The domain of biomedical sciences encompasses many techniques of rehab and therapy that do not involve the use of pharmaceuticals. These different types of physical therapy have evolved throughout the time and are aimed to treat various disorders and pathologies more properly and efficiently in a patient-centric environment. People nowadays have a broad range of therapeutic options at their convenience to help them manage, recover, and rehabilitate their bodies after suffering from a certain disease or injury.

Why would someone need physical therapy?

There are several grounds to see a therapist when it comes to adapting a single or blended therapies out of different types of physical therapies depending on the nature of the illness. It allows the physical therapist to better rule out what sort of condition the patient currently possess and what techniques of physical therapy different types of physical therapists should apply to alleviate and rehabilitate the body. The therapist will refer you to a particular type of therapist to carry out the further processes.

Among the primary causes are:

• Injuries which left untreated and grow more difficult for recovery over the period of time;
• Decrease in physical mobility – not simply due to aging – in the muscles and tendons. It is indeed natural, but it is also avoidable;
• Chronic pains getting more severe;
• Management for more serious illnesses including Parkinson’s, osteoarthritis, or multiple sclerosis.

This is also to note that self-medication may alleviate the associated discomfort, but it does not address the underlying issue. It’s not normal if anything aches. It is indeed a physiological signal that requires your immediate attention.

Different types of physical therapies and their role:

1. Physical therapy for peads:

Out of different forms of physical therapy, one is solely dedicated for paediatrics. This kind of physical therapy assists in the restoration of birth defects, slowed physical growth, management for acute injuries, and hereditary disorders among children such as cerebral palsy.

This allows children to improve the affected areas and refine their motions. This type of physical therapy is appropriate for the targeted audience, intending to make children comfortable and engage them in playtime whenever feasible to keep them interested in the therapy.

2. Neurological physical therapy and its use:

The motive of this therapy is to address functional problems arising in the neuromuscular and neurological systems. Additionally, regaining movement, balance, and synchronization is critical to enhancing motor skills and addressing spinal cord, neuralgia, aneurysm, brain traumas, and Patients with Alzheimer’s disease. These disorders can cause severe muscle weakness and tiredness.

3. Geriatric physical therapy:

This type of physical therapy is used to address age-related conditions. Generally, it aims to relieve pain and enhance mobility using a variety of exercises and procedures. Our elderly are primarily afflicted by arthritis, osteoporosis, and chronic diseases. Geriatric physical therapists have a significant deal of responsibility for providing our grandparents or elderly sound physical health and comfort.

4. Physical therapy for orthopaedics:

It is believed that this therapy can help to rectify deformities and other musculoskeletal disorders. Patients with injuries to the bones, ligaments, tendons, joints, and muscles are relatively prevalent and generally fall in this category of physical therapy. Physical therapy for orthopaedic musculoskeletal rehabilitation can improve movement, decrease discomfort, and possibly repair bone damage.

5. Vestibular rehabilitation therapy:

There is another specialty of physical therapy out of different physical therapies dedicated to addressing vestibular issues. This implies that the vestibular system, which regulates visual (eye) movement and balance, might be harmed by a condition that prevents the patient from interpreting this sort of sensory input. This system is composed of the inner ear and brain components.

6. Physical therapy for the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems:

Cardiopulmonary physical therapy is used to treat people are suffering from chronic lung illnesses or heart failure. Physiotherapists frequently educate patients about various forms of exercises including strengthening and resistance methods to enhance their quality of life, depending on the level of severity of illness they possess.

Management techniques of different types of physical therapy:

• Manual Therapy: This therapist type commonly utilizes the approach to move and mobilize afflicted joints using hand massage.
• Soft tissue massage: It is a therapeutic massage method. It softly empowers the tissues, relaxing tight muscles, decreasing inflammation, and relieving pain.
• Neuromuscular Re-Education: This treatment aims to restore a patient’s voluntary muscle control, which may have been lost as a result of atrophy, damage, or malignancy. Its goal is to achieve functionality over four stages (activation, reinforcing, synchronization, and fatigue resistance).
• General therapy: Physical therapists often educate patients about various sorts of exercises and movements to tighten, relax, and offer mobility to the afflicted regions. The goal of this approach is to recompose the most common and routine movements.
• Traction: This technique often involves the use of pulleys or weights to provide stress on the misplaced bone or joint. This stress assists in repositioning the joint for subsequent immobilization (shoulder dislocation).
• Laser Therapy: A painless laser is delivered to the afflicted region in this treatment. This laser (Light Amplification by Triggered Emission of Radiation) produces benefits in muscles, bones, and neuralgic regions, expediting healing.
• TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) is a pain-relieving method that uses a battery-powered gadget to transmit minimal electrical impulses to the treatment region via electrodes implanted above the skin.
• Education: It is the responsibility of physiotherapists to teach patients about the therapeutic procedures to which they have been enrolled. To develop adaptability, endurance, balance, and coherence, the physiotherapist must be consistent, and the patient must take the sessions seriously.

Different types of physical therapy services can be accessed at major research/rehabilitation institutes, hospitals, geriatricians, and health centers. Some physiotherapists work as independent consultants at sports facilities or clubs, as well as gyms, organizations, companies, home healthcare, or private offices. There are also independent therapists.

After learning and thoroughly comprehending a patient’s complaints, a team of physiotherapy specialists develops a technique to alleviate the symptoms in a tailored manner. The objective is to attain the fastest outcomes while also providing the patient with appropriate comfort.

See Also: The Brain-Gut Connection

Family Medicine Austin is happy to offer a thorough plan of different physical therapies which are tailored to your unique requirements, allowing you to recover as quickly as possible. Come and visit us to get started on your desired therapy by the help of different highly skilled therapists.