Physical therapy is the most common treatment for mild to moderate soft tissue injuries, and that’s because when performed correctly, the active treatment strengthens and stabilizes injured structures. While it is a go-to option for a wide variety of injuries, it doesn’t work perfectly every single time. There are other factors that you need to be aware of that could be making your physical therapy routine less effective than you expected it to be. In today’s blog, we take a closer look at five reasons why your physical therapy sessions may not be as effective as you had hoped.
What’s Causing Physical Therapy To Be Ineffective?
Doing your physical therapy exercises is important after an injury or surgery, but if the exercises aren’t as effective as you expected them to be, look into these five factors and see if they could be impacting your PT routine.
- Exercises Aren’t Challenging Enough – This is more of an issue with home-based exercises, as a physical therapist will be able to see if the exercises are too easy during in-person sessions. It’s great that you can complete the exercises, but they also need to be physically challenging so that your soft tissues are being tested and strengthened. If you’re not feeling tested by your home-based routines, talk with your physical therapist.
- Overdoing It – We understand that you want to get back to athletic activity or work as soon as possible after an injury, but if you try to do too much too soon, your recovery could plateau earlier than expected. Rest is important as you progress through a physical therapy routine, so make sure you’re testing your body during PT and then giving it ample time to rest, especially at the outset of recovery.
- Posture – Really consider your posture throughout the day. Are you slouched at your desk or in your car, or is your spine under a lot of pressure when you’re watching television? If your neck or lower spine are out of alignment, it can put excess pressure on these areas or places like your hips and knees. If you’re trying to target these areas with physical therapy, make sure your posture is on point throughout the rest of the day.
- Poor Sleep Quality – Sleep is a restorative process that gives your body time to recover from the physical stress it endures throughout the day. If you’re not getting enough uninterrupted sleep, your body may not be able to go through this recovery process as easily. Strive to get plenty of uninterrupted sleep to help your body recover from the strain that your injury and physical therapy is putting on it.
- Diet and Weight – Finally, make sure that your body is getting a healthy amount of vitamins and nutrients from your diet, because it needs these to help fuel recovery. Additionally, a healthy diet can help you work towards a healthy weight, which will reduce stress on your body. Being overweight means your joints must bear extra pressure, and that can make life difficult if these are the areas you’re trying to target with physical therapy. Eat healthy, stay hydrated and maintain a healthy weight to help maximize the effectiveness of your PT program.
To help identify why your recovery has stalled, or to sync up with a professional who can help you avoid these pitfalls, reach out to the team at OrthoRehab Specialists today.