As one of the safest, healthiest, and most holistic methods, physical therapy can treat a wide variety of injuries, illnesses, and medical conditions. It is the best way of treatment to opt for those who do not want to get involved with hardcore medications, injections, or surgery.
Unlike other methods of treatment, physical therapy’s approach is more individualized. It treats every patient differently based on their problem. Surprisingly, a lot of people don’t appoint for physical therapy because they don’t think it will work or because it’s a very slow procedure, whereas taking a bunch of prescribed painkillers and using syringes is a quick way to get rid of the pain.
The truth, however, is on the contrary. Physical therapy indeed is a slow process, but it turns out to be more effective than other methods in most cases. And it’s hard to ignore that physical therapy has no side effects whatsoever. You can’t say the same about medicine, injections, or surgical procedures.
Moreover, physical therapy is not just a treatment to cure injuries, it is a form of rehabilitation. Not only does it treat a number of disorders, it also prevents them before they actually occur, especially the ones associated with mobility and physical function. Therefore, not only can physical therapy cure your illnesses and injuries and a wide number of medical issues, it can also practically change the way you live your life.
Here are 10 important benefits of physical therapy that can really change your life.
1. Physical therapy Improves Snoring
Snoring can be a sore subject for bed partners, roommates, and family members. It can cause disrupted sleep and may even force some to sleep in separate bedrooms.
To avoid these problems, it’s natural to want to snore less. At the same time, it can be hard to know which methods to reduce snoring are actually backed by science.
For people with mild snoring, research has shown that mouth and throat exercises can help tone the muscles around the airway so that snoring is not as frequent or noisy. Likewise, the same mouth and throat exercises have been shown to improve mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea1 (OSA).
These mouth exercises are also called “myofunctional therapy” or “oropharyngeal exercises.” It is often taught by a trained myofunctional therapist.
As with any type of workout regimen, it requires time and effort for these mouth exercises to have an effect. When done properly, a significant number of snorers and those with mild to moderate OSA have reported that these exercises lead to less snoring and better sleep.
2. Physical therapy alleviates pain
The most obviously common reason why people seek physical therapy is to get rid of their bodily pain. When it comes to pain relief, there is no debate – we know physical therapy is a great way to help alleviate the pain.
Whether the pain is due to a strain injury or torn ligaments, physical therapy can eliminate it. After a thorough examination of your body, including imaging tests, physical therapists come up with a comprehensive diagnosis, along with a detailed plan of how to treat the injuries.
They develop a properly scheduled plan (consisting of different exercises and activities) to improve your bodily functions and reduce pain. If you are in pain, you don’t have to think twice about signing up for physical therapy.
3. Physical therapy makes you active
Injuries can make you really weak and inactive. If you used to be very active before injuries, then the pain would plague you even more harshly than it would other people.
For instance, a massive amount of injury patients are athletes who suffered from sports injuries. Every sport bears a risk of injuring those who are involved in it, whether it is football, boxing, skiing, snowboarding, basketball, or whatever. Athletes are constantly at risk.
So, when they contract injuries, they tend to experience it in a worse way, which requires a need for the method of treatment that can get the injured person active again. And that is where physical therapy shines.
Physical therapy can manage all the sports and otherwise injuries. It can improve your body functions to make you active again. Not only will it eliminate pain, it will also make you strong and agile enough to avoid similar injuries in future.
Ultimately, it will restore your physical capabilities and will shape them even at a better level.
4. Physical therapy improves balance
As we grow old, we become and more and more susceptible to falling. The older we get, the more we will be hurt from these falls. At a certain age, we are just a walking risk.
These falls and consequent contraction of serious injuries can lead to permanent disability and even death in old age. Luckily, physical therapy is advanced enough to prevent that. It helps you improve your balance.
Physical therapy incorporates balance training, especially for older individuals, to allow them to move with confidence and avoid falling.
5. Physical therapy makes you stronger
Being strong is something that everyone would appreciate. Our physical strength is probably the biggest blessing we have, and we rely on it on a daily basis. So, it’s only natural that we would want to improve it.
If you want to improve your strength, or if you think you have been losing some of your formative strength, physical therapy can help you with that. Physical therapy involves resistance training, compound exercises, and functional movements that can revolutionize your upper body strength and make you stronger than ever.
6. Physical therapy eliminates headaches
A lot of people find themselves being constantly irritated due to headaches. If you are one of them, physical therapy can solve your problem. Physical therapists will use specific exercises and healing techniques that will reduce the frequency and intensity of headaches.
In fact, many headaches are caused by irregularities in the muscles and joints of the upper cervical spine. Physical therapy strengthens your neck’s deep stabilizers and stretches stiff muscles, so you can get complete relief from disturbing headaches.
7. Physical therapy eliminates vertigo
Dizziness and vertigo are the biggest problems for some people. Regular experiences of vertigo can, frankly speaking, make your life miserable and inconvenient. Without a doubt, vertigo is diagnosed as severe impairment.
Luckily, physical therapy encourages special movements and exercises that realign specific components within your inner ear, so you can stand upright without fear of vertigo.
8. Physical therapy increases flexibility
A lot of people don’t bend further, which makes it hard for them to do exercises and yoga poses. However, physical therapy can solve that problem without any struggle. The flexibility gets limited because of stiff joints, tight muscles, and other factors.
Once physical therapy begins, it eliminates all these problems one by one and dissolve the barrier that restricts your flexible movements.
9. Physical therapy improves your posture
You might not have noticed it about yourself, but people might have told you often to stand up straight, sit up straight, fix your posture, etc. Bad posture can be a root cause of many evils, including chronic back pain.
The advancements in physical therapy has made it possible for therapists to quantify the severity of your posture and determine what’s causing it. That helps them come up with a plan to fix your posture through exercises and specific physical activities.
10. Physical therapy is fun
Physical therapy is a passionate, adventurous field. Physical therapists and patients both are instilled with enthusiasm when they are engaging in therapeutic activities.
If you find the right therapist, the one that matches your vibe, you will get a lot more strength from physical therapy. Mostly, therapists love their job, and that love is contagious. It rubs off on you eventually. And when it does, you start to enjoy your therapy sessions more and more. It will be fun for you.
While mouth exercises are a promising home remedy, they aren’t a solution for all snoring or obstructive sleep apnea. Even when helpful, they may need to be combined with other treatments recommended by a doctor, like CPAP. To learn more about sleep help alternatives, Call the Alaska Sleep Clinic today in ANchorage, Fairbanks, Soldotna or Wasilla today.
