Physiotherapy is essential for anyone who has suffered an accident. Whether you’ve been involved in a car crash or suffered a hard tackle in sport, you’ll know the pain of an injury.
It takes time for an injury to heal and longer for you to regain full movement and strength. That’s where the physiotherapist steps in. They know the techniques and exercises you need to do to speed up the recovery time and ensure you regain full use of the affected area.
In fact, there are several common treatment techniques, it’s a good idea to be aware of the main ones as this will help to ensure you understand the treatment you’re receiving.
It’s also essential that you choose a reputable physio in Darlinghurst, a quality reputation assures you of the best possible treatment.
Range Of Motion
In the early stages of recovery, you usually need to rest an injured limb. This can cause stiffening and weakness. To help combat this, physiotherapists will prescribe a range of motion exercises.
In essence, these are designed to keep the joint moving, reducing stiffness and muscle loss. The exercises shouldn’t be painful, the emphasis is on moving the joints as frequently as possible without straining them.
The exact exercise you’ll be given will depend on your injury and persona circumstances.
Soft Tissue Massage
One of the biggest problems that slow recovery is tension in the muscles. If your muscles are tense the joint is stiff and you’ll experience additional inflammation. This will prevent the joint from healing properly and limit your ability to move it.
Soft tissue massage focuses on relaxing the muscles to help eliminate inflammation and improve recovery time. The process of massaging an area doesn’t just relax the muscle, it also increases blood flow which ensures a steady supply of essential nutrients.
Hot & Cold
If you’ve ever had a sports injury you’re probably already familiar with this technique.
Cold packs cool the affected area and reduce blood flow to the injury. This reduces the inflammation and swelling in the area.
In contrast, a hot pack will broaden the blood vessels, increasing blood flow, and helping to heal. It will also help muscles to relax, improving movement, and your ability to heal.
Ice packs are generally used in the first 24-48 hours and then heat is applied. However, physiotherapists may decide to use ice packs or ice massage and alternate them with hot packs to minimize inflammation and speed up the repair.
You’ll need to follow their instructions for this to work.
Kinesio Tape
You may have seen this colorful tape for sale in shops. It’s a popular tool for physiotherapists. The tape can be placed directly on your skin without causing any damage. It is used to strengthen and support a joint.
In short, it won’t interfere with any exercises you’re told to do but it will help to support the joints and muscles in the right position. It’s also used to stabilize an injury while you’re waiting for treatment.
Ultrasound
This is a more recent addition to the physiotherapist tool belt, but a good one.
Ultrasound waves can pass through the body, allowing a physiotherapist to target your deep tissues and massage them. Doing it this way prevents the aggravation of a traditional massage and allows your muscles to relax, helping to speed up recovery times.
The ultrasound waves are absorbed by muscles, ligaments, tendons, and even fascia. That makes this an effective method of treating all parts of a joint injury. It’s also commonly used when dealing with arthritis, tendonitis, and general muscle strains.
Electricity
This actually is electricity being passed through your body! However, it’s a carefully controlled procedure that utilizes a very low current.
The aim is to stimulate the muscles. Electrodes are attached to your skin in key spots to allow the current to pass through a specific muscle or group of muscles. The current passes through and activates the muscle in the same that your internal electrical pulses normally would.
The muscle contracts, effectively making sure it is still being used and helping to maintain strength. It’s an effective approach for people suffering from temporary paralysis or severe movement issues. Because your muscles are being stimulated wastage is reduced which helps with the ultimate recovery timetable.
Unique Plan
It’s important to note that a physiotherapist will not offer any treatment before they see you. Every treatment plan is individually designed depending on your injury, overall health, outlook, and a variety of other criteria.
Physiotherapy is designed to help speed your recovery and ensure you have as much movement as possible from an affected limb. The earlier you start treatment the more effective this approach is. Plus, it has the added benefit of helping you feel like you’re making steps toward recovery because you are.