Physiotherapy focuses on restoring lost functional movement, reduce or eliminate pain, and promote health among infants, children, adults, and older individuals. It is an effective form of health care with numerous benefits for people suffering from different types of health conditions. Physiotherapy can be of great help for individuals suffering from all sorts of ailments including knee injuries, chronic back pain, and pain due to diabetes or heart disease.

Physiotherapists work in different medical fields including orthopedics, cardio-respiratory, pediatrics, neurology, women’s health, sports medicine, and senior’s health. They help patients to recover from a wide range of conditions including spinal injuries such as disc prolapsed, chronic headaches or migraines, bone fractures, musculoskeletal issues such as carpal tunnel syndrome, biochemical problems, arthritis, neurological problems such as stroke, pediatric conditions such as cerebral palsy, cardiothoracic conditions, and post-surgical rehabilitation just to mention a few.

When you visit a physiotherapist, he or she will do an extensive assessment of your case which may include your health history, examination of your movement patterns, the presence of pain, the range of motion in your joints, the level of strength, your cardiorespiratory status, sensation, and reflexes. The physiotherapist will pay special attention to your x-rays, lab test results, and any relevant surgical notes you may have. On the basis of this assessment, the physiotherapist will establish a diagnosis and work with you to help you achieve your treatment goals.

The key objective of physiotherapy is to help people to restore physical functionality and live independent lives, even when they have permanent physical limitations. Physiotherapists are highly trained professionals with extensive experience in manual therapy. They use “hands on” treatment procedures that include joint mobilization, massage, and muscle stretching techniques. The manual skills are complemented by different modalities for pain and inflammation reduction techniques such as the use of ice packs, hot packs, E-Stim, TENS, ultrasound, and laser treatment procedures. Most physiotherapists are skilled in trigger point and acupuncture therapies too. They provide patients with exercise prescriptions to help patients exercise at home for fast recovery.

Physiotherapy Health Benefits

Physiotherapy can be of great benefit to an individual’s health and ability to live an active lifestyle. For seniors, chronically sick individuals, and the disabled, physiotherapy helps to restore and maintain their physical function to a level that permits them to enjoy an independent lifestyle. Physiotherapy helps to restore freedom of function. Here are some of the many benefits of physiotherapy.

Orthopedic Benefits

Orthopedic problems include bone fractures, sports injuries, spinal pain and injuries, and headaches among others. Physiotherapy treatment of orthopedic conditions involves regular therapeutic exercises that help to improve strength, endurance, extend the range of motion, correct posture, joint mobilization, soft tissue massage, and stretching exercises to relieve pain and reduce stiffness. These therapeutic exercises and procedures help patients to recover fast from orthopedic conditions.

Benefit to Children with Cerebral Palsy

Physiotherapy helps children with cerebral palsy in several ways. It helps to reduce spasticity, enhance postural control, and show children how to learn using assistive devices. Physiotherapy helps children with cerebral palsy maximize their functional independence. A physiotherapist goes a step further by educating family members how they can take over the child’s learning activities at home after therapy sessions.

Benefits to Patients with Cardiopulmonary Problems

Patients with cardiopulmonary problems respond positively to physiotherapy intervention. Most people suffering from cardiopulmonary conditions always have difficulties in performing everyday activities. Some often experience shortness of breath and reduced endurance while performing simple activities. With guided physiotherapy exercises and training, most cardiopulmonary patients have achieved marked improvement in health and enjoyed a better quality of life.

Physiotherapy treatment for cardiopulmonary patients includes manual exercises that help to remove secretions in the lungs as well as behavior modification and education to prevent recurrence of the problem. Patients who have just undergone cardiopulmonary surgery rely on physiotherapy exercises to avoid loss of strength and function.

Pain Reduction or Elimination

Minimizing or completely eliminating pain is one of the major reasons why most people consult physiotherapists. Physiotherapy helps you to reduce or eliminate pain due to injury, infection, or health conditions such as diabetes and heart disease. With the help of a physiotherapist, you’ll live a pain-free healthy life again.

Better Functionality

One thing most people don’t realize is that physiotherapy is not just for people with serious injuries and health problems. Physiotherapy is an effective treatment procedure for people with common aches and pain as well as anyone who wants to live a fit and active life. You can rely on physiotherapy to help you increase your body’s flexibility and functionality.

Physiotherapy Helps You Take Less Medication

You don’t have to rely on taking medications 100% of the time when you can accelerate the healing process with physiotherapy treatment. As a medication-free alternative treatment, physiotherapy helps you to overcome your condition and manage your overall health without taking medicines.

Management of Age-Related Problems

As people advance in age, their bodies become weaker and as a result, they develop debilitating conditions such as arthritis and osteoporosis. They may even require a joint replacement procedure to regain lost motion. In such cases, physiotherapists help older to recover quickly and manage chronic conditions such as arthritis and osteoporosis with the least pain and discomfort.

Management of Women’s Health Issues

There are specific health concerns that are exclusive to women. Examples include pregnancy and post-partum care. Physiotherapy provides specialized procedures for managing women’s health issues. Additionally, physiotherapy offers specialized treatment for other issues such as bowel incontinence, constipation, pelvic pain, urinary incontinence, breast cancer, fibromyalgia, and lymphedema.

Conclusion

Physiotherapy provides a wide range of specialized treatment services and benefits to patients with all sorts of ailments including cardiopulmonary conditions, athletic and workplace injuries, stroke, diabetes, spinal injuries, amputations, cancer, post-surgical needs, and many more. Health conditions and injuries may cause an individual to lose self-confidence in performing day to day activities. For instance, a person with an ankle injury may not have enough confidence to walk or run as fast as he or she did before attaining the injury. Physiotherapy helps to strengthen the body and mind, restoring the individual’s confidence in his or her ability to function optimally.