Who Can Benefit from Physical Therapy?

You’ve been hurt and have a musculoskeletal or nervous system injury. Perhaps you’ve had a traumatic accident like a sports injury or a fall. You may be experiencing recovery from a heart attack or stroke or the trauma from surgery.

On the other hand, you may have an overuse from construction or warehouse work, or any other job that requires repetitive motions. Maybe you have a medical condition like osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis.

A licensed physical therapist can aid your healing from musculoskeletal and nervous system disorders.

Our expert physical therapists with Delta Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine in West Memphis, Arkansas, and Collierville, Tennessee, who work under our board-certified orthopedic surgeons’ supervision, can help you recover your ability to move to the fullest extent possible.

If your condition has impacted your ability to move a part of your body normally, a physical therapist helps improve your range of motion, flexibility, and mobility. Physical therapy boosts your overall quality of life and is often an essential aspect of healing after surgery.

Who can benefit from physical therapy?

Following are some of the common reasons why patients need and benefit from physical therapy.

Recovery from trauma or surgery

If you’ve had an accident, whether it’s from playing sports, a vehicle accident, or a fall, you have soft tissue injury to muscles, tendons, and/or ligaments. You may have broken a bone. Perhaps your arm is in a sling for weeks after a rotator cuff injury. When the sling is removed, your muscles are very weak.

Physical therapy helps you regain lost strength. You can’t go from zero to full sports performance in a week, though. Physical therapy ensures you don’t reinjure yourself during your recovery.

You start with very gentle stretches and exercises, gradually progressing each week to eventually regain range of motion.

Helps avoid or postpone surgery

You may have a condition like knee osteoarthritis that makes it difficult to move. Physical therapy can help you regain strength in your leg muscles surrounding your knee and avoid or postpone surgery.

Research shows that physical therapy can have the same beneficial effects as surgery for the following conditions:

Conservative treatment using physical therapy is a first-choice treatment unless your doctor says that surgery is absolutely required. Physical therapy avoids the trauma of an incision in your body and the possibility of infection, complications from anesthesia, and more.

Reduces dependence on pain relievers

If you’ve been taking over-the-counter pain relievers, you know they simply mask your pain temporarily. Then the pain comes roaring back. Physical therapy reduces or eliminates your need for pain relievers, which can have deleterious side effects on your body’s organs.

Recovery from stroke or paralysis

If you’ve had a stroke or have paralysis, your therapist is specially trained to help you recover. The therapy helps activate muscles and nerves to improve your circulation and increase mobility as you start to relearn how to move your muscles.

Call Delta Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine or book an appointment online today if an accident or medical condition is preventing you from moving normally. We can help restore your quality of life.