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6 Physiotherapy Treatment Types Used in Rehabilitation

Are you injured or in pain? Are you struggling to enjoy quality of life?

A physiotherapist is a qualified expert who can help you get your life back to normal.

Professionals in this field can be found anywhere, including hospitals, universities, community centers, private practices, and even private residences.

There is more to their work than just stretching muscles and bending joints.

With their vast experience, they can effectively employ various treatment options to meet the individual requirements of each patient.

Whether you are dealing with a sports injury or simply want to address your pain and return to work, physiotherapy for rehabilitation can help.

1. Exercises for Range of Motion (ROM)

ROM Exercises are designed to enhance joint mobility and measure how far your joints can move in different directions. These exercises assist in moving each joint through its complete range of motion.

To determine a patient’s range of motion, physiotherapists use instruments like the goniometer and inclinometer, which measure the joint’s axis angles.

Back (lumbar) mobility is also evaluated with the aid of tape measurements.

Physical therapists use three types of range-of-motion exercises:

  • Passive Range of Motion: A physiotherapist uses a passive motion machine to apply movement to a joint. When a joint is fully relaxed, an external force can move a limb through its full range of motion.

  • Active Range of Motion: The patient moves the joint entirely by themselves, with no outside assistance.

  • Active Assist Range of Motion: An outside force partially assists the movement of the joint.

2. Mobilization of Soft Tissue

To break up adhesions and improve muscular function, a comprehensive range of movements known collectively as “soft tissue mobilization” can be applied to your muscles, ligaments, and fascia.

Spinal, pelvic, and shoulder discomfort can all be caused by adhesions, which are the body’s effort to heal soft tissue damage through inflammation that forces new tissue against each other.

Also, soft tissue mobilization aims to increase mobility, lengthen muscles and tendons, decrease inflammation and pain, and restore normal function. You can easily find clinics that specialize in this kind of thing online.

A qualified physiotherapist will work on your muscles, ligaments, tendons, and nerves and use their hands to press, pull, and knead the area. Soft tissue mobilization treatments include:

  • Sustained pressure.

  • Direct oscillations (oscillating pressure).

  • Parallel mobilization (mobilizing the tissue by pushing along the muscle’s seams).

  • Friction massage.

Physiotherapists have extensive training in using such methods.

As a result, they possess a depth of understanding about how best to implement techniques to help their patients achieve their functional goals.

3. Electrotherapy

Electrotherapy, not to be confused with electroshock therapy, is a method of treating pain that employs the use of electrical signals to disrupt the normal processing of pain signals in the brain’s neural networks.

Physical therapists often resort to this method when traditional pain medications are ineffective in blocking acute or persistent pain during treatment.

Electrotherapy’s use of electrical currents has been shown to hasten the recovery of injured tissue.

You’ve probably heard of a device used in physical therapy known as a transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) machine.

ENS is used as an electrotherapy supplement by physical therapists to alleviate pain from illnesses like arthritis, back pain, labor pain, and nerve pain.

4. Thermotherapy and Cryotherapy

Cryotherapy and thermotherapy are just fancy words for therapies combining heat and cold in the field of physical therapy.

Hot packs are used in thermotherapy, a method of treating acute and chronic pain by stimulating the blood flow through the dilated blood vessels. It relieves muscle tension, calms muscle spasms, and loosens up achy joints.

Joint stiffness, muscle tension, and headaches are just some conditions that benefit from thermotherapy.

On the other hand, Cryotherapy uses cold temperatures to limit blood flow to the affected tissues. This reduces swelling and promotes healing by decreasing the release of pain- and inflammation-causing molecules.

Knee and ankle sprains, shoulder soreness, and acute muscle strain are typical conditions for cold therapy.

5. Kinesiology Taping

Physical therapists often apply a form of elastic tape called kinesiology tape to patients to help them regain their full range of motion after an injury.

The tape creates a microscopically small gap between the skin and the tissues underlying it by pulling it back slightly upon application.

By relieving pressure on the body’s vascular, lymphatic, and pain-sensing systems, lifting helps the vessels to dilate.

his boosts healing by increasing circulation and lymphatic fluid flow. In addition to alleviating pain and maintaining the ideal alignment of joints and tissues, this technique also helps to relieve pressure on pain receptors.

Depending on the nature of the injury and the expertise of the physiotherapist, kinesiology tape can be used in a variety of ways:

  • Recoiling: The tape’s stretch provides feedback on body position during the retraction process.

  • Holding: The tape holds the tissue in place.

  • Lifting: By reducing compression, the tape helps to promote blood flow, lower swelling, and lessen discomfort.

  • Pressure: The tape stimulates tissues over a specific ligament or tendon.

  • Spring: The tape is applied to a joint to help or restrict motion.

  • Channeling: Kinesiology tape reduces pressure on lymph ducts and promotes lymph circulation.

6. Ultrasound Therapy

There are several applications for ultrasound technology beyond prenatal imaging. Physical therapists use diagnostic ultrasounds to take images of internal organs and other soft tissues.

Conditions including tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, ligament injuries, shoulder pain, and joint stiffness can benefit from using this instrument to alleviate chronic pain and aid in tissue recovery.

There are two main applications for therapeutic ultrasound:

  • Soft tissue can be deeply heated with therapeutic ultrasound to improve blood flow, speed healing, and lessen discomfort.

  • Therapeutic ultrasound can potentially increase the range of motion by relaxing tight muscles.

The rapid expansion and contraction of gas bubbles (cavitation) around wounded tissue can be accelerated using ultrasound waves.

Rehabilitative and Pain Management Physiotherapy

Physiotherapy is an excellent method for rehabilitating physical trauma and controlling persistent discomfort because it helps the body heal itself.

The physiotherapist works to understand the source of your pain, then designs a treatment plan that includes stretches, exercises, and other therapies to relax your muscles and relieve tension in your joints.

Physiotherapy can also help you learn better ways to move around on your own so that you don’t cause additional harm to yourself.

Call a Physical Therapist and Get Checked Today

These are just a few methods that physiotherapists use in rehabilitation services.

Each individual treatment varies in its effectiveness, but they all aim to relieve pain, improve range of motion and function, and, most importantly, help the patient return to their normal life as soon as possible.

Your experience with physiotherapy depends on the type and extent of your injury or ailment, so be sure to see a professional if you think you need it!

Get in touch with Atlas Physiotherapy & Health if you have any inquiries about rehabilitation programs or wish to schedule an appointment at our physiotherapy clinic.

Atlas Physiotherapy and Health

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