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6 Common Types of Physical Therapy You Should Know

6 Common Types of Physical Therapy You Should Know

Physical therapy divides into sub-specialties that focus on patients’ physical well-being. People associate physical therapy with recovering from injuries, and they’re not wrong. Some types of physical therapy help injured patients regain their normal body movements.

Thanks to technological evolution, physical therapy has become more effective and comprehensive. Nowadays, through physical therapy, patients regain their full range of movement faster than before. Despite these technological advancements, the principles and types of physical therapy are the same.

In this piece, we’ll highlight five types of physiotherapy that you should know about. That way, you can tell which type is right for you and how it can benefit you.

1. Neurological Physical Therapy

This type of physical therapy centers on helping patients recover from neurological conditions. These neurological conditions may include Alzheimer’s’ disease or strokes. Recovery from spinal and brain injuries also require neurological physical therapy.

The issue with almost all neurological conditions is that they are chronic. This means that you can’t cure them with simple medication or a healthy lifestyle. That’s why doctors prescribe physiotherapy as a treatment for these conditions.

Neurological physical therapy dramatically improves the mobility and coordination of the affected.

Neurological PT isn’t as involving and intense as some other types of physical therapy. It focuses on less-intense and little physical exercises to gradually reduce the effects of the neurological condition. Patients can regain autonomy fully or significantly after neurological PT, depending on their conditions.

2. Occupational Physical Therapy

This is physical therapy for physical work-related activities. Patients often receive this therapy after work-related injuries that aren’t accidents.

Essentially, occupational physical therapy teaches manual laborers the proper way to lift objects. It’s a type of physical therapy that promotes lifting with the knees and not the back.

One out of every five injuries or illnesses in the workplace is a back injury from improper lifting. The most affected area is the lower back, and it’s usually a reaggravation of a previous injury. Occupational therapy also assists you to adopt the right posture when doing manual work.

Apart from the above, the therapy also focuses on building up the core and upper body strength. That’s because these areas are the ones you use most for physical activities, including manual labor.

Although occupational therapy seems like treating a localized area, this is far from the truth. This therapy is actually holistic and focuses on improving the entire being as opposed to a particular area. Occupational, physical therapy is successful only when the entire being is correct, and you’re all set for work.

3. Geriatric Physical Therapy

The older we get, the less nimble we become, and this can be a huge problem. If you couple that with a few conditions and natural movements become extremely difficult for the elderly.

Geriatric physical therapy is a type of therapy that addresses mobility and movement issues among the elderly. It includes addressing both natural movement and mobility issues and those from musculoskeletal conditions. Some of these conditions include osteoporosis, arthritis, and certain cancers.

Geriatric physical therapy addresses the movement limitations of elderly folk and reduces the pain associated with certain movements. Another aspect of this therapy is small exercises to keep the old folks fit for their age.

4. Pediatric Physical Therapy

You can think of pediatric physical therapy as the opposite of geriatric physical therapy. That’s because while geriatric physical therapy focuses on the elderly, pediatric physical therapy focuses on infants.

Pediatric physical therapy locks down on the specialized growth and mobility needs of infants, toddlers, and adolescents. So unlike popular thought, pediatric physical therapy isn’t just for babies. It’s also for kids and adolescents who have issues with their body movements that may impede their learning and play.

Pediatric physical therapy addresses issues that include, but are not limited to:-

  • Genetic Conditions
  • Congenital disabilities
  • Severe Injuries
  • Trauma to the head
  • Limb disabilities

Pediatric physical therapy is crucial for the development of children into strong and healthy adults. Parents need to detect these issues early on so they can address them through pediatric physical therapy. If they don’t do so, then it could present a host of problems for the children in the future.

5. Rehabilitative Physical Therapy

Major surgeries mostly take a toll on the mobility and movement of the affected body parts. Rehabilitative physical therapy is a type of physical therapy that focuses on the recovery of patients from these surgeries. The onset of this physical therapy starts while the patient is still in the hospital until the patient is discharged.

Most of the rehabilitative physical therapy, however, happens when the patient is recovering at home. This therapy stops only when the patient regains full mobility of the affected part. The therapy stops when the patient can tend to themselves without any assistance.

This type of physical therapy is common with athletes and bodybuilders after they get injured. The earlier they do it, the better and faster their recovery is. The therapy focuses on regular mild exercise to help the patient regain strength and reduce pain.

6. Hand Physical Therapy

The name hand physical therapy might be somewhat misleading. That’s because it centers more on the entire upper arm and not just the hand.

It’s physical therapy for people who have injured their arms or have arthritis. It entails simple hand exercises to help the hands regain their full range of motion.

These Types of Physical Therapy Works Wonders

Although there are different types of physical therapy for different situations, all of them work like a charm. Regardless of whether you’re injured, recovering from surgery, or growing old, physical therapy will work for you. However, you must first ensure you hire the right people for your physical therapy.

You don’t want to gamble with the physical therapy clinic or physiotherapist you settle for. That’s because your choice will determine your recovery rate and the effectiveness of your therapy.

For professional and experienced physical therapy, talk to us today, and we’ll sort you out.

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