Have you ever felt real solid physical pain? The kind you get from a major injury? The kind you get from developing a condition that causes you pain every day of your life, whether in small ways or large ways? Have you ever imagined yourself not getting better? That the road is too hard? That you’ll never make it through?
You may be surprised to know that there is a solution: It relies on physical therapy techniques.
For those that suffer from physical ailments that pose a difficulty in every day life, it may seem like getting better is not probable, in some cases, extreme cases, nearly impossible. The difficulty then is figuring out if you have the resources and the tenacity to find the treatment you’re looking for. Consider the following facts about pain:
- Every year, 50% of U.S. adults develop a musculoskeletal injury that persists longer than three months.
- Up to 31 million Americans experience low-back pain at any given time.
- The National Center for Health Statistics reports that over five million sports-related injuries occur annually in the United States.
There are difficulties in all those cases. The adult that develops a musculoskeletal injury may struggle to do basic functions, such as walk, sit up straighter, exercise, raise arms above shoulders and so much more. Lower back pain can cause a person to want to lie down rather than gain physical activity and sports injuries impact the ability to get exercise.
Each case involves a lessened to a large degree quality of life. The ability to live without pain and the ability to be able to go where one wants to go without the fear that their body is going to give out is central.
What is there to do when one has an injury that causes significant pain and distress from the workings of everyday life. Well, the question becomes–what can the person do to find effective treatment options and when it comes to physical disabilities, the question then become–how can I best treat my condition to get back on my feet?
The answer, of course, lies in an oft-referenced set of techniques called physical therapy. Physical therapy is a discipline, meaning there are people who are trained and designated “physical therapists” to help those with physical injuries. And its practices have helped people recover from even gruesome injuries to regain control of their muscles.
There are certain types of physical therapy treatments. Here are three.
Orthopedic Physical Therapy
There are certain types of physical therapy treatments that help certain parts of the patient’s body. Orthopedic physical therapists diagnose, manage, and treat disorders or injuries of the musculoskeleton system. Typical injuries treated by a orthopedic physical therapist include fractures, sprains, tendonitis, bursitis, and others.
An orthopedic physical therapist may use techniques such as joint immobilization, strength training, hot packs and cold packs, and electrical stimulation to speed up recovery within the orthopedic center.
Neurological Physical Therapy
There are certain types of physical therapy treatments that might deal with some sort of disease. In the case of neurological physical therapy, the idea is to treat some neurological disorders or the effects caused by a neurological accident or incident (like a stroke) with physical techniques.
Common conditions they work with include: stroke, ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury and more. Common problems with patients include paralysis, loss of vision, poor balance, difficulty walking, and loss of independence.
Pediatric Physical Therapy
There are certain types of physical therapy treatments that deal with certain age groups or demographics. In the case of pediatric physical therapy, the treatments are designed for infants, children, and adolescents, with a variety of illnesses, disorders, and conditions that affect the musculoskeleton.
Treatment in this case focuses on improving gross and fine motor skills, balance and concentration, strength and endurance, as well as cognitive and sensory processing and integration. Children with developmental delays and cerebral palsy are just two of the categories of children that would seek physical therapy.
When it comes to physical therapy, it’s always important to understand the techniques involved or at least have some trust in the physical therapist who is performing the duties. Having that trust will carry over into sessions outside of the office, with home exercises that need to be performed.