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 combination of physical therapies can maximize the recovery process. Active use of muscles promotes healing by increasing the flow of blood to the affected tissues. Blood delivers oxygen, healing cells, nutrients, and growth factors to these areas, so increased blood flow provides the tissues with more of the substances they need to recover and regenerate.
Physical therapy helps strengthen your connective tissues, like ligaments and tendons, and your 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 when you're recovering from illness or injury. One’s confidence and mood are often stimulated by activity and movement.
Studies show that active recovery is superior in getting people back to healthy living. Active approaches are where you do stretching and strengthening exercises, selected exercises that help with your posture, coordination, balance, and endurance, and other activities that increase your heart rate.
What techniques are used in physical therapy?
There are numerous physical therapy techniques. Some of the methods used by the Total Joint Specialists team include electrical stimulation and manual therapy.
The team may recommend the use of post-operative online physical therapy called Force, which guides the patients through exercises proven to provide excellent outcomes from the comfort of the home. The staff monitors the patient's progress and communicates during the recovery period. Some patients can do online home Force therapy alone while others will do better with outpatient therapy. This would be evaluated by the surgical team.
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
The Total Joint Specialists team uses physical therapy to prepare patients booked for surgery and rehabilitate those who've undergone joint replacement operations, such as hip, shoulder, knee, and ankle replacement. They also provide services for those undergoing treatment for orthopedic cancers.
To expedite your recovery from joint replacement surgery, Total Joint Specialists offers the Force Therapeutics video-based recovery program. This free program offers a patient portal where you can access your personalized care plan for physical therapy and important information about your recovery. You can also communicate directly with your care team through the Force Therapeutics system.
To find out more about the extensive range of physical therapy services available at Total Joint Specialists, call your nearest office or request an appointment online today.
