Can’t Live Life on Your Own Terms? Turn to Physical Therapy for Help
That oil painting you started way back when still awaits the finishing touches. You bought a guitar last year, but you can’t stand the thought of trying to play it. Your golf friends wonder if you’re ever going to join them for another nine holes. Your tennis game got rusty shortly after your elbow did the same.
Do these scenarios, or similar ones, strike a little close to home? Chronic pain, stiffness and injuries can draw strict lines governing what you can and can’t do. Taking painkillers offers little more than a stopgap solution, while major surgery could actually set you back further instead of letting you get past your problem. Fortunately, you have another option for returning to the activities you love: physical therapy.
How Painful Problems Limit Your Lifestyle
The human body is capable of an extraordinary range of physical actions, thanks to the muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints that make motion possible. Unfortunately, this amazing structure can run into problems — problems that restrict your range of motion, making even small actions too painful to contemplate. Let’s look at how issues affecting different body parts can limit your lifestyle.
- Hands – It’s hard to think of any artistic endeavor that doesn’t require limber hands and fingers. Arthritis can stiffen your digits until you can’t play an instrument, draw, or create handicrafts. Carpal tunnel syndrome makes even holding a pen an agonizing experience.
- Elbows and shoulders – Athletes regularly struggle with repetitive motion injuries, bursitis, or tendinitis in the elbows or shoulders. Two classic examples include golfer’s elbow and tennis elbow, two similar forms of chronic tendon damage and inflammation.
- Neck and back – Does your favorite activity require you to crane your neck or twist your back constantly? You may not be able to do either if you’re suffering from a herniated disc, a strained back, overstressed neck muscles, or degenerative spinal joint issues.
- Lower extremities – Any physical activity that involves running, jumping, or even standing still can become impossible if your hips, knees, or feet hurt. Osteoarthritis commonly afflicts weight-bearing joints. You could also be struggling with runner’s knee, sciatica, or plantar fasciitis.
Our Physical Therapist Can Help Restore Pain-Free Function
Physical therapy makes a natural first line of care for anyone looking to regain lost strength, dexterity, or range of motion. Many people turn to physical therapy to take away the limits imposed by chronic pain or injuries so that they can return to their favorite activities. Our physical therapist makes a point of going beyond physical exams and symptom evaluations to speak with you about your specific frustrations, limitations, goals, and hopes for relief. We can then arrange a detailed, personalized physical therapy plan that targets those ailments and objectives.
Physical therapy uses a variety of tools and strategies that work together to achieve a desired result. For example:
- A combination of massage therapy, stretches, heat therapy and cold therapy can ease pain in your hands and wrists.
- Strength training, chiropractic treatment, and corrective exercises may be recommended to soothe pain and prevent further injury in the neck or back.
- Walking, cycling or swimming can improve the pain-free range of motion in your weight-bearing joints.
- Orthotic shoe inserts can help you come back from plantar fasciitis.
Ready to Enjoy Your Favorite Activities Again?
Don’t settle for being a spectator where your favorite activities are concerned. Jump back into the fun by contacting our physical therapist for treatment!
Sources:
- http://www.apta.org/scopeofpractice/
- https://www.healthline.com/health/chronic-pain/wrist-and-hand-stretches
- https://www.blog.ohmyarthritis.com/what-is-the-difference-between-tennis-elbow-and-golfers-elbow/
- https://stanfordhealthcare.org/medical-conditions/bones-joints-and-muscles/overuse-and-repetitive-motion-injuries.html
- https://www.whyiexercise.com/physical-therapy-exercises.html
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/arthritis/in-depth/arthritis/art-20047971