What is Physiotherapy?
Physiotherapy is the treatment offered to recover, maintain and maximize the strength, function, movement, and overall well-being of our body. Physiotherapists help people affected by injury, illness, and disability through exercise, manual therapy, education, and advice.
The Physiotherapist offer treatment maintains the health of people of all ages by preventing them from pain or disease. Physiotherapy helps with back pain or a long-term medical condition such as asthma or at the time in preparing for childbirth. It helps through physical rehabilitation, health injuries, and fitness by assisting you in providing recovery.
When a Person Needs a Physiotherapist?
If you are suffering from an injury or chronic pain that affects your function daily, in this situation doctor advises you to go for physiotherapy after surgery. If you live in Jaipur, you can also take physiotherapy at home, as it can help patients to recover/heal faster in the comfort of their homes.
Why do Doctors Advise Physiotherapy?
Physiotherapy is a degree-based healthcare profession. Physiotherapists use their knowledge and techniques to treat the conditions associated with different systems of a person’s body.
- Back pain, sports injuries, arthritis caused by problems in muscles and skeleton
- Chronic heart disease, improvement after a heart attack
- Asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis
- Loss of mobility such as trauma to the brain and spine
- Fatigue pain, swelling, stiffness, or loss of muscle strength in case of cancer treatment.
The Physiotherapist works on different specialism in health and social care. Moreover, some physiotherapists involve themselves in education, research, and service management.
Types of Physiotherapy and Sub-Specialties
Physiotherapy has involved multiple forms of different sub-specialties. It makes physiotherapists deal with various conditions more appropriately. Below are some situations that the person faces and how the Physiotherapist helps the person in dealing with all such conditions:
Neurological Physiotherapy
Neurological conditions lead to the time when the person feels extreme muscle weakness, loss of balance and coordination, decreased sensation, loss of function, and muscle spasms. Neurological therapy is given to the patient to treat the body’s functional disorders, which occurs because of nervous system disorder such as brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, etc.
Orthopedic
Orthopedic therapy treats the diseases related to the human musculoskeletal system, including the muscle ligaments, bones, joints, and tendons. It aims to give relief to the patients from pain, increase mobilization, and rectify any skeletal injury.
Cardiopulmonary
This therapy is given to the person suffering from cardiopulmonary disorders like cardiac arrest and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The main aim of this physiotherapy is to educate patients about exercise and techniques through which they can improve the quality of their life.
Pediatric
The injuries found in children at their birth time involve certain genetic defects or delays in physical growth; at such time, pediatric physiotherapy is done. This therapy helps strengthen the affected part of the body and improves the movement of body parts through various exercises.
Geriatric
This therapy treats patients affected by age-related matters such as osteoporosis and arthritis. In this, the body is restricted to avoid the pain, and they also give patients aids and exercise that improve the body’s overall mobility.
Vestibular rehabilitation
This therapy is done at the time when a person faces a problem in the inner ear that destroys the balance or gives the sensation of vertigo and chronic dizziness. This treatment helps to bring back the balance of the body.
Types of Treatment
There is a variety of techniques that physiotherapists employ according to the nature of the injury sustained and the particular problem being treated. Types of treatments:
Soft tissue treatment
When an athlete injures a person, the soft tissue treatment relaxes the patient’s muscles by reducing swelling in certain areas. It is also referred to as therapeutic massage, which helps circulate blood flow and reduce swelling around inflamed joints.
Electrotherapy
In this treatment, the electric currents in control intensity are delivered to the affected part, which helps contain the pain signals and prevents them from reaching the brain. It is best used with patients having paralysis. It is used in conjunction with ultrasound and laser.
ROM Range of Motion Exercises
ROM exercises are provided to patients to promote movement, encourage joint mobility, and facilitate circulation. Because frequently moving affected joints or muscles prevents all the problems related to muscle atrophy or postural issues.
Heat Therapy and Cold Therapy
If patients face muscle tightness anywhere on the body, heat or cold is better to apply to that area. Heat therapy consists of the application of hot packs or paraffin wax. And cold therapy means Cryotherapy, which involves ice massage.
Who Needs Physiotherapy?
The person suffering from certain conditions needs to approach a physiotherapist:
- If the person got injured while playing
- If any person suffering from chronic pain
- To prevent the chest complications
- To prevent thrombosis
- To prevent muscle wasting and joint mobility
- During pregnancy period or After, also
What is the Duration of a Physiotherapy Session?
The physiotherapy session lasts for about 30 minutes to one hour, depending upon the severity of the disease. In some cases, patients tend for longer hours depending on the complexity of the disease and how much time the body part will take to heal. Mainly 6-8 weeks is an appropriate time for the soft tissues to be healed.
Is Physiotherapy Effective in Curing the Pain?
Depending on the individual and the injury or problem the person is facing can be cured through physiotherapy or not. We must do the exercise on time to heal the wound. The physiotherapy sessions are given to the person to reach almost the goal of treatment, and if it’s appropriately followed, it can cure the problem. The condition is re-evaluated when the treatment doesn’t work.
The time of physiotherapy treatment is not accurate, so we cannot answer this question. Because it does not fix the time of therapy as its duration depends on prolonged illness, variation in the pain, perception, or the healing rate of the patient body.
Physiotherapy Alternatives to the treatment
- We should appropriately consume the carbs as if the intake of carbs is increased; it may result in inflammation because of spiked blood sugar.
- Avoid the oils which are rich in LDL. Also, foods rich in trans- fats or saturated fats should not consume.
- Eat more natural foods which are plant-based and rich in anti-inflammatory properties, such as green tea, garlic, mustard, parsley, etc.