What Are 5 Things Physical Therapists Do?
Physical therapy can be extremely beneficial for people with a wide range of injuries or health conditions. It can help both young and older people and has the additional benefit of strengthening the body to help address health concerns relating to the muscles, bones, nerves and joints.
Here’s just a few of the benefits of physical therapy:
- Improving mobility and function
- Improved management of age-related conditions
- May help you avoid surgery
- May help reduce pain
- Aid in injury recovery
- Help with fall prevention
At Oakland Spine we create a customized plan to help you:
- Regain movement
- Return to more of the activities you enjoy in life
- Prevent future injury
- Minimize pain
Why is Physical Therapy So Important
You may be wondering what physical therapists do and how they can help you. Most people still think of physical therapy as workouts that help heal a sports injury. But there is so much more physical therapists do to help you to live your best, most active life. Physical therapists use a variety of techniques to stimulate healing in the body, such as:
- Therapeutic exercises
- Joint mobilization
- Ultrasound and electrical stimulation
- Taping
- Metabolic Energy Technique
- Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF)
Educating our patients is extremely important to our team’s mission. You will notice that throughout your sessions, you’ll be learning about your body, gaining insight that doctor’s appointments alone don’t provide. You’ll also learn about how improper movements or habits can exacerbate injuries and chronic pain. This knowledge can empower you to feel more in control of your body and its functions.
Here’s are five things that physical therapists do that can help you live a better, more pain-free life:
Physical Therapists Help with Sports Injuries
Whether it’s while competing, in practice or in training, sports injuries can be an unavoidable part of any athlete’s life. An injury can sideline you, cause you to miss time in the game and create long-term mobility and pain issues. Common sports injuries include sprains, Achilles tendon injuries, strains, dislocations and knee injuries. Then there are injuries caused by repetitive strain, like golfer’s and tennis elbow and plantar fasciitis. Here at Oakland Spine, we use a variety of techniques to help your body heal and regain strength.
Physical Therapists Can Help with Back and Neck Pain Issues
Back and neck pain is one of the most common causes of pain in the country. If you’ve had back pain, you know how all encompassing this type of pain can be, overtaking your day and causing significant loss of quality of life and the ability to function normally. At Oakland Spine we’re experienced in dealing with a variety of back and neck pain issues including herniated discs, whiplash, sciatica and spinal stenosis. We can also help with chronic degenerative issues, like arthritis through a variety of customized therapies.
Physical Therapists can Help with the Aftermaths of Stroke
It’s not just muscle and bone injuries that physical therapists help with. Physical therapy is widely regarded as an essential part of stroke recovery. A stroke can cause paralysis to one side of the body. This can have far reaching implications for your mobility and function. We can help you to retain muscle strength and flexibility during post-stroke recovery. And if voluntary movement is regained, we can help you to learn to “retrain” your brain. Focusing on walking, lifting, lying down and standing up, we help you to relearn the movements that are most commonly performed.
Physical Therapists can Help with Chronic Conditions
Many pain and mobility issues are caused by chronic conditions. Whether that is a repetitive strain issue such as carpal tunnel syndrome or a disease like fibromyalgia, it can feel like there are few options for pain reduction. However, physical therapy can help minimize pain, relieve fatigue and reduce stiffness. For people with peripheral neuropathy for instance, physical therapy may help reduce some of their nerve symptoms and also help reduce the damaging effects many of the symptoms of neuropathy create.
Physical Therapists Help Manage Aging
As we get older, aches and pains can appear without warning. Things like lack of exercise, poor posture and excessive weight can cause wear and tear on the body that take years to show. Sometimes it’s not even lifestyle that causes these issues, our genetics also play a role in how we age. The team of physical therapists at Oakland Spine and Physical Therapy are skilled in helping patients with arthritis and osteoporosis live better and manage their symptoms. When it comes to joint replacement, we can help both with prevention of these procedures or post-op recovery.
The physical therapists at Oakland Spine and Physical Therapy stay up-to-date on the latest innovations in patient care. We offer an array of established and cutting edge techniques, including Active Release Technique (ART), proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation, metabolic energy technique and trigger point release.
If you are currently living with pain or limited mobility, recovering from an injury or living with a chronic condition, reach out to the compassionate and caring team at Oakland Spine and Physical Therapy. We’re dedicated to helping you get your life back from pain.
Serving patients at the following convenient locations:
