Physical therapy is a treatment that aims to ease the pain and helps you move, function, and help you live better. There are various subspecialties of physical therapy that take care of the well-being of the patients. People usually associate themselves with physical therapy in recovering from specific injuries. However, there are certain types of physical therapies that can be very helpful for injured patients to regain their normal body movements.
Physical therapy has become more effective and comprehensive nowadays due to the evolution of technology for chronic pain management. A trained and experienced physical therapist can nowadays help you by not only treating the pain or discomfort but also helping you in regaining your original strength and mobility.
Types Of Physical Therapy
There are various types of physical therapy that you can benefit from. Let’s look at five different types of physical therapy:
- Neurological Physical Therapy – This type of physical therapy focuses on helping patients recover from various neurological conditions. Neurological conditions can include Alzheimer’s disease or strokes. It is also helpful for patients suffering from brain or spinal injuries.
Neurological conditions are usually referred to as chronic. So, these conditions can’t be cured only with simple medications and a healthy lifestyle. That’s why doctors prescribe physical therapy to treat the condition. Neurological physical therapy can be dramatically helpful in improving the coordination and mobility of the affected area.
Neurological physical therapy is not as intense and involved as some other types of physical therapy; It usually focuses on little and less-intense physical exercises to gradually reduce neurological problems.
- Occupational Physical Therapy – Occupational physical therapy is usually for work-related activities. Occupational and physical therapy is suggested for those suffering from work-related injuries but not accidents.
Especially occupational physical therapists teach manual laborers the proper way of lifting objects. It is a type of physical therapy that promotes lifting the knees but not your back. It is seen that one out of every five injuries at the workplace is a back-related injury that occurred due to improper lifting of heavy objects. The lower back is the most commonly affected area and is usually a reaggravation of a previous injury. Occupational therapy is also helpful in adopting the correct posture while doing manual work.
Apart from all these, occupational physical therapy also focuses on building your core muscles and upper body strength. It is because these are the areas you use most while doing daily physical activities, including manual labor.
- Geriatric Physical Therapy – When you get older, you become less elegant, which can be a big problem. Combining it with other conditions and natural movements may become very problematic, especially for older people.
Geriatric physical therapy is a type of physical therapy used to address movement-related issues and mobility among older adults. It treats both natural movement and mobility issues, mainly due to musculoskeletal conditions. Some common conditions that can be treated with geriatric physical therapy include arthritis, osteoporosis, and certain types of cancer.
Geriatric physical therapy is also helpful for addressing the movement limitations of older people. It helps to reduce pain and improve the mobility of the person. Another aspect of this therapy is small exercises to keep the old folks fit for their age.
- Pediatric Physical Therapy – Pediatric physical therapy is the opposite of geriatric physical therapy. It is because old physical therapy focuses on older adults, and pediatric physical therapy focuses on infants.
Pediatric physical therapy focuses on the unique growth and mobility requirements of infants, toddlers, and adolescents. So, contrary to popular belief, pediatric physical therapy is not just for babies. It is also intended for children and adolescents who have problems with their body movements, which may interfere with their learning and play.
Pediatric physical therapy addresses specific issues but is not limited to the following:
- Genetic conditions
- Congenital disabilities
- Severe injuries
- Trauma in the head
- Limb disabilities
Pediatric physical therapy is crucial for developing children into strong and healthy adults.
- Rehabilitative Physical Therapy – Rehabilitative physical therapy is a type of physical therapy that focuses on patients’ recovery from movement or mobility-related conditions. This physical therapy begins while the patient is still in the hospital and continues until the patient is discharged.
The top part of rehabilitative physical therapy happens when the patient is recovering at home. The therapy stops only after the patient recovers the original strength and mobility in the affected part of the body.
Conclusion
Although there are several types of physical treatment for various circumstances, they all function like a charm. Physical therapy will benefit you whether you are injured, recuperating from surgery, or aging. However, you must first ensure that the appropriate personnel is hired for physical therapy to get maximum benefit. A trained and experienced physical therapist can benefit from using the right physical therapy treatment for maximum results.
