Do you currently have an acute or chronic pain condition affecting your daily life? Maybe you’re struggling with back pain, a sports injury, or impairments following an auto accident. Perhaps you have someone in your family who is experiencing pain and dysfunction. Whatever physical condition you or your loved ones are facing, a physical therapist can help! Contact Carlson ProCare today to schedule an appointment with a physical therapist.
Our physical therapists are experts in movement and employ a wide range of non-invasive techniques that benefit our patients in many ways—far beyond “just” symptom management. Check out these top five reasons why working with a physical therapist can help you reclaim the healthy, active lifestyle you want and deserve:
1. Pain-Relieving Physical Therapy Techniques Have a Low Risk of Side Effects
Unlike many medications and invasive procedures, physical therapy services have a very low risk of side effects while remaining highly effective for reducing pain, swelling, inflammation, and other impairments related to injury, illness, and disease. Physical therapy techniques require less downtime and can be modified and safely used on everyone from infants to seniors.
2. Physical Therapy Services Are Customized for Your Needs
After a thorough and careful evaluation, a custom physical therapy plan of care is created for you to meet your individualized needs. The chief aims of any plan of care are to address your unique goals, resolve your impairments, and optimize your recovery, functional independence, and long-term health. These outcomes can be achieved through physical therapy techniques such as:
- Therapeutic exercises and activities
- Home exercise programs and self-care education
- Highly skilled manual therapy, including muscle energy techniques, proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation, myofascial release, visceral mobilization, craniosacral techniques, neural tissue tension release, soft tissue massage, dry needling, cupping, instrument-assisted soft-tissue massage, kinesiology taping, and more
- Neuromuscular re-education, proprioceptive training, gait and balance training
- Specialized care including lymphedema manual lymphatic drainage, Parkinson’s BIG therapy, concussion management, orthotics and prosthetics fitting, vestibular therapy, pelvic floor rehabilitation, TPI golf swing analysis, and more
- Modalities including neuromuscular electrical stimulation, interferential electrical stimulation, ultrasound, and heat and ice
After undergoing a thorough examination with your physical therapist, you’ll receive an individualized treatment plan that can accelerate your healing. This plan is modified to meet your specific needs and lifestyle and relies on your feedback throughout the process, giving you a more active role in your recovery.
3. Physical Therapy Can Help You Avoid Opioids
The current opioid abuse epidemic in our country suggests that these potentially harmful drugs are frequently overprescribed. The CDC recommends physical therapy before opioids for the management of many types of chronic pain. Plus, treatment techniques used in physical therapy are “evidence-based,” meaning they are tested in scientific research studies in order to determine their effectiveness and safety. #ChoosePT
4. A Physical Therapist Can Identify Hidden Factors Contributing to Your Dysfunction
A physical therapist won’t just “mask” your pain. Our therapists help you identify and resolve underlying factors contributing to your current condition. Common factors include shortened muscles, scar tissue, range-of-motion limitations, muscle activation problems, impaired ergonomics and body mechanics, and postural imbalances. If factors like these are left unaddressed, your symptom relief would likely be temporary at best.
Through services such as patient education, work-hardening programs and other techniques previously mentioned, a physical therapist can address both symptoms of pain and their root cause.
5. A Physical Therapist Can Help You Maximize Functional Mobility, Capacity, and Performance
A physical therapist helps his or her patients improve endurance, core stability, coordination, balance, agility, and other physical skills that can carry over into better performance in sports and everyday life. This is essential for young active people as well as the older population looking to avoid age-related debility.
Ready to find some long-lasting solutions to your pain? To schedule an appointment with a physical therapist today and get started on your journey back to health and healing, contact Carlson ProCare today.
