Knee Pain Doctor
Physical therapy combines pain relief modalities with strengthening and stretching exercises to help manage chronic pain and other conditions and recover from knee injury. The following are just a few of the benefits that physical therapy has to offer.
1. Avoidance of Surgery
If you have an injury, especially a musculoskeletal injury, your knee pain doctor such as Premier Osteoarthritis Centers of Pennsylvania will often prescribe physical therapy as an initial treatment option before recommending surgery. In many cases, physical therapy can relieve your pain and help you heal effectively so that you do not need surgery at all. This helps you to reduce health care costs and avoid the inherent risks of surgery, such as postoperative infection.
It is not always possible to avoid surgery with physical therapy. Nevertheless, there is still value in it because going to physical therapy prior to surgery can help you become stronger, which may help expedite your postsurgical recovery.
2. Prevention of Falls
While people can injure themselves by falling at any age, people who are older are both more likely to fall and more susceptible to serious injury if they do. Physical therapy can reduce your fall risk by improving your balance. If you need assistive devices to help with ambulation, whether on a temporary or permanent basis, a physical therapist can teach you how to use them correctly.
3. Relief of Pain
Physical therapy is designed to restore the function of the muscles and joints. In the process, it can reduce or eliminate pain through techniques called modalities that are intended for that purpose. Examples of pain relief modalities used in physical therapy include electrical stimulation, iontophoresis, ultrasound, and taping. Therapeutic exercise can also help to relieve pain. Even if physical therapy is not successful at completely eliminating pain, it may reduce it to a level where it no longer interferes with your life.
4. Recuperation From Injury
Using a combination of pain relief modalities and therapeutic exercises tailored specifically to your type of injury, an individualized physical therapy program can help you recover and achieve your goals. If you participate in a particular sport or activity, a physical therapist can also design a program for you to help you avoid injury in the first place.
5. Recovery From a Stroke
After a stroke, you may experience a decreased level of movement and function. Physical therapists can help retrain you to perform certain activities of daily living so that you can regain at least some independence. They can also help you recover your gait and equilibrium by strengthening parts of the body that have been weakened by the stroke.
Contact your local knee pain doctor to schedule your first physical therapy appointment.