Lunes, Abril 4, 2016

3 Major Benefits of Physical Therapy

It's clear that physical therapy can be beneficial to patients who have suffered injuries, but even those who haven't may benefit from the work physical therapists do. Physical therapy Connecticut, as well as in other locations, focuses on several steps that help boost mobility, strength, and flexibility. Here are three of the main physical therapy Connecticut benefits physical therapy provides.

Physical Therapy Improves Mobility
Imagine a patient struggling with mobility because of pain in the legs or knees. Physical therapists can help these patients by working on strength and balance.

If a patient is struggling with obesity, physical therapy can also help him lose weight and even prevent the return of weight once it's off. Obesity is currently the cause of around 18 percent of all adult deaths in the United States, according to the American Physical Therapy Association, so reducing weight and increasing a healthy lifestyle is a major goal of physical therapists.

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Physical Therapy Helps Patients Avoid Surgeries
Another major benefit of physical therapy is that it can help patients avoid surgery. How? Studies have shown that physical therapy can be as effective as surgery in many cases, like if a patient is suffering from degenerative disk disease, spinal stenosis, or osteoarthritis.

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Physical therapy focuses on reducing pain by improving strength and flexibility. Over time, the therapies may help a patient sit in a different way, stretch a little further, or reduce strain on pain management New Haven a disk, for example. Things like anti-gravity tables, also known as decompression tables, could be used to reduce strain on the spine, for example, while a patient also works through exercises during another part of the appointment.

Recoveries are Quickened
After surgery or an accident, patients may find they can't move like they wanted to. In particular, patients who have had knee or hip replacements may find that the new joint isn't functional in the way they'd have hoped and seek out physical therapy New Haven

The problem doesn't lie with the mechanics of the operation; it's the patient's strength and flexibility that needs to be adjusted. By attending regular physical therapy appointments, patients are pushed to extend, lengthen, retract, and otherwise exercise their bodies, so they can eventually get back to a relatively good range of motion.