31 Oct PT Month: Moving Better Thanks to Physical Therapy
The last day of Physical Therapy month happens to be Halloween, and what’s scarier than a bunch of ghosts and ghouls? How about not even being able to enjoy fun holidays because normal movement has become too difficult or painful! The good news is that even if you have been struggling with movement issues for years, physical therapy can almost always bring improvement.
Causes:
There are plenty of causes for movement pain and restrictions, such as:
Accidents and injury – just because the accident or injury took only seconds, your body can hold onto problematic movement patterns, muscle tightness, pain, and more for much longer.
Arthritis – more common with age, osteoarthritis comes with the breakdown of joints.
Poor movement patterns – sometimes our own bad habits catch up with us. Poor posture, the way we tend to do everyday motions, can all end up causing pain if we’ve done it the same, wrong way for years.
How PT Plays a Role:
Not only is your physical therapist likely to be a doctor, s/he is also an expert in the musculoskeletal system. Your physical therapist will take an active role in both examining your condition for likely contributing factors, and then spend time educating you on what you’re dealing with. It’s important that you understand the ‘whys and hows’ of your movement and pain problems. You’ll likely have a combination of manual (hands on) therapy visits, as well as stretches and/or exercises to do on your own.
One interesting thing about our bodies is that they tend to be lazy; more kindly, they tend to be efficient. Once your body figures out an easier way to do something, that’s typically how you’ll do it – even if it causes problems down the road. Your physical therapist will identify any incorrect or harmful movement patterns and you’ll learn the right, healthy way to move. If you’re dealing with strength and muscle imbalances, you’ll be working on getting your body all on the same page.
If you’ve been dealing with trouble moving for years, whether it’s your arms and range-of-motion, walking due to knee pain, or something else, a physical therapist is the ideal place to start. You may not finish PT feeling totally cured, but you’ll almost always see improvement and a return to more activity. Since movement and pain issues tend to only get worse without treatment, improvement and greater activity is a really great accomplishment and PT can help get you there!
Having trouble with your movement/mobility? Don’t sit on the sidelines, call Body One Physical Therapy today. We’re locally-owned and operated and have three locations serving Central Indianapolis: North Indianapolis, Fishers, and Zionsville. Our team of dedicated, caring experts is waiting to help get you on the road to feeling better. Call today to schedule your appointment!
