Physical Therapy

Physical therapy -The words ring out as something a masseuse would do, or for those of malicious thinking, something very kinky. Not a lot of people know what physical therapy is per se. Strictly speaking, physical therapy is a hands-on, direct form of professional patient care, bursting the bubble of green minded readers; physical therapy is not anything kinky. Far from it, for it is a form of rehabilitation for those with physical impediments and / or illnesses.

Physical therapy is most often used for stroke patients, although birth defects and post-operative problems are also common patients for physical therapists. Stroke victims, more often than not, suffer physical harms that limit movement and other motor skills depending from the severity of the stroke. Paralysis is a common ailment suffered by stroke victims, albeit partial or half their bodies are rendered useless. It is these patients that physical therapists often encounter in their careers. Of course, physical therapists aren’t exclusive to stroke patients, victims of traffic mishaps for example, or other accidents are also common patients.

Whatever the affliction, those people who need physical therapy are the ones who have lost physical abilities they consider normal or to be more specific, people who need therapeutic solutions for their physical maladies. Exercises, therapeutic massages, or if worse comes to worst, helping patients adapt to physical disabilities are but a few of what physical therapists offer to would-be patients. In other words, physical therapy is a branch of medicine that deals with patients who had physical repercussions, so to speak, from other medical conditions that debilitate people’s motor skills. Whether it be healing those effects or at least making patients get used to it, physical therapists help people live through or live with their physical complaints.

Physical therapy, a word that used to connote masseuses or kinky thoughts for green minded individuals, now is a word that depicts healing and rehabilitation. Naiveté has caused the words physical and therapy to mean something far removed from what it truly stands for. Never the mind, for physical therapy is here and it helps people recover, whether they are naive or not. If ever, God forbid, anything happens to you and you need physical rehabilitation for your affliction, thank God that physical therapy is available. Three cheers for physical therapy friends, without it, many a people would be rendered helpless or at least be hobbling down the path you tread.

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When one hears the words physical therapy, what most likely comes into mind are masseuses. Yet physical therapy delves much deeper than your typical run-of-the-mill masseuse. The benefits of physical therapy far outweigh those of regular massages from untrained masseuses. What physical therapy is – is a science. It’s a far cry from the indiscriminate kneading and pounding of some masseuses. They only make you feel better for awhile, sort of like a placebo. One of the benefits of physical therapy compared to massages is that physical therapy cures you.

There are virtually hundreds of benefits of physical therapy, but the key benefits are to evaluate physical problems, increase and maintain muscle strength and endurance, restore and increase joint range of motion, increase coordination, decrease pain, decrease muscle spasm and plasticity, decrease swelling and inflammation of joints, promote healing of soft tissue lesions, prevent contracture and deformity of limbs, alleviate walking problems, educate patients and family, decrease stress and a whole lot more too numerous to mention. These are but a few of the benefits of physical therapy.

Regular massages from untrained individuals may prove beneficial in some ways, but in the long run and more bang for the buck, physical therapy very much eats the competition for lunch. The benefits of physical therapy depend greatly on the treatment methods that physical therapists utilize. Some examples are joint mobilization, soft tissue release, trigger point release, manual therapy, myofascial stretching, muscle re-education, modalities, therapeutic exercise, re-conditioning program, specific strengthening of weak muscles, and a home exercise program to name a few. These methods are not only far superior to indiscriminate kneading and pounding, but proof of the scientific nature of physical therapy. The benefits of physical therapy are not only for instant gratification in terms of comfort, but the benefits are a long term solution for afflictions, a lasting cure for those who need it.

I am reminded of a friend who had a sore back. Instead of seeing a physical therapist, he went to a masseuse for instant relief. He did get instant relief, but after a few days, his spine grew worse and now walks with a permanent limp and crooked back. He himself says that he should’ve gone to a physical therapist and regrets not having gone. This is a perfect, if tragic example to the benefits of physical therapy, and the pains and risks of leaving your health in the hands of untrained masseuses.