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Why Physical Therapy Should be Your First Line of Defense

Seeing a PT first may lower a patient’s total cost of care, bypassing imaging scans, opioid prescriptions, and other therapies that could be unnecessary or even harmful.

If you have experienced a soft-tissue injury, you may be a good candidate for receiving care directly from a physical therapist. A soft-tissue injury is an injury that does not affect the bone. These injuries affect muscles, tendons, ligaments and other soft tissues. 

Acute examples include:

  • Sprain
  • Strain
  • Swelling
  • Contusion / bruising

Soft-tissue injuries resulting from overuse may include:

  • Tendinitis
  • Bursitis
  • ArthritisImage result for benefits of physical therapy

You may be asking, how can PT work for me?

  • PT helps manage pain 
    • Doctor-prescribed opioids are appropriate in some cases, but they just mask the pain without addressing the cause of the pain. Opioid risks include depression, overdose, and addiction, plus withdrawal symptoms when stopping use.
  • PT can help avoid surgery 
    • While surgery is unavoidable in some cases, physical therapy can help avoid surgery for others. By eliminating pain, assisting with healing, and improving physical health, physical therapy can help heal injured tissue and facilitate mobility all on its own, thus eliminating the need to go under the knife
  • PT can help avoid further or future injury 
    • One of the key aspects of physical therapy involves assessing the weak areas in the patient’s body and formulating a PT plan that helps strengthen these vulnerable points. 
  • PT improves mobility and balance 
    • Therapeutic exercises can restore mobility, make walking and moving around safer, and can even improve coordination and balance in patients who are at high risk for falls.
  • PT can help with general health issues 
    • By increasing physical activity, you can also reduce your risk of other chronic diseases.
  • PT can help manage age-related issues 
    • One of the less obvious advantages of physical therapy is that it helps handle and manage many age-related health problems including joint pains, arthritis, and osteoporosis. PT is a safer and more conservative approach for older patients, as it gives them a less traumatic alternative than undergoing joint replacement surgery. 
  • PT can help maximize your movement
    • Physical therapists can identify, diagnose and treat movement related issues. Each treatment plan is custom designed for each person’s individual challenges and outcome goals. The benefit of physical therapy can help you live pain free and increase your quality of life.
  • PT can help manage diabetes and vascular conditions 
    • Physical therapy can help manage your blood sugar through exercise. The exercise mainly consists of the right mix of aerobic exercises and weight strengthening exercises.

Benefits of PT for athletes 

Physical therapists are movement specialists with extensive schooling in order to determine limitations or imbalances of joints. Seeing a PT as an athlete will give a certain edge to your performance and ensure you are working towards your peak potential, improving power, endurance, flexibility, range of motion, etc. 

Learn more about physical therapy and the many benefits, treatments and modalities we at Innovative Physical Therapy use today by asking one of our team members or calling in at 619.260.0750.

Written and researched by : Dr. Monique Lassaga-Bishop
Facts sourced from: www.slsportstherapy.com & www.movementforlife.com