How Physical Therapy Can Help You

Whether you have recently undergone surgery, are living with a chronic illness or pain, or are just looking to improve your strength and flexibility, physical therapy offers a host of benefits to help you feel better and move better.

What Is Physical Therapy?

Physical therapy is a type of rehabilitative health care where trained therapists create a plan of personalized exercises and use special equipment to help patients maximize mobility, manage pain and chronic conditions, and improve strength and fitness. Physical therapy can be used for preventive, restorative, or pain management purposes.

Reasons to Get Physical Therapy

Physical therapy aids in the treatment of many conditions, including:

• Sports injury
• Chronic pain
• Osteoporosis
• Joint replacement surgery
• Stroke
• Parkinson’s disease
• Muscular dystrophy

Key Benefits and Goals of Physical Therapy

Pain management

After an injury or surgery, physical therapy can help improve your pain as you continue to heal and recover. Even if you have not had surgery or been injured, physical therapy can assist with chronic pain issues, such as arthritis, old injuries, or nerve issues, such as sciatica. Working with a physical therapist regularly on proper stretching and exercises will improve muscle and joint junction as well as posture, which in turn aids in alleviating pain.

Mobility improvement

Chronic conditions, such as arthritis, various injuries, surgery, and plain old aging can all cause decreased mobility. Physical therapy uses stretching and strengthening exercises to help restore patients’ ability to move freely and comfortably, without pain. It also improves flexibility and balance, which boosts mobility and helps prevent future falls or injury.

Recovery of loss of function following a stroke

Physical therapy effectively helps strengthen weakened parts of the body and improve balance for patients following a stroke. This is often combined with occupational therapy, which helps patients relearn how to perform everyday tasks so that they can return to a lifestyle that’s as independent as possible.

Fall prevention

Physical therapy exercises improve coordination and balance, which in turn reduces the likelihood of falls. This is particularly helpful for older adults with limited mobility or anyone recovering from an injury or illness that has affected their balance or mobility. Physical therapists also often recommend assistive devices to improve safety and reduce fall risk.

Better workouts

You don’t necessarily have to be recovering from an injury or surgery or living with a chronic condition to benefit from physical therapy. An experienced physical therapist can also help you maximize the results of your workouts by working with you to improve your strength, flexibility, and endurance.

Choosing a Short-Term Rehab for Physical Therapy

When choosing a short-term rehab center, it’s important to consider the following factors to ensure you are receiving professional, expert care in a safe, state-of-the-art environment.

• Experience of therapists: Therapists should not only be properly licensed but well versed and knowledgeable in their field. At our Bolger Short-Term Rehabilitation center, our physical therapists have multiple years of experience in a variety of specialized areas, including sports medicine, neurological, orthopedic, and cardiopulmonary for medically complex patients.
• Technology: When providing therapy services, the use of various technologies can help clients achieve better results, such as electrostimulation and ultrasound for pain management, improving flexibility and range of motion, and swelling relief. At Bolger Short-Term Rehabilitation, we use state-of-the-art, innovative approaches, such as our VST Balance machine, which uses an infrared camera to track body movements during therapy. This helps our therapists thoroughly assess clients using immediate detailed information about their walking patterns, balance deficit, and strength and conditioning.
• Safety: An environment with strict sanitizing policies and regular equipment maintenance is essential to ensure clients stay healthy and safe during therapy.
• One-on-one treatment: Many clinics have therapists overseeing multiple clients at once, meaning you don’t get the personalized attention you’d receive from one-on-one treatment. Some may even have therapy techs overseeing preplanned exercise programs without the necessary skill to make subtle adjustments when needed. For optimal results, an actual licensed therapist should be working individually with each client at all times.

Physical Therapy at Bolger Short-Term Rehabilitation

If you need physical, occupational, or speech therapy, our Bolger Short-Term Rehabilitation center has the experienced therapists, state-of the-art technology, and safe, clean environment to help you successfully recover and get back to wellness. Learn more about how we can help you reach your goals today.