How Physical Therapy Has A Positive Impact On Patient’s Disease, Deformity, Or Injury
By definition, physical therapy involves the treatment of an injury, disease, or defect through physical exercise. This is not the same as using drugs or surgery. Physical therapy can improve a person’s health and mobility. Physical therapy is extremely beneficial for people who have arthritis, muscle strain, back pain or tendon or ligament problems. It can also promote post-operative healing. Physical therapy can be used to improve the quality of life and help people live healthier lives.
A physical therapist teaches their patients exercises that will improve their mobility and reduce or eliminate pain. This is possible by identifying the area of the body that seems weakest or stiffest and creating treatments to alleviate or eliminate the pain. Aerobic exercise such as cycling, jogging and swimming can be used to strengthen the body. Walking improves cardiovascular fitness and joint mobility, while jogging strengthens the bones. Swimming also reduces stress levels, improves mood, and helps to lower blood pressure. Push ups and squatting can build leg muscles. Lunges can work your glute and leg muscles and increase flexibility. All of these activities have been proven to have a positive impact on the body, both mentally and physically. Physical therapy can also help people live a healthier lifestyle by strengthening their muscles to speed up recovery from injuries. Imagine that you are an adolescent baseball player. The repetitive nature of baseball is what makes it so dangerous. According to an article in International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy written by Chuck Thigpen and Ellen Shanley, PhD, “Repetitive throwing, weak physeal and muscle cartilage at growth centres, decreased neuromuscular movement patterns and muscle tightness may place the adolescent at higher risk of injury to their upper extremities.” (1) By working with a physical therapist to identify weak spots in your arms and shoulders, and then using proper exercises to strengthen them, you will be able to recover from injuries much faster. You can then return to playing on the field with your team members in no time.
Physical therapy has the potential to dramatically improve someone’s mood, which is one of the best ways to help them live a healthier lifestyle. Studies have shown that exercising can dramatically improve your mood. James Blumenthal, PhD says that there is good epidemiological evidence to support the claim that people who are active have lower levels of depression than those who are not. Blumenthal did an experiment to determine the relationship between exercise and mood. Blumenthal conducted randomized trials on sedentary adults. He separated them into four different groups. One group would be supervised while the other would be home-based. Another group would be prescribed antidepressant therapy. A placebo pill will also be given to one of the participants. The active patients reported lower levels of depression after a year than those in the less active group. The exercises can not only make you healthier and stronger, but they can also help improve your mood. It seemed that the exercises could be used as physical therapy to people suffering from major depression.
It can be very beneficial if you follow your doctor’s directions and do your exercises. It can improve our mood and strengthen our bones. A great way to live healthier is physical therapy, especially if it’s not something you like. Physical therapy would see more people exercise and could lead to a decrease in future surgery costs.
