Why Physical Therapy?
- Injuries can occur at any time and even during common activities like driving, playing sports, exercising, or even doing things at home. Without immediate medical attention, these problems can become serious impairments of daily functions.
- Through accidents, repetitive movements, over exertion or even inactivity your muscles, tendons and ligaments may be damaged and incapable of performing everyday tasks.
- Weak and imbalanced muscles cause misalignment of the spine and lack the support your body needs causing changes in your posture and overall structure of your body.
- Physical therapy is a unique medical science that utilizes a variety of noninvasive treatments programs to help patients with limited physical function, pain or postural dysfunctions to recover their full function and independence.
- Maximum recovery depends on initiating therapy immediately after an injury to avoid any unnecessary delays in returning back to your previous functional status. Our office provides conventional physical therapy in a setting where medical and chiropractic services are close at hand when needed.Physical therapy includes both passive and active treatments. Passive treatments help to relax you and your body. They also prepare your body for therapeutic exercise, which is the active part of physical therapy.
Our Physical Therapist Uses Passive Treatments
- Deep Tissue Massage: The therapist uses direct pressure and friction to try to release the tension in your soft tissues (ligaments, tendons, muscles).
- Hot and Cold Therapies: By using heat, the physical therapist seeks to get more blood to the target area because an increased blood flow brings more oxygen and nutrients to that area. Blood is also needed to remove waste byproducts created by muscle spasms, and it also helps healing.
- Cold therapy slows circulation, helping to reduce inflammation, muscle spasms, and pain.
- TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation): A machine stimulates your muscles through variable (but safe) intensities of electrical current. TENS helps reduce muscle spasms, and it may increase your body’s production of endorphins, your natural pain killers.
- Traction: In traction, the therapist will try to stretch and mobilize your spine so that you feel less pain and can move more easily.
- Ultrasound: By increasing blood circulation, an ultrasound helps reduce muscle spasms, cramping, swelling, stiffness, and pain. It does this by sending sound waves deep into your muscle tissues, creating a gentle heat that enhances circulation and healing.
And When the Pain Reduces… The PT Uses ACTIVE Treatments
Active physical therapy is used to make a long term CHANGE in your bodies muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joint function. This is the part of your therapy the not only makes the pain not able to quickly return, but more importantly, this is when you learn to empower yourself to have more control over your condition.
In the active part of physical therapy, we will teach you various exercises to work on your flexibility, strength, stability, and range of motion (how easily your joints move). Your physical therapy program is individualized, taking into consideration your health and history. Your exercises may not be suitable for another person. You should feel challenged and looking for new ways to improve with your therapist. Daily we will step up the bar to make your therapy more productive until you reach all of your functional goals or have maxed your body’s ability to improve anymore.
If your goal is to try to correct or make long term change in your body, DO NOT NEGLECT this part of physical therapy! In fact, if these are your goals, this part of PT is the most important to you.
Types of Care
You choose the type of care that best fits what you think needs to happen. Read more »
Phases of Care
We understand the process of how a body heals so before you choose the type of care you think you want, make sure you understand the phases of healing below. Your doctor will help you understand if they type of care you choose will not help you achieve your goal. Read more »
What we may treat with Physical Therapy:
- Falls & Poor Balance
- Headaches & Dizziness
- Neck and/or back pain
- Car accidents
- Arm and/or leg pain
- Numbness
- Arthritis pain
- Work or sports injuries
- Stroke/brain injury
- Developmental delay (children)
- Post-surgical rehabilitation
- Sprains/strains
- Cerebral palsy