Physical therapy is a key tool in helping you improve your health, and one of the ways the technique does this is by preventing things that could be detrimental to your physical function. Sometimes, physical therapy is less about what can be accomplished and more about what problematic issues can be avoided. So with that in mind, we take a closer look at five things physical therapy can prevent in today’s blog.
1. Surgery
One of the most common reasons why we recommend physical therapy for injured patients is because the technique can help them avoid surgery. While surgery tends to have great results for many conditions, it’s also a significant trauma on your body that will have its own extended rehab. Not only that, but even after insurance is involved, surgery is typically very expensive compared to non-operative methods like PT. So not only can physical therapy prevent an invasive operation, it can also help save you money.
2. Worsening Symptoms
With some health conditions, the goal is to minimize discomfort and prevent worsening symptoms as opposed to returning the area to a pre-injury state. Arthritis, for example, is one condition where the goal is to slow the progression instead of healing the condition, simply because the body cannot regrow lost cartilage that contributes to the condition. Physical therapy can help find ways to strengthen key structures and prevent the condition getting worse, which is all we can hope for with some problems.
3. Joint Replacement
Physical therapy can also help to prevent the need to have an artificial joint inserted into our body. Knees and hips are two joints that are commonly replaced, but early intervention through a physical therapy program can help to take pressure off the area, slow natural degeneration can prevent the need to have an artificial joint inserted.
4. Recurrences
For some people, the biggest issue they have with their health condition is the frequency with which it returns. Headaches, migraines and vertigo are three conditions that can flare up with some regularity that can cause significant problems for the patient. Our physical therapy team can provide an evaluation, figure out what’s causing your recurrent headaches or vertigo, and develop a treatment program that can reduce their frequency or eliminate them altogether.
5. Extra Appointments
Finally, by syncing up with a physical therapist to help with your issue, you can cut out extra appointments and costs. For soft tissue injuries or repetitive motion pains, you can go straight to a physical therapy clinic instead of going to your primary care physician or a specialist only to be referred to a physical therapist. We have the ability to assess and formulate a treatment plan for a wide variety of injuries, so you can save yourself some time and money by coming to us directly instead of waiting to see a doctor only to be told you need physical therapy.
To prevent all of these things and more, reach out to the experienced team of physical therapists at OrthoRehab Specialists today.