If you are recuperating from a spinal injury, opting for physical therapy is undoubtedly a good decision. It comes with various benefits that would help you recover faster and more effectively.
After all, the spinal cord is a vital component of the nervous system. Any damage to this cord can potentially impair your movement and cause problems while you try to carry out simple tasks. This is why you would want to recover from the injury as fast as possible.
What is physical therapy?
Physical therapy is a non-invasive treatment that helps recover from injuries, relieve pain, and restore or maintain maximum body movement. A professional physical therapist can carefully evaluate a patient to get an insight into the problem and come up with a treatment plan.
Physical therapy primarily consists of different physical exercises. The physical therapist would advise you on which exercises to perform. For instance, certain exercises would benefit you after a spinal injury.
How would physical therapy benefit you?
Physical exercises are always very beneficial for your health and are the simplest ways to stay fit. In fact, fitness freaks spend plenty of time exercising. The benefits of physical exercises go beyond regular health and fitness.
They are also of great help while recovering from major injuries and medical conditions. Some of the benefits of taking up physical therapy after a spinal injury are:
1. Avoiding complex conditions
Often, there are risks of developing secondary medical conditions like respiratory illness, urinary tract infections, and pressure sores after enduring a spinal cord injury. However, research has shown that individuals who stay active are less likely to develop these conditions.
This is simply because physical therapy helps the body to keep functioning correctly and aids the healing process. Thus, exercising properly can save you from complex medical conditions.
2. Adjustment to physical activities
After suffering a major injury to the spinal cord, the body struggles to adjust and regain the usual flexibility and mobility. Performing even regular tasks can become quite tricky. However, exercising regularly can help you overcome this.
It helps the body to adapt to life once again and regain the ability to perform various tasks. Trying to get back to your old lifestyle without any physical exercise can be extremely difficult.
3. Regaining strength
An injury to your spinal cord, along with the various related treatment processes, can leave you significantly weaker. This is one of the reasons that point to why reverting to your normal lifestyle would be hard.
Undergoing physical therapy at Americare PT in NJ would help your body regain its strength faster.
4. Psychological benefits
The benefits of physical therapy after a spinal injury are not just physical. It can also help to improve your psychological health in several ways. For instance, you might develop loneliness, depression, or anxiety after a spinal injury, especially if you have remained bedridden for long.
Staying active helps to avoid such psychological conditions, and exercising is an excellent form of healthy recreation. Taking part in physical activities also opens up the opportunity to meet people with similar interests and conditions.
5. Increased life expectancy
Exercising regularly after a spinal injury can significantly boost your life expectancy. This is primarily because physical therapy is excellent for cardiovascular health.
Thus, it helps to avoid chronic ailments that could have lowered your life expectancy severely.
How does a physical therapist work?
Ideally, a physical therapist should be thorough and take a comprehensive approach. This ranges from diagnosis to treatment. Here are the steps that you may expect to undergo when you visit a physical therapist after a spine injury:
● Evaluation
First, the therapist would evaluate your condition through tests and your health history. You may have to undergo testing procedures to check your joint motion, flexibility, posture, etc.
● Diagnosis
After carrying out the evaluation, the therapist would provide you with the diagnosis reports. As per the reports, he/she would also develop a suitable treatment plan with the right exercises.
● Therapy
Now that the diagnosis is complete and the therapist has provided a treatment plan, the therapy would start. You would receive physical therapy as per necessity.
● Guidance
A good physical therapist would also guide you with various self-management recommendations. You would learn about ways to keep yourself active and fit, and eventually recover quickly.
Such an approach ensures a tailored treatment plan. With professional guidance, you would not end up performing exercises that can cause more harm than good after a spine injury.
Conclusion
Your physical therapy may include multiple types of exercises, such as aerobics, strength-building exercises, and flexibility exercises. A therapist can guide you regarding the proportion of each kind of exercise in your plan and how frequently you should exercise. Essentially, the benefits of physical therapy after a spine injury are priceless.
