It is estimated that as many as 70 million Americans sustain a nonfatal injury every year. Depending on the severity of the injury, it can lead to permanent disability, chronic or intermittent pain, loss of income, or a general decrease in quality of life.
However, if you have been physically injured, there are various nonsurgical treatments that can help you recover, including physical therapy (PT). Also known as physiotherapy, PT involves treating an injury, a deformity, or a disease by using physical methods – such as special exercises, stretches, heat treatment, massage, and balance training – instead of medication or surgery.
Injuries that often warrant physical therapy include musculoskeletal dysfunction (e.g., back pain, arthritis, rotator cuff tears), sports injuries, carpal tunnel syndrome, and whiplash. Let’s talk about how a physical therapist can help you get back to feeling like yourself again, and where you can go in Johnson City and Northeast Tennessee for outstanding physical therapy treatment.
How Can Physical Therapy Improve My Health?
How effective is PT in restoring your health and getting you back into shape? Consider the following health-related benefits of physical therapy:
- Physiotherapy techniques and exercises can help you control your chronic pain. By moving your joints and increasing your muscle strength, therapeutic exercises can effectively alleviate your pain and prevent it from returning. The movements are likely to be a combination of passive movement, whereby the physical therapist moves your muscle and/or joint, and active movement, where you move the muscle or joint on your own strength.
- PT can enable you to avoid surgery. Some injuries can be successfully treated completely with physical therapy. A skilled physical therapist knows how to help foster natural repair of your injured tissue and facilitate full mobility.
- Physical therapy can improve your mobility and equilibrium. Following an injury or surgery, you may have limited mobility and difficulty standing up without feeling woozy. Physiotherapy exercises will help to restore your mobility and improve your balance and coordination, thereby reducing the risk of subsequent falls.
- Physiotherapy helps you avoid dependency on medication. PT is a healthy alternative to potentially habit-forming, pain-killing drugs that are not only costly, but can have dangerous side effects. Your physical therapist will show you exercises and possibly other treatments that can naturally alleviate any pain by keeping your muscles strong, so they support your joints.
Physical Therapy in Johnson City, Kingsport, and Bristol, Tennessee
At Watauga Orthopaedics, our priority is to help you regain your function and mobility while lessening your pain – so you can make a complete recovery and get back to the activities and lifestyle you enjoy. That’s why we offer comprehensive rehabilitation services right here on-site at our Bristol, Johnson City, and Kingsport locations.
We use a multidisciplinary approach for treating acute and chronic bone, muscle, and joint problems. Our highly trained staff of physical therapists, hand therapists, and athletic trainers will work with your doctor to develop a treatment plan that works best for you. We know that your injury or condition is unique and requires personalized, one-on-one care that is designed to help you achieve your goals for recovery.
As such, your treatment may include a range of physical and/or occupational therapy services that include:
- Manual therapy for joint mobilization and to facilitate soft-tissue circulation
- Customized exercise programs
- Modalities for pain relief that promote healing
- Education that encourages your continued adherence to home-exercise programs and natural pain-relief techniques
To arrange an appointment for physical therapy, call us at Watauga Orthopaedics today at (423) 282-9011. We look forward to helping you get back to being active and enjoying life!
