Physical therapy is a medical field that helps patients of all ages overcome limitations in their movement. This lack of movement comes from illness, injury, or age. Generally, the goal of a physical therapist is to restore a patient to their prior level of functioning.
A common misconception is that physical therapy is only for athletic injuries like sprains or torn ACL’s. The fact is, it’s a field devoted to helping anyone in any age group or situation to restore health and livability. They promote lifestyle changes to promote health including exercise and diet.
Reasons Physical Therapy is Beneficial
- Reduces pain. Physical therapists are really good at what they do. They understand the complex movements of the body and can help you pinpoint where pain originates. They then use various methods (massage, movement therapy, joint manipulation, etc.) to ease the pain and help you to gain strength. Through exercise and education, you’ll better understand how you can reduce or even eliminate pain while working one-on-one with a PT.
- Improves mobility. Injury or age can reduce your ability to get around like you used to. Physical therapists can prescribe assistant devices (canes, crutches, etc.) and help you set goals. Have your joints strengthened and don’t let pain dictate where you go and what you do.
- Manages age-related issues
- Improves balance/prevent falls. PT’s aren’t just physical trainers. If you have high fall risk, they will prescribe exercises to improve coordination and, when needed, perform specific maneuvers that can quickly restore proper vestibular functioning, reducing symptoms of dizziness or vertigo.
- Provides recovery from a stroke. While a stroke can severely decrease motor function, physical therapy seeks to reverse it. Gait exercises and specific weight training can sometimes restore movability of a limb and often leads to a more independent life for the patient.
- Manages vascular diseases. Even diseases like diabetes or lung disease can be fought with training and expertise. Increased movement will increase sensation in limbs, move the blood in your body, and help you breathe easier.
- Just the tip of the iceberg. Physical therapy combines the fields of exercise, nutrition, and medicine to bring about amazing things. Chat with a physical therapist to see how s/he can improve your life.
When Should I See A Physical Therapist?
If you don’t have a pre-existing condition or your doctor doesn’t explicitly tell you to see one, how do you know when you should see a physical therapist? Here’s a few tips:
- Obvious injury. Often, you can spot broken bones and torn ligaments from a mile away, or you can hear something pop when you go down. Call a PT.
- You have continued pain. If an injury doesn’t seem like it’s getting any better after 4 days of rest, call a PT. Pain can be in the form of sharp, recurring pain or dull, constant pain. Maybe you’ve even had pain for years due to a traumatic event or just aging. Maybe an “ankle sprain” is feeling more and more like a “broken ankle”. Call a PT.
- Visible changes. This can go back to obvious injuries, but if there is swelling, bruising, and very limited mobility, you can almost diagnose yourself. But instead, get to a PT and find out exactly what is wrong.
- Your doctor tells you to. Yup.
Physical Therapist at Spring Creek Medical Center
We’re lucky enough to have our very own physical therapist here in-house. She is amazing and is incredibly qualified to help you through therapy. Learn more about Megan and the rest of the team here and contact us here. If you need the best physical therapist Logan UT has to offer, Megan is definitely someone to consider!
Spring Creek Medical Center is a medical health center in Logan, UT that provides pain relief that lasts.
