Do you suffer from aches and pains in your joints? Physical therapy can help! Most people who suffer from pain wait it out to see if it will subside on it’s own, but what is the cause of the pain? Typically, if you have pain longer than 3 months it is considered chronic. So if you have had back pain, knee pain, shoulder pain, or any other kind of joint pain, what have you been doing to fix the root cause of the pain?
Let’s take a look at 3 major steps of physical therapy and how physical therapy can help you.
Decrease Pain & Swelling
Physical therapists can help manage your pain and swelling with different modalities and treatments that they learned throughout their 7 years (on average) of education. These treatments may include heat/ ice, therapeutic exercise, appropriate stretching, soft tissue mobilization/ manual therapy, phonophoresis (ultrasound), iontophoresis, joint mobilization, and tens stimulation. All of these treatments help aide in teaching proper movements, reducing pain and swelling, and increasing strength and endurance, so that you can return back to normal functions.
Improve Movement
Have you heard the saying, “motion is lotion”? Well it’s true! At Excel Physical Therapy, our physical therapists train the proper movement and THEN strengthens your muscles and joints. If you do not have the proper body movement (also called body mechanics), you are setting yourself up for failure and for pain. Would you ride a bike that has a crooked frame? No. If your bike is properly aligned and the pedals move in the correct direction, the ride will be much, much easier. The same can be said for your body. And although we can have joint replacements and major surgeries in this day in age, we are only given one body. If we keep our body in good working condition, the ride of life will be easier and less painful. Physical therapists are movement specialists and can help you retrain your body to have the correct body mechanics so that you are set up for success.
Increase Strength & Flexibility
Once your body mechanics are in good working order, our physical therapists will then add weights, exercises and appropriate stretching. By increasing your strength and flexibility, you are able to manage your pain and avoid re-injury. For example, think of your knee as a house. If your house has the appropriate foundation (body mechanics), frame (muscles), ceiling joists (ligaments), floor joists (tendons) and wall studs (cartilage) your house will be less likely to fail or collapse during a storm, earthquake, or throughout the years of use. By strengthening and conditioning your body, you will be able to return to or exceed your normal functions before your pain began.
All of our physical therapy programs include a home exercise program, so that you can continue physical therapy and conditioning after you have graduated from our facility. Daily exercise and movement is important to keep your joints lubricated and strong.
Give us a call today if you have questions or would like to set up an appointment.
