Physical therapy is a form of exercise regime that helps people of all age groups suffering medical conditions, illnesses, or injuries that have limited their ability to move and work. Here, it also won’t be wrong to say that physical therapy is one of the best forms of medicine in certain cases including musculoskeletal problems. Besides this, paralyzed people also receive amazing benefits from physical therapy.

Physical therapy is customized depending on the health condition of an individual. This means, there is no “one size fits all” sort of therapy. An experienced physiotherapist will analyze and understand the problem you are suffering from. Based on that, he will decide which exercises will work for you.

Here, we will see some of the benefits of doing physical therapy.

Reasons Why Physical Therapy is Beneficial

Helps Improve Pain

One of the great benefits of doing physical therapy is that it reduces pain. In some cases, the pain completely fades away. Some of the strategies that a physiotherapist may try to improve pain include joint and soft tissue mobilization, electrical stimulation, ultrasound, and taping. Above all, this also helps restore joint function while relieving stress on muscles.

Minimizes the Need for Surgery

In some cases, physical therapy can eliminate the need for surgery. The therapy itself can provide relief from painful symptoms. While on the other hand, even if the need for surgery is there, physiotherapy can help you go stronger for surgery. This will help improve post-surgical outcomes along with the quality of life. However, physical therapy often helps people recover faster after surgery.

Improves Mobility

Some health conditions make you dependent on others to even stand. In such cases, physical therapy can rescue people. Yes, with regular physiotherapy sessions, such people can not only stand on their own but walk and move as well. Therefore, doctors suggest physical therapy for people who are using assistive devices to move around. Depending on the health condition of the patient, customized physiotherapy plans will be provided.

Improved Stroke Recovery

A stroke is a condition which reduces or stops the blood supply to the brain. So, this restricts the supply of oxygen and nutrients to the brain. After a stroke, a person may experience limited mobility and function of certain body parts. In such cases, physical therapy can help improve the condition and bring back the normal range of motion. Targeted physical therapy is provided by experts to restore the blood supply to the affected areas of the body. This helps with the normal functioning of the limbs.

Beneficial for Sports Injury

Athletes are prone to a number of injuries and physical therapy can improve some of them. Besides this, sports physiotherapists also suggest several exercises to minimize the risk of certain sports injuries. So, it won’t be wrong to say that physiotherapy is a must for sportspeople.

Improves Balance

Certain health problems like paralysis and vertigo affect your body balance while increasing the chances of falls. This could also be the case after orthopedic surgeries. So, physical therapy can help improve balance and reduce the risk of falls. During sessions, the expert will ask the patient to perform body balancing exercises in a controlled environment that generally mimics real-life situations. Besides this, exercises to improve coordination will also be performed to help maintain mind and body balance.

Manage Diabetes

You might be thinking about what role physical therapy has to play in controlling diabetes. So, let us tell you that physiotherapy is a part of the overall diabetes management plan, and it helps control blood sugar effectively as well. Diabetes can arise problems with sensations in the legs and feet. With targeted physiotherapy sessions, such people are educated and helped with the condition.

Help Improve Age-Related Condition

With age, the risk of various health problems increases, and a few of the common ones are arthritis and osteoporosis. Physical therapy has a big role to play in providing relief from painful symptoms associated with the condition and improving the quality of life. Even after joint replacement surgery, physiotherapy decides how fast and better the recovery will be.

Help Improve Heart and Lung Condition

If you are suffering from lung disease or a heart condition, targeted physical therapy may improve daily functioning. The physiotherapist will suggest strengthening and breathing exercises to improve the quality of life. If someone has suffered from a heart attack, cardiac rehabilitation may help with the condition.

What Type of Treatment is Given During Physical Therapy?

Physical therapy includes a variety of manual exercises and the use of instruments depending on the purpose. To improve the strength and flexibility of various parts of the body, manual exercises are there and the experts suggest them. You can do some exercises at home whereas some specific exercises require the help of an expert. For this, either you need to visit the physiotherapy center or request the physiotherapist to come home, whichever is feasible.

Some other treatments that physiotherapy may involve include:

Iontophoresis

This method involves a device that uses electrical current to deliver medicines, like topical steroids to reduce inflammation. In most cases, the affected body part during iontophoresis is submerged in water.

Electrical Stimulation

Electrical stimulation helps improve pain and also the muscular engagement. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation is for reducing pain, whereas, for stimulation of the muscular motor unit, neuromuscular electrical stimulation is the option.

Heat and Cold Therapy

These therapies help improve pain, swelling, and inflammation in several cases.  

Light Therapy

During light therapy, special lights and lasers are used for the treatment of certain medical conditions. One of the examples of this is red light therapy which helps improve certain skin problems.