PHYSICAL THERAPY IS INTENDED TO MAKE CHANGES WITHIN YOUR BODY
We will accomplish this in several different ways. First, through the use of manual therapies, such as massage and mobilization of the joints. The goals of change are to:
- Stretch short tissues to make them longer.
- Strengthen weak tissues to make them stronger.
- Improve and correct bad/abnormal biomechanics and asymmetries to alleviate pain and take the stress off the body.
THERE ARE SEVERAL THINGS THAT WE EXPECT DURING THE PHYSICAL THERAPY PROCESS, ESPECIALLY IN THE EARLY STAGES OF PT
- You can expect that you will be sore after the first visit, and most likely the first 2 – 3 weeks until their body gets adapted to PT. Your body is just not used to doing the things that we are going to ask it to do, so there will be a period of adjustment.
- The pain WILL move. As we make changes to your tissues and mechanics, the stresses on your body will change, thus altering where you will feel the pain or your symptoms.
- The pain WILL change in terms of intensity, meaning that your pain is expected to fluctuate along the 10 point scale, starting between your high and low levels and changing based on your position, activity, and stress on the body.
- The pain may also change in terms of the quality of pain. The pain may be: sharp, dull, achy, throbbing, burning, tingling, numbing.
- It is important to know that all of the aforementioned statements are completely normal. There is nothing that you will experience that will surprise us. Everything that you experience will be normal. Even if what you feel is not normal to you, it is normal for your condition and what your body is experiencing.
- Physical therapy is not an overnight miracle. Improvement takes time. It is important to understand that no one gets better every day from day one until they leave. Everyone will have good and bad days. In the beginning, you will have more bad days than good. As time progresses, this ratio should flip-flop and you should be having more good days than bad.
If you are looking for a physical therapist, we have you covered with over 500 locations nationwide!
This article was written by Life Fitness Physical Therapy, an outpatient physical therapy group with fourteen locations in the surrounding Baltimore, Maryland area. Life Fitness Physical Therapy is focused on improving the quality of life for their patients. They strive to provide individualized, evidence-based care that meets every patient’s unique needs. Their objective for each patient is to restore their function, achieve their goals and have them resume an active lifestyle as quickly as possible. For more information click here.