling, and stiffness can be debilitating symptoms caused by rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. However, physical therapy may help reduce symptom severity and boost the overall quality of life. Physical therapy can help improve mobility and restore the use of affected joints, increase overall strength to help support joints and maintain fitness levels. 
• Reduce Complications related to pelvic floor dysfunction - Pregnancy and birth can significantly impact your pelvic floor muscles. When the damage is significant, the pelvic floor muscles may weaken, which makes them lose the ability to fully support the pelvic organs, causing urinary leakage, low back pain, sexual dysfunction, pelvic pressure, and prolapse. Menopause, abdominal surgeries, and other conditions can change the intra-abdominal pressure or the tension of the pelvic floor muscles. 

If the damage is significant, the pelvic floor muscles may weaken and thus lose the ability to fully support the pelvic organs, which may cause urinary leakage, low back pain, sexual dysfunction, pelvic pressure, etc. 

Pelvic floor dysfunction can seriously interrupt your daily life. The good news is pelvic floor physical therapy can be beneficial in this matter. 

• Manage Pain - Researchers have been exploring the links between physical therapy and the reduction in opioids used by patients for managing chronic pain. It has been found that physical therapy is highly beneficial for treating both chronic and acute pain. 

What To Expect From A Physical Therapist

Physical therapists can provide additional treatment for various medical conditions, depending on their specialty. Trained and experienced PT experts are beneficial in caring for patients in all phases of healing, from the initial diagnosis to the restorative and preventive stages of recovery. Physical therapy may be a standalone option or support other treatments. 

Although physical therapists may not directly and independently treat the medical condition other than pure musculoskeletal conditions, they work to optimize recovery or educate people on optimizing their movement patterns. 

Conclusion

Physical therapy murfreesboro, TN can benefit people with specific injuries, disabilities, or other health conditions. The focus of physical therapy is to help improve or restore mobility, strength, movement, range of motion, overall functioning, and quality of life. It also aims to decrease pain and prevent further injuries. Physical therapy is effective for many acute and chronic conditions. However, the therapist and patient must work together for maximum benefits.