Find the Relief You’ve Been Looking For with Physical Therapy
Are you one of the millions of people living with chronic pain? According to Choose PT, “Chronic pain is a condition that occurs when the brain concludes there is a threat to a person’s well-being based on the many signals it receives from the body.”
Whether you’re recovering from a major surgery, dealing with the physical consequences of an accident, or dealing with a chronic medical condition, pain can keep you from doing the things you enjoy.
If this describes you, you may be considering additional surgeries or strong pain relievers. Physical therapy, on the other hand, offers a wide range of treatment options for effectively and safely managing pain. Physical therapy provides a number of non-invasive and safe methods for reducing or eliminating pain.
Contact us today to learn how physical therapy can help you live a pain-free, active life.
Manual Therapy
Manual therapy is physical therapy delivered by the hands instead of using a machine or a special device. These techniques are more than just a massage.
After a physical therapist goes over a complete evaluation of your medical history and any current conditions you may have, a physical therapy program that includes manual therapy can be created specifically for your individual needs.
There are several manual techniques that a physical therapist may use to treat the soft tissues in the body. A few of these include the following:
- Soft Tissue Massage – Massage done by a skilled physical therapist can loosen tight muscles, ease pressure around sore joints, and help eliminate a variety of painful conditions.
- Soft Tissue Mobilization – Using mobilization techniques, a physical therapist would focus on the muscles and how they’re attached to various joints. This technique is used specifically for restoring movement and improving range of motion.
- Strain and Counterstrain – This is a physical therapy technique that is used to pinpoint tender points throughout the body. Once these are located, the physical therapist will position your body to shorten and relax the muscles involved. The primary purpose of this is to reduce muscle spasms.
- Muscle Energy Techniques – This type of physical therapy method involves repositioning joints that are considered dysfunctional and then treating the muscles around that particular area.
- Thrust Techniques – Using this method, a physical therapist will apply quick and repetitive pressure to a particular joint. These rapid movements in the correct place on the body can restore natural movement.
Ice and Heat Therapy
Both ice and heat therapy can work to provide relief for pain. A trained physical therapist will know which type, heat or cold, will work best for the type of pain you’re experiencing. Heat and ice work in different ways to help reduce painful conditions.
Heat increases blood flow and more quickly brings nutrients to various parts of the body. Cold, however, reduces blood flow and brings down inflammation and swelling. The following are a few ways physical therapy uses heat to ease pain:
- Heat therapy is often used for older or recurring injuries. It can reduce pain when a person is experiencing arthritis or stiff joints.
- Heating pads, wraps, and gel packs can be used to relieve chronic pain in the neck and lower back.
- Heat therapy is used for treating and reducing pain for muscle spasms.
There are also specific benefits for using ice therapy, also called cryotherapy, in physical therapy treatment:
- Icing can reduce pain in injuries such as ligament sprains in the ankles or knees.
- Ice therapy is often used for many types of muscle strains.
- Ice therapy is recommended for new injuries to immediately reduce swelling.
Exercise and Stretching
If you’re experiencing pain, the last thing you might feel like doing is working out and stretching. However, the right type of exercise and stretching can actually help to loosen muscles, reduce stiffness, and reduce inflammation.Exercise can even release endorphins, which are the natural painkillers of the body.
Your physical therapist can create an exercise and stretching routine that suits your personal fitness goals, in addition to helping relieve painful muscles and joints. Tight muscles can cause pain or worsen other painful conditions. Learning how to stretch in a safe and correct way can relieve stress and pain.
Laser Therapy
Advancing technology using lasers can now provide pain relief in a safe and non-invasive manner. A single wavelength of light is generated with a low-level laser. There isn’t any vibration, sound, or even heat emitted with this type of treatment.
It normally takes more than one treatment for a patient to notice significant results, but laser therapy can reduce pain without any side-effects. There are several important facts about laser therapy you should know.
- It can be used for both chronic and acute conditions.
- Most treatments only last ten minutes or less.
- Laser therapy treatments can be customized for each individual.
Ultrasound
A physical therapist may use ultrasound to provide safe, effective pain-relief. Ultrasound is a method that delivers deep heat into the body’s soft tissues. There are several specific benefits of using this method.
The first is that it can increase circulation to tissues such as ligaments, muscles, and tendons. This can ultimately increase healing and decrease pain. Just increasing the temperature in body tissues can help decrease pain. Ultrasound can be used in physical therapy to treat the following injuries:
- Muscle Strains
- Frozen Shoulder
- Tendonitis
- Bursitis
Begin your journey toward pain relief today
Any of the aforementioned methods or combinations may be used by your physical therapist to effectively treat the underlying cause of your pain. Physical therapy may provide effective, non-invasive treatment for a wide range of conditions.
Physical therapy may provide the solution you’re looking for if you have fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, accident injuries, or chronic headaches. Call our office to learn how a physical therapist can assist you in eliminating pain and achieving your health and wellness goals!
