Physical Therapy
Our holistic healing approach helps you manage pain naturally, while promoting healing from within. We treat the physical cause of the problem, not just the symptoms.
Physical therapy is an important part of our whole body approach to helping patients live full, active lives.
What is Physical Therapy?
Physical therapy (PT) is a treatment that aims to relieve pain and help you function better, achieve a greater range of motion/movement, and live an active life. In physiotherapy, trained professionals assess and treat abnormal physical functions, which are, for example, related to injuries, disabilities, illnesses, or diseases.
How Can Physical Therapy Help?
Physical therapy is an important part of our whole-body approach to helping patients live full, active lives. Our holistic healing approach can help make daily activities easier by helping you manage pain naturally while promoting healing from within. Physical therapy helps people recover from injuries, relieve pain, prevent future injuries, and manage chronic diseases. We treat the physical cause of the problem, not just the symptoms. Read on for further examples of why physical therapy is important and what benefits you can gain by visiting a physiotherapist.
Benefits of Physical Therapy
▪ Helps Patients Live Full Lives
If you suffer from chronic pain, you may struggle to get in and out of bed comfortably, go up and down flights of stairs, or even walk. Experiencing a limited range of motion in one part of your body prevents you from enjoying an active lifestyle. Physical therapy can help alleviate pain and restore mobility.
▪ Promotes Natural Healing
If you have suffered a sports injury, orthopedic injury, or recently had Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery, physical therapy helps promote healing within your body, allowing you to recover and regain a full range of motion and flexibility. Physical therapy not only helps prevent injury from the start but can also help in the recovery from the injury itself. It can relieve pain, help patients with arthritis in distress and help them recover from knee or hip replacements.
In addition to physical therapy, manual therapies, chiropractic adjustments, and acupuncture can also help your body recover and promote healing. We find that a multi-faceted approach to healing speeds recovery and ensures our patients lead full, pain-free lives - without being dependent on medication.
▪ Helps Treat Muscular, Neurological, and Other Conditions
Physical therapy can offer pain relief solutions to many health problems and can also help with many other health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and many more. It can treat a variety of health problems, such as arthritis, chronic pain, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, depression, arthritis, and other conditions. It can also be used to help patients with neurological and muscular illnesses and can help in the recovery of people with chronic diseases.
▪ Build Strength and Prevent Future Injuries
Most importantly, physical therapy exercises strengthen the body to resist future injury, helping patients of all ages achieve optimal health. Patients can receive these services at any time, regardless of age, gender, health status, or physical activity level as all care plans are created to fit the unique needs of the individual.
Common Conditions Physical Therapy Can Help With:
What will physical therapy do for you?
Depending on your pain or injury, our chiropractors and wellness team will design a plan targeted specifically to help your body heal which includes physical therapy techniques. Basic body exercises and stretching routines will build flexibility, strength, endurance, coordination, and balance.
Our goal with physical therapy is to restore maximum range of motion, body function, and independence. Following a treatment session, you may experience mild soreness or swelling. This is completely normal and part of the healing process.
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Spine Conditions
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Sports Injuries
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Hip Conditions
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Joint Conditions
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Knee Conditions
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Shoulder Conditions
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Post-Operative Cancer Care
Types of Physical Therapy Techniques
Let’s examine various types of physical therapy and their benefits:
Rehabilitative Physical Therapy Techniques
During rehabilitation, you will learn how to do simple exercises to make your body more flexible, stronger, and responsive to the physical demands of everyday life. Our physiotherapist will explain how often you should do the exercises and how to properly perform them to alleviate pain.
Occupational Physical Therapy
This type of physiotherapy is designed to teach you the right posture when doing certain tasks. For example, use your knees instead of your back as you lift objects, get up from your desk and maintain good posture, or get out of bed and take regular walks. An occupational therapist can also be prescribed other treatments such as manual therapies and chiropractic adjustments to help with your specific condition.
Hand Therapy
Hand therapy is routine for people suffering from injuries to the hands or upper arms, such as a broken hand or finger. This therapy is also commonly used by people with arthritis.
Manual Physical Therapy
Traditional manual therapy can be included in your physical therapy sessions, especially for aching muscles and joints. Of course, there are many different types of manual therapy for different types of injuries.
Physical therapy also specializes in various areas to cater to patients with specific conditions and requirements:
1. Pediatric Physical Therapy
There are special methods to apply physical therapy to children, which differ from the methods most commonly used in adults.
2. Geriatric Physical Therapy
At the other end of the spectrum, physical therapies for older patients are one of our most common forms of therapy.
3. Orthopedic Physical Therapy
This area of physical therapy treats injuries such as knee, hip, ankle, shoulder, and back pain to optimize your athletic performance.
4. Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Types of Physical Therapy
This type of therapy focuses on helping patients build muscle endurance and are beneficial to patients with heart and circulatory system problems.
5. Vestibular Rehabilitation
This type of therapy focuses on balance training to address dizziness caused by vertigo or problems in the ear.
6. Neurological Physical Therapy
Some injuries and problems with the brain and spine may require neurological and physical therapy. These therapies include strengthening muscles for more stability and balance training, as well as physical exercises. Physical therapy can improve a patient’s quality of life, even if the problem is unlikely to be completely cured.
What To Expect?
It is the job of the physiotherapist to respond to your specific needs and to suggest the right treatment. Physiotherapists specialize in treating a wide range of conditions, from chronic pain to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A complete physical therapy program can help the patient to function normally and achieve full recovery. It can often be the first step towards long-term recovery from a serious injury such as a broken bone or spinal injury.
Treatments may include:
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Exercises or stretches
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Manual Therapies
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Heat or cold therapy
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Rehabilitation
Therapeutic exercise should be one of the most important treatments you can receive from your physiotherapist. Physiotherapists are movement experts, so exercise is the primary tool they use to get you to move better and feel better.
During the physiotherapy treatment, your physiotherapist will teach you movements that will help you increase your mobility and strength through exercise and physiotherapy practice. They will also provide you with exercises you can do at home to increase the long-term effects.
Natural Care Chiropractic Can Help
If you have questions about physical therapies or would like to know how physical therapy can help you recover from injuries and pain, please contact us. Dr. Nicole Gopaul, who is a talented and experienced chiropractor. She is a Board Certified Atlas Orthogonist, which means that in addition to being a general chiropractic practitioner, he has specialty training in the field of structure, function, and biomechanics of the upper cervical spine. This specialized knowledge has helped thousands of patients recover quickly and safely from injury.
Additionally, Dr. Gopaul has advanced training in the fields of acupuncture, manual structural techniques, and nutrition. Natural Care Chiropractic doctors have worked with physical and occupational therapists for many years. If you are struggling with pain or recovering from an injury, we invite you to visit our Lindenhurst office for a diagnostic session. Our Lindenhurst NCC office is conveniently located in Lake County, IL, just west of Gurnee. We look forward to helping your body heal the natural way! Contact us today and schedule an appointment.