Physical Therapy
Whether you've suffered an injury, have a chronic pain condition, or have just been through surgery, physical therapy can help you recover. The physical therapists that work with our surgeons at Total Joint Specialists excel at using the right combinations of active and passive treatments to provide the most benefits and optimize healing.
What Is Physical Therapy?
Physical therapy uses a variety of active and passive treatments to help repair and strengthen weak or damaged areas of your body following an injury, surgery, or illness.
The right active physical therapies maximize recovery by increasing blood flow to the affected tissues, delivering essential oxygen and nutrients for regeneration. Studies indicate that an active approach, involving stretches and strengthening exercises, is superior for promoting overall health, improving posture, coordination, balance, and endurance, while also increasing heart rate. This approach promotes a quicker return to a healthy and active lifestyle.
Physical therapy also helps strengthen your connective tissues, like ligaments and tendons, and muscles. These soft tissues can lose activation or atrophy if unused, but physical therapy keeps you flexible and improves mobility as well as balance. Physical therapy also offers significant benefits to your mental health while you're recovering from an illness or injury. Both confidence and mood elevate with activity and movement.
When Would I Need Physical Therapy?
Physical therapy is an essential part of the successful treatment of most musculoskeletal conditions, including all forms of:
- Arthritis
- Joint pain
- Tendonitis
- Repetitive strain injuries
Our team at Total Joint Specialists uses physical therapy to prepare patients for surgery and rehabilitate those who have undergone joint replacement operations, such as hip and knee replacement. They also provide services for those undergoing treatment for orthopedic cancers.
What Techniques Are Used in Physical Therapy?
There are a wide variety of physical therapy techniques. Some of the methods used by our team of physical therapists at Total Joint Specialists include:
- Electrical stimulation
- Manual therapy
- Targeted exercises
- Guided training
Online Physical Therapy
Our team may recommend the use of a postoperative online physical therapy program called Force Therapeutics. This is a free video-based recovery program that guides patients through exercises proven to provide excellent outcomes from the comfort of home after joint replacement surgery. Our staff monitors the patient's progress and communicates during the recovery period through a Patient Portal. Some patients can do online home Force Therapeutics therapy alone while others will do better with outpatient therapy. This will be evaluated by the surgical team.
Find out more about all our physical therapy services available at Total Joint Specialists by calling (770) 292-6500 or requesting an appointment online now. We offer convenient offices throughout the region: Acworth, Alpharetta, Braselton, Canton, Crabapple, Cumming, Ellijay, Gainesville, Lawrenceville, Midtown (Atlanta), Sandy Springs, Snellville, and Woodstock, Georgia.