Time To Get Physical
The Benefits of Physical Therapy Have No Age Limits
Physical therapy is an important but sometimes overlooked part of a patient’s medical treatment. After a hospital stay or an initial diagnosis has been made, physical therapy can reduce or eliminate pain, greatly improve the quality of life and help patients return to their regular routines. Physical therapists teach exercises and techniques that help patients regain their strength and range of motion. So, don’t forget to ask your doctor if a referral to a physical therapy program is right for you. Here are just some of the ways physical therapy helps people at every stage of life:
Younger Children: Children who are experiencing developmental delays, such as problems with balance, coordination, or processing information, can often make remarkable improvements with the help of physical therapy. Children with more serious long-term conditions, such as cerebral palsy, can also benefit.
Older Children & Teenagers: As kids become more active and independent, accidents happen. Physical therapy can assist in the recovery from bone fractures, sports injuries, and damaged muscles, ligaments and tendons.
Adults: Physical therapy can offer relief from muscle pain, shoulder problems, lower back pain and hand, wrist and arm pain. Brain injuries, spinal cord injuries and neck and back injuries that result from accident or trauma are also frequent reasons for adults to see a physical therapist.
Senior Adults (65+): Perhaps no other age group benefits from physical therapy more than senior adults. As the body starts to age, keeping your strength, mobility and flexibility becomes even more important. Senior adults with arthritis, osteoporosis, cancer, balance disorders, incontinence or recovering from hip or joint replacement can benefit from physical therapy. Other candidates include heart attack and stroke victims, people who suffer from COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease or have undergone coronary bypass surgery.
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