Physical rehabilitation or therapy is for patients with many types of injuries, illnesses, or other physical conditions that leave them in pain or struggling with mobility issues. There are many different types of treatments, exercises, and devices that can be used during a physical therapy session to help the patients. Everything from ultrasound to weight lifting can be a part of the patient's treatment and you can learn more about just some of the ways physical therapy can be beneficial below.
Help with pain reduction or elimination
The treatments used in order to help decrease pain will vary. They can focus on different things as well. In some cases, stretching will be used in order to help combat pain, and in other cases, physical therapy may focus on strengthening certain muscles that can cause the patient to have less pain in the afflicted areas. For example, stretches can help to reduce pains like those from the sciatic nerve, while strengthening the muscles in the back can help a person feel less pain from a herniated disc. Electrical stimulation or ultrasound are other treatments often used when the goal is pain relief.
Prevent the need for a surgery
In some cases, a person will consider having surgery because of the amount of pain that they are in from an injury or a chronic issue they are dealing with. Physical rehabilitation treatment can sometimes help to get the person to the point where they can improve their quality of life and feel much less pain, to the point where they can forego the surgery altogether. However, even if they still need the surgery, the work they put into physical therapy will still be worthwhile because they will be in better shape, which will help them heal faster from the surgery and possibly see better results.
Improve flexibility and mobility
A lot of different issues can cause someone to have problems with flexibility and/or mobility. Someone may have an injury that makes it hard for them to get around. Or, they may have a condition such as arthritis that leaves them struggling with flexibility and mobility. In some cases, surgery such as a hip and joint or a knee replacement surgery can affect a person's flexibility and mobility. Physical therapy can help the person to become more flexible and mobile. The therapy can help someone to improve so much that they can gain back their independence and begin enjoying doing a lot of the things they used to do but haven't been able to do in a long time.
Contact a local chiropractor to learn more about physical rehabilitation.
