Two Ways Physical Therapy Can Help You 

Depending on your physical and overall health-based needs and goals, Physical Therapy (PT) can be a vital part of achieving success. While the main goal is still to restore a patient’s mobility, strength and function while helping to ease or even eliminate pain, here are two different ways that PT can help you achieve your goals:

1. Preventative Therapy 

Did you know that many people still only think of Physical Therapy (PT) as something you do post-surgery, after an injury or accident of some sort? While that is true and absolutely needed, there are also some awesome benefits to making PT part of your preventative approach to health care. There are many ways to prevent issues from occurring, some of which includes the basics of balanced nutrition and daily exercise. However, to really learn how to prevent an injury, keep chronic conditions at bay or even start a therapy plan before surgery—known as pretherapy—then it is key to reach out to a licensed physical therapist near you and set up an initial examination first. 

The preventative strategy aims to prevent further damage to the problem area being treated and decreases the need for escalated treatments, such as injections or other pharmaceuticals. An important part of what we do as physical therapists is to assess vulnerable areas in a patient’s body and identify the risk of injury to the area. We can then customize a plan to help strengthen, prevent injuries and other issues from occurring to the weaker areas by treating the body as a whole working together. 

Did you know this?
Surgery—In some cases surgery is certainly inevitable, but there are circumstances where PT can delay or even prevent the need for surgery. If PT helps you get rid of pain and heal overall, then surgery may not be necessary. And even if surgery is inevitable, you will most likely benefit from what we call “pre-therapy” or “pre-surgery physical therapy.” This will help you strengthen the specific area involved in the upcoming surgery so that you go in stronger, typically resulting in a quicker recovery afterward.

2. Rehabilitation and Recovery Therapy

This type of care helps patients get back to their “norm.”  It helps maintain, and even improve abilities needed for everyday life. We meet with each patient individually to determine what full functioning means to them and see how we can help work on specific goals. We are here to help you reach your goals and get better! 

Rehabilitation, or rehab, is for people who have lost abilities of some sort, no matter the cause. The purpose of rehab is to help you regain independence, improve your abilities, get stronger and get back to living life! 

This includes rehab and recover from:

• Surgery
• Trauma or injury
• Chronic pain
• Illness or infection
• Genetic disorders
• Side effects from medical treatments (chemo, etc.) 
• Other conditions 

No matter the strategy or reason for doing PT, it has been proven to help strengthen the body and improve movement while easing and even sometimes, eliminating pain. 

*If you are experiencing a physical setback of some sort and are not sure if PT is right for you, don’t hesitate to reach out! Fill out our contact form here and we will contact you as soon as possible to go over your questions. 

Remember, you have Direct Access here in Florida (no physician’s referral required).  Anytime you’d like to set up an initial examination and speak with a licensed physical therapist for your individual assessment, you can do so!