Who Can Benefit From Physical Therapy?

This National Physical Therapy Month, we encourage you to learn about the benefits physical therapy (PT) can have for overall health and wellness. PT involves treating injuries, pain, conditions or deformities through physical methods such as massage, heat treatment, and exercise instead of drugs or invasive surgery. 

Who Should Seek Physical Therapy?

Many patients wonder if they are a candidate for PT. In most cases, this is an easy answer: yes! Most people can benefit from PT, whether their condition is a simple sprain or a more complex spinal disorder. Some of the most common reasons to seek PT are:

• Neck or low back pain
• Arthritis 
• Problems with balance or mobility
• Chronic fatigue and weakness
• Fitness and wellness education
• Respiratory problems or poor cardiovascular endurance
• Shoulder, arm, hand and wrist problems, such as carpal tunnel syndrome
• Common sprains and muscle strains
• Work-related injuries, such as repetitive motion injuries, slips, and fall accidents
• Sports-related injuries

Based on that list, it’s clear that even if you aren’t an elite athlete, you can likely benefit from PT. Everyone from weekend warriors to those seeking to be more active can benefit from seeing a sports or physical therapist. 

What Are the Benefits of Physical Therapy?

PT can help people of all ages with medical conditions, illnesses or injuries that limit their ability to move and function. A customized PT program can help you return to your prior level of functioning (leaving room for even more improvement) and encourage activities that can help prevent further injury. Physical therapy may help you to:

Reduce or Eliminate Pain

Targeted exercises can help the body find relief from pain or heal following an injury or illness. PT can reduce or eliminate pain by resolving inflammation, facilitating tissue repair, altering nerve conduction, modifying muscle tone, and much more. Physical therapists treat pain with patient education, manual therapy, exercise, and other intensive modalities. 

Improve Mobility

Whether you have trouble moving from arthritis or recently had a sports injury, PT can help. Physical therapists incorporate stretching and strengthening exercises that will help restore your ability to move. 

PT improves mobility by increasing your range of motion with certain stretches and strengthening your muscles, including your core and leg muscles. Stretching can help improve flexibility, which is what enables us to move safely and easily. 

Avoid Surgery

The thought of surgery can be overwhelming for many patients. It can be expensive, uncomfortable, and inconvenient, especially when the recovery period is longer than expected. However, in many cases, individuals can prevent the need for surgery with PT. 

PT is a highly effective, non-surgical option for the long-term management of back pain. Physical therapists use a combination of skills and equipment to manage pain, stretch muscle tendons, reduce inflammation and improve mobility over time. 

Schedule an Appointment

Physical therapy is an important part of providing you a complete solution to helping you recover from an injury or illness, and building a life of health and well-being. Contact Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation of NY & CT for information on our PT services or to make an appointment now.