9 Benefits of Physiotherapy

Physical therapy: Who can benefit and how can it help?

Physiotherapy combines profound information on how the body functions and uses medically proven procedures for the assessment & treatment of patients. Other than helping in the treatment/management of various conditions, preventive physiotherapy can help in maintaining the overall wellness of a person. 

Below are some conditions/symptoms where physiotherapy has been proven to help in achieving the best possible results:

Reduces/Eliminates Pain: Therapeutic exercises and techniques like Soft Tissue Mobilization or the use of modalities like Ultrasound, IFT, and TENS can help relieve pain due to Arthritis, Tendonitis, Muscle strain/Sprain, etc. and restore normal functioning. Such therapies also help in preventing pain from returning back.

Helps to avoid surgery/drugs: While surgery cannot be avoided in some cases, physiotherapy can help to avoid the same by managing and healing in the earlier stage only. And even if surgery is required Pre and Post Rehabilitation Programs always help in mitigating the complications. Also, health care costs are reduced upon avoiding the surge

Improves overall strength and coordination: Physical therapy involves usually exercise and stretches which ultimately help you in improving the overall strength of the body. It also helps you with exercises and assistive devices to improve the overall coordination of the body. By providing specific rehabilitation techniques a physiotherapist can help you in reducing and eliminating symptoms like dizziness, vertigo, etc.

Improves Lung capacity and Cardiovascular Functioning: Physiotherapy helps post-stroke patients in regaining their degree of function, balance, and movement. Special exercise plans help them to retrieve their activities of daily living. While special breathing exercises help to restore optimal lung capacity and blood circulation.

Managing Sports-related Injury: Physical Therapists understand how various sports can increase the risk to certain types of conditions like Golfers Elbow, ACL Tear, Hamstring strain etc. and they accordingly draft a proper recovery or preventive exercise program to ensure a safe return to your sport.

Manage age-related issues: Certain age-related issues like Rheumatoid arthritis(RA), Sciatica, Osteoporosis, Dementia, Knee Replacement, Neck pain, Back pain etc can easily be treated by Physiotherapy.

Restores normal movement/Improves mobility: If you are having restricted movement due to Joint fracture, Tennis Elbow, Joint Swelling or Muscle Stiffness physical therapy can help. Proper Stretches and Strengthening exercises can help you in restoring the movement to its fullest.

Helps Managing Diabetes and Vascular conditions: Diabetic patients often complain of pain in the Knees, Shoulder, and Back, etc due to mismanagement of sugar levels. Diabetic pain management Plans and exercises can help in controlling sugar levels. Physical therapists can help and educate such patients regarding the conditions like Diabetic Foot, Diabetic Neuropathy, etc.

Improves Women’s Health: Specific health issues like those related to Pregnancy, Postpartum care, Pelvic pain, etc. can easily be treated with Physiotherapy. It also offers special treatment for bowel incontinence, breast cancer, constipation, fibromyalgia, etc.

 How to manage Pain in Winters with Physiotherapy?

As temperatures drop in the winter, weather-related health problems start to rise. Especially for patients with bone & joint-related issues. Pain, swelling, stiffness, fatigue, and other common symptoms are harder to control during the winter. Physiotherapy can help patients suffering from arthritis, spondylosis, asthma etc in managing pain in winters and living through winter pain-free.

 

Common conditions that get worsened in winters & How Physiotherapy helps:

 1. Joint pains and stiffened muscles are the most common health problem plaguing the lives of older people in low temperatures. There is a 50 percent spike in the number of senior citizens seeking treatment for bone and joint problems during winter.

 Various modalities like hot & cold therapy, TENS therapy, and therapeutic massages can help in managing joint pain & loosen muscles during winters. Also, your physiotherapist can suggest certain exercises/stretches to keep the pain at bay.

 2. Rheumatoid arthritis is another chronic ailment that concerns people during winters. Its symptoms including pain, swelling, stiffness, fatigue, and other common rheumatoid arthritis symptoms are harder to control during the winter

 Physical therapy is an effective and safe treatment for managing rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Under proper counseling individuals with rheumatoid arthritis can safely exercise, improving overall physical fitness, improved sense of wellbeing, and greater ease for activities of daily living

 3. Cervical Spondylosis, a condition affecting bones, discs, and joints of the neck of people have a tough time as temperatures dip in winter.

 

Physiotherapy plays a significant role in the management of cervical Spondylosis. In the active part of physical therapy, a physical therapist teaches various exercises to improve flexibility, strength, core stability, and range of motion.

 4. Asthma attacks are also triggered by cold weather, as winters come with a lot of allergens in the air, being the main causative factor for asthma. People with asthma have sensitive airways, which gets aggravated by cold or damp weather conditions.

 Diaphragmatic breathing exercises and pursing lip breathing techniques are widely used in asthma to prevent breathing abnormalities. Pursed lip breathing prevents the trapping of air into the lungs.

 5 Signs you might need Physiotherapy.

Pains and aches are common, whether it is a twinge after exercising or stiffness in joints caused by an injury, or any specific health condition. While most are transitional or temporary and can be remedied with over the counter painkillers, some type of pain or limited movement might require assessment and treatment by a physiotherapist. A physiotherapy rehabilitation program can help individuals return to their prior level of functioning and recommend lifestyle changes that can improve overall health and wellbeing.

 CB Physiotherapy lists down 5 signs that you need to seek a physiotherapist:

 Lack of balance: If you have trouble keeping your balance and your coordination is off, a physiotherapist can find the underlying issue and treat it. Often, a loss of balance is caused by issues in the structures of the inner ear—known as the vestibular system. A physiotherapist can treat your inner ear issues with vestibular rehabilitation. With physiotherapy, you can restore your balance and coordination and get back to living your life without impedance.

 

·        Chronic pain: If you have pain that lingers for more than a few days and is interfering with your ability to work and do other regular activities, you should see a professional. A physiotherapist will determine the underlying issue and help to relieve your pain, such as with physiotherapy treatment for neck pain. Physiotherapists can work with you to assess the issue and provide a targeted exercise and rehabilitation program that will ease your suffering and get you back to your best.

 

·        Delay in Recovery: As injuries heal, the pain should eventually go away. But sometimes the pain remains and becomes chronic. If you have an injury that hasn’t healed properly, a physiotherapist can assess the problem and create a targeted exercise and rehabilitation program to ease your pain and prevent the injury from recurring. Pain treatments include pain education, manipulation, massage, and exercises that will support the damaged body part.

 

·        Reduced Mobility: Mobility issues include reduced flexibility and feelings of pain or stiffness that get in the way of moving in specific motions, such as bending over, touching your toes, or extending your arms to reach upward. If you feel limited in your mobility and can’t move as easily as you used to, physiotherapy exercises can target the muscles and tissues in the problem areas, relax the muscles and strengthen supporting tissues to help increase your flexibility and mobility.

 

·        Uncontrolled Urination: If you experience sudden, intense urges to urinate or you urinate when you cough, sneeze or laugh, you may have urge incontinence, stress incontinence, or a combination of both. Incontinence is fairly common, especially as we get older. Physiotherapy exercises for incontinence include pelvic floor exercises to strengthen the pelvic floor and reduce incontinence.

When to avail Physiotherapy at home?

Taking Physiotherapy at home service is quite common these days. When you are looking for physiotherapy treatment. It is particularly beneficial to avail such service when patient is bedridden and going to a clinic nearby is not possible. A physiotherapist can come to the patient's home for assessment/diagnosis as well as for treatment which may consist of daily sessions. Even if a patient can visit a physiotherapy clinic, home physiotherapy can be opted by patients for their convenience and in many cases it can be a better alternative than visiting clinic.

Following are some cases for which you should be preferring the physiotherapy at home service.

Bed Ridden Patients: In this case it is a no-brainer and physiotherapy at home is the only choice. The only thing you can do try to find the best physiotherapist near your location who has expertise in treating the relevant condition.

Chronic Condition:  For chronic conditions requiring long time treatment, it is advisable to avail home care physiotherapy. Normally it is important to not miss physiotherapy sessions and daily visits from a physio can ensure that your treatment is going on schedule.

Elderly patients:  Elderly patients usually require someone to take them to clinic. If it is a one-time treatment you can visit a clinic but for multiple sessions, it is better to have a physiotherapist visit your home for treatment.

Scheduling problems: If you have a hectic schedule, in that case home physiotherapy can be planned as per your schedule. Not only will this save you travel time but also avoid wait times at the clinic.

Neurological Conditions: Your Home presents a comfortable setting for the treatment of neurological conditions like stroke. Other than patient family members also get educated about the exercises which can be helpful in the overall treatment

Post-Surgery / Post Injury Rehab: If you or your loved ones are recovering from a surgery/injury, travel can be a hindrance in healing process. Home physiotherapy is a comfortable way to speed up your rehab process.

Once you have decided to opt for physiotherapy at home, make sure that you are selecting the right physiotherapist for the treatment. You can check some tips on how to choose a physiotherapist here.

Other than that, make sure that the modalities given to you and devices used by a physio are all medically approved.

CB Physiotherapy provides physiotherapy at home across all major cities in India.  

This article was First Published on CB Physiotherapy