Physical therapy is a type of treatment for your muscles and physical body. Just like seeing a therapist can bring you to a good state of mind and can leave you feeling calm, the same thing can happen with the body. Physical therapy is often used after some type of injury or surgery.
For example, if you broke your arm, you’ll still have some work to do after the break is healed. Your arm hasn’t moved since the break occurred, and you need to test out the repair job. That’s where physical therapy comes in.
The Benefits it Can Give You
The whole goal of physical therapy is to make sure you can get yourself back to normal. It includes both passive actions to get the body used to the rehabilitation and active movement that is targeted towards the specific area of the body. Continuing with the broken arm example, if you see a physical therapist, then you will probably be massaged or have your arm muscles stimulated.
Then you’ll practice doing physical activities such as stretching and moving around to bring your arm back to its former glory. Physical therapy will help you gradually build up muscle and mobility, while also making sure you don’t have any problems spring up as a result of the break.
Why Go?
Even though a broken limb might not hurt or is out of its cast, that doesn’t mean it is all the way healed. A physical therapist will be able to make sure you can build strength back up correctly, while not taking on too much and re-damaging your limb. They also do the same kind of healing with spinal injuries, chronic pain, and calf strain treatments.
You’ll need to make sure your body is prepared and ready for an active lifestyle again, and if you don’t prepare properly you could suffer inflammation, pain, and other problems that you probably don’t need.
It Won’t be Painful
Unlike some of the times you might have had with therapists for the mind, physical therapy isn’t overly painful or uncomfortable. Their whole purpose is to make sure your body is ready for the actions they want it to do. While there might be some understandable soreness, you’ll be able to let it go and feel better after therapy.
Keep This in Mind
Physical therapy is a double-edged sword, where you want to get your body better as fast as possible, while also making sure the body is ready for what you need it to do. You need to have a mixture of patience, while also pushing forward and making every day an improvement. So just be prepared to feel like you’ve made great progress on some days while feeling bad on others.
Your therapist will be able to keep you on track and help you make sure that you can measure your progress for both the short and long term. So listen to their advice and soon you’ll be back to normal.