Physiotherapy - Types and Techniques

What Is Physiotherapy?

When a person is affected by an injury, sickness, or disability, physiotherapy helps them regain movement and function. It can also help to lower the chances of being hurt or getting sick in the future. It takes a holistic approach in which the patient is actively involved in their own care.

What Are the Types of Physiotherapy?

There are many types of physical therapy.

These types include:

• Orthopedic Physical Therapy: Muscles, bones, ligaments, fascia, and tendons are involved in musculoskeletal injuries. Fractures, bursitis, chronic health problems, sprains, tendinitis, and rehabilitation from orthopedic surgery are the conditions that can benefit from it. Joint mobilizations, mobility training, manual therapy, strength training, and other modalities may be used to treat patients.

• Geriatric Physical Therapy: This can assist older persons with illnesses such as arthritis, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's disease, hip, and joint replacement, balance issues, and incontinence that impact mobility and physical function. This sort of treatment seeks to improve mobility, decrease pain, and improve physical fitness.

• Neurological Physical Therapy: People with Alzheimer's disease, brain injury, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury, and stroke may benefit from this. Treatment may seek to improve limb response, movement patterns, tone management, strength improvement, and balance.

• Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation: This may be beneficial to persons who have been afflicted by certain cardiopulmonary diseases (COPD) or surgical procedures. Muscle and cardiovascular endurance and stamina can be improved with treatment.

• Wound Care Therapy: Improved circulation can guarantee that a healing wound receives enough oxygen and blood to heal properly. Manual therapies, compression therapy, e-stim, and wound care are used.

• Vestibular Therapy: This is intended to address balance issues that can arise as a result of inner ear issues. Vestibular physical therapy consists of a variety of exercises and manual approaches that can assist patients in regaining balance and coordination.

• Decongestive Therapy: This can aid in the drainage of collected fluid in people with lymphedema and other fluid-related illnesses.

• Pelvic Floor Rehabilitation: This can aid in treating problems affecting the pelvic floor, such as urine or fecal incontinence, urinary urgency, and pelvic pain caused by injuries, surgery, or certain conditions.

• Pediatric Physiotherapy: This aids children in reaching their full physical potential. They treat infants and children from birth to adolescence, specializing in movement, development, and conditions that are likely to influence them.

What Are the Various Physiotherapy Techniques?

Physiotherapists employ a variety of strategies to help their patients improve their quality of life. Your physiotherapist's technique will be determined by the nature of your injury or the source of your chronic pain. During your initial session, your exercise physiologist will assess your needs and develop a treatment plan to increase your mobility and reduce your pain levels.

There are numerous physiotherapy approaches that might assist you in feeling stronger and improving your condition.

Here are some of the most common physiotherapy procedures you will come across during your sessions:

• Range of Motion (ROM) Exercises: Although rest is frequently recommended during the early stages of recovery after broken bones or surgery, prolonged immobility can slow or hinder the healing process. As a result, physiotherapists frequently recommend a range of motion exercises to help with movement, joint mobility, and circulation. Muscle atrophy and accompanying postural difficulties can be avoided by moving the affected joints and muscles often. Patients with limited mobility can benefit from ROM exercises to increase their flexibility and independence.

• Soft Tissue Mobilization: Soft tissue mobilization can help patients' muscles relax and decrease swelling in the affected regions, making it a perfect treatment for pain associated with athletic injuries. This massage also aids in the circulation of blood and lymph fluid, as well as the reduction of tissue swelling around inflamed joints. Massage, as one of the most used manual therapies, allows physiotherapists to manipulate your muscles and tissue, enhancing blood flow and mobility. These immediate impacts are just as essential as massage's long-term advantages, which include stress reduction, improved sleep, and less anxiety.

• Electrotherapy: Electrotherapy is a very recent advancement in the field of energy-based physiotherapy. The stimulation is performed by attaching electrodes to the skin while performing this treatment. These electrodes produce muscle shortening, which helps to avoid atrophy. It is best for people who have paralysis or a limited range of motion. Electrotherapy can be combined with laser and ultrasound therapy to achieve the best results.

• Cryotherapy and Heat Therapy: People with desk jobs and professional athletes complain about sore, stiff muscles. If a patient complains of muscle tightness anywhere on their body, applying heat or ice to the irritated areas may be therapeutic. The use of heated packs or even paraffin wax can be used in heat therapy. Cryotherapy may include the use of an ice pack or an ice massage.

• Hydrotherapy: Water-based movements and exercises can help you gain mobility without putting too much strain on your joints. Hydrotherapy can also be effective for performing balance exercises for people with cerebral palsy or other diseases that can cause imbalance because you do not have to worry about being hurt if you fall over.

• Acupuncture and Dry Needling: These ancient healing methods have been demonstrated to help with pain relief and recuperation. Acupuncture and dry needling both function by inserting extremely fine needles into certain body locations. The purpose of acupuncture is to restore energy throughout the body by inserting needles along the meridian lines. The purpose of dry needling is to relieve pain by inserting needles into trigger points. Acupuncture and dry needling are not available to all physiotherapists since they both require further training.

• Icing: After your appointment, many physiotherapists will ask you to ice the area of your body that they worked on for at least 15 minutes. This is to help with the healing and recovery process by reducing inflammation. It is critical that you follow your physiotherapist's advice, even when you are at home, regardless of the treatment plan your physiotherapist has prepared for you. If you experience any pain throughout your therapy, let your doctor know so that your treatment plan can be altered to ensure you are not overdoing it.

• Kinesio Taping: Kinesio tape is a terrific approach to stabilize the joints and muscles while the patient is undergoing therapy. It can be placed directly on the skin. Furthermore, because the tape is flexible, it does not interfere with a range of motion exercises, making it an ideal tool for stretching and flexing muscles.

• Therapeutic Ultrasound: While ultrasound is not usually connected with physiotherapy, doctors have been able to use sound waves to treat injuries in the body in recent years. Ultrasound frequency is a gentle way to use soft beams to target injured tissue. The ultrasound sound waves stimulate and absorb the ligaments, tendons, and fascia, similar to a small massage. Patients with arthritis or tendonitis and muscle tension can benefit from this treatment.

• Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS): Whether you experience chronic or severe pain, a TENS device can help you feel better. It works by transmitting electrical impulses to your nervous system via adhesive pads affixed to your body. While transmitting electrical impulses may seem painful, the electrical waves diminish the nervous system's ability to convey pain signals to the brain, resulting in a reduction in pain. These electrical impulses also increase the production of endorphins, which are natural pain relievers.

• Movement and Exercise: Your physiotherapist may suggest certain motions and exercises aid in the recovery of an injury or the reduction of pain. Regular exercise can help you move more freely, and your physiotherapist can assist you in finding the correct aids to help you move, such as crutches or a walker.

Remedial exercises are meant to help you strengthen the areas of your body that require it. Before being given instructions for home workouts, you will normally practice these exercises under the cautious supervision of your physiotherapist. In between sessions, your physiotherapist may offer stretching activities like pilates.

Physical therapy is an ever-evolving profession that adjusts to new research on a regular basis. While physical therapy was formerly thought to be only useful for the elderly, for those recovering from surgery, or for those with severe musculoskeletal problems, it has evolved to treat a wide range of musculoskeletal ailments and is even used to prevent pain and injury. Everyone can benefit from today's sophisticated approach to physical therapy, from office workers to elite athletes.

Conclusion:

Physiotherapists are movement and function experts who collaborate with their patients to prevent further injury. A physiotherapist helps prevent further injury by enquiring about the patient's needs and expectations, working together to plan the most appropriate treatment with various techniques available for any individual condition, and setting goals and treatment outcomes.