Physical therapy is one of the safest, healthiest, and most holistic methods of treatment that can cure a wide range of illnesses, injuries, and medical conditions.
Moreover, physical therapy is the best option for those who do not want to take hardcore medications, injections, or be in surgery for their bodily complications.
Just like every other method of treatment, physical therapy takes on an individualized and customized approach to treat every patient and help them overcome their specific problem.
A lot of people don’t go to physical therapy because they think it doesn’t work or it is a very slow process, whereas having a mouthful of painkillers and taking syringes is a quick relief.
The truth is on the contrary. While physical therapy is a slow process, it is more effective than the other methods in most cases. Apart from that, physical therapy does not have any side effects, let alone the harmful ones. You can’t say the same about medications, injections, or even surgical procedures.
Therefore, not only can physical therapy cure your illnesses and injuries and a wide number of medical issues, it can also practically change the way you live your life.
Here are 8 amazing ways how physical therapy can really make a difference in your life.
1. Reduces and Eliminates Pain
When the injury isn’t fully recovered, the pain never leaves, it always lingers somewhere in your body and just needs a trigger to come on the surface. It happens when you do not follow the proper recovery process or when the process wasn’t good enough even if you followed it to the end.
This post-injurial pain can significantly limit your range of motion and flexibility, but therapies such as dry needling treatment can help restore your joints to their former health and mobility.
In that case, physical therapy can literally do wonders for your body. In fact, the end goal of physical therapy is always to relieve the patient’s pain and keep it from ever resurfacing again.
Physical therapy consists of manual treatments, such as ultrasound, soft tissue mobilization, electric simulation, and targeted physical movements to help relieve pain from the body and restore muscle and joint functions. With help of such treatment methods, there is no chance left of pain coming back.
2. Increases Your Muscle Strength
When you are in physical therapy, your therapist will have you do a number of exercises, stretches and light weightlifting that will not only help you become more flexible, but will also help build your muscle strength.
Due to the strengthening of your muscles, it will be easy for you to overcome injuries and pains, and minor injuries will hopefully won’t even bother you that much.
3. Decreases the Chances of Surgery
If you have contracted an injury or pain, your primary care physician will give you some medication, probably injections, and will tell you to rest and have this and that in your diet. Hopefully, these methods will work for you and you will be fine. However, if they didn’t, then the doctor would appoint you for a surgery–which is something no one wants.
On the other hand, if you go into therapy, it will reduce your pain and heal you to the point where you no longer need surgery.
Expert opinion states that some conditions, including meniscal tears and knee osteoarthritis, can be treated by physical therapy as effectively as surgery.
4. Improves Body Balance and Prevent Falls
Falling is one of the common causes behind fractures, including spinal ones. You can choose whatever way of treatment you want once you have contracted a fracture or any other painful injury, but what if we tell you that we can make it very less likely for you to contract a fracture in the first place?
Well, most people fall when they have poor body balance. Luckily, physical therapy is equipped with the ability to screen your risk of falling and contracting an injury.
There are exercises that can improve body balance in real-life situations. The therapy session will have assistive devices for you to ensure that you are walking or running safe and have your reflexes all polished.
If you get diagnosed with a vestibular problem (a problem with balance), the physical therapist will perform specific procedures to eliminate those systems that can later cause vertigo or dizziness.
5. Improves Mobility
If you feel difficulty getting around comfortably (maybe because of a past injury or age), physical therapy can eliminate that issue.
In fact, one of the primary purposes of physical therapy is to improve the mobility of a person. With active and passive treatments, physical therapy strengthens your muscles to increase your flexibility. As a result, your mobility gets improved and makes it easy for you to engage yourself in healthy, physical activities.
6. Manage Age-Related Body Issues
As we get older, our bodies develop changes. We become more likely to contract painful conditions due to aging, such as osteoporosis and arthritis. What most doctors say is that there is no cure to age-related problems. If they occur, you have to live with it.
However, what you can do is prevent them from happening. Physical therapy keeps your muscles and joints regulated that decreases the chances significantly of your body to contract such age-related conditions.
Even if you did get diagnosed with them, physical therapy can help you recover from their pains and make sure that you don’t experience a lot of discomfort because of them.
7. Manages Heart and Lung Diseases
Cardiac rehabilitation heavily relies on physical therapy. A physical therapist addresses your pulmonary issues to improve your health and increase your quality of life.
Through conditioning, strengthening, and breathing exercises done in supervision of trained, professional, and certified physical therapists, physical therapy can also clear fluid from your lungs and make you fit for a long life.
8. Beneficial for Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a condition that occurs due to old age. It is a bone disease that occurs “when the bone mineral density and bone mass decreases or when there is a change in bone structure.” It results in the decreasing bone strength and increasing pain that puts you at risk of fracture. It is one of the ten most common illnesses around the globe.
Unfortunately, people don’t realize how physical therapy can help with osteoporosis. They still rely on medicine and surgery when the real cure of this condition lies in therapy.
A study conducted and published at NIS says resulted in 44 patients of osteoporosis coming out of physical therapy with significantly reduced pain and improved body functions.
This study is just one of the many proofs that conclude that there are numerous benefits of physical therapy.
Conclusion
There is only one end goal to physical therapy: helping patients to always live their life free of pain, restrictions, and discomfort.
That is possible when you appoint yourself in physical therapy and cooperate with the schedule provided by your physical therapist. Even after you decide to quit therapy, you should continue doing the stretches and exercises you learned there so you can live a happy, healthy, and fit life.
If you are still on the fence, we would recommend that you just get an appointment for one session. You will automatically realize that physical therapy can change your life quite literally.
