Celebrating National Physical Therapy Month at Hands of Hope

Have you struggled with pain? Are you dealing with an injury affecting your ability to do your usual routine? Physical therapy could be just what you need!

At Hands of Hope, physical therapy is part of our multidisciplinary approach to care, and we often blend it with advanced pain management or other wellness techniques. With October being National Physical Therapy Month, we want to share some of the ways physical therapy can help improve your overall quality of life.

Why Should I Choose Physical Therapy?

There are several reasons to choose physical therapy as a frontline treatment for musculoskeletal injuries or pain. It offers a noninvasive approach to resolving discomfort, improving function, and enhancing your overall health and well-being.

One of the most significant benefits of physical therapy is that it can uncover the underlying reasons for your injuries or pain. Some of the impairments our physical therapists can help you correct include:

• Loss of motion
• Weakness
• Poor posture and faulty movement patterns
• Gait abnormalities
• Loss of balance
• Coordination deficits
• Neurological impairment
• Unhealthy lifestyle behaviors  like poor sleep habits, improper nutrition, or lack of exercise

Four Benefits of Physical Therapy (And How Our Multidisciplinary Services Can Help, Too)

1. Physical therapy can help improve your joint range of motion and overall mobility. 

Our ability to move depends on our joints: both how individual joints move independently and how they work in concert with one another. Increasing joint range of motion and mobility of the connective tissues around your joints (including the tendons, muscles, fascia, and joint capsules) will help your joints feel better and move better. 

This will also help you improve overall functional mobility and activity tolerance, which are essential for work, leisure, and simple daily functions. 

How We Help Improve Mobility

• Hands-on manual therapy techniques to enhance your joints’ range of motion
• Targeted therapeutic exercises to improve joint function
• Guided weight loss programs to help reduce extra stress on the joints

2. Physical therapy can help strengthen weaknesses and compensation patterns.

Through injury or surgery, muscles become weak, impacting your ability to move and function normally. For some, an old injury or abnormal movement pattern has led to weakness due to compensations. Physical therapists are skilled at assessing the whole body, identifying weaknesses, and teaching how to restore strength and function. 

How We Address Improper Compensation Patterns

• Guided exercises to build strength in weak areas
• Personalized biomechanical corrections to help restore good movement patterns
• Advanced pain management strategies to address severe contributing pain
• Therapeutic yoga to reinforce proper movement mechanics

3. Physical therapy can improve your overall health and well-being.

When you see our physical therapist for pain and injuries, we help you resolve your condition and provide guidance on improving your overall health. As movement experts, we’ll work with you to ensure you get in more physical activity, no matter your limitations or restrictions. More activity equals improved health!

How We Help Improve Your Overall Health

• Personalized exercise programs designed for your needs
• IV therapy to enhance energy, reduce fatigue, and promote resilience 
• Nutritional counseling to help you develop healthy eating habits

4. Physical therapy can help you reduce the risk of injury.

By implementing a holistic approach, we can improve and restore your function and prevent injuries. We don’t just want to help you heal from an injury. We want to address the contributing factors so you’re less likely to have a repeat occurrence.

How We Help Reduce Your Injury Risk

• Targeted exercises to improve balance, coordination, and walking patterns
• Personalized injury prevention strategies you can use in day-to-day life
• Advanced pain management to make movement easier

Sources: https://academic.oup.com/ptj/article/95/10/1433/2686492, https://academic.oup.com/ptj/article/90/7/1014/2737793, https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/52/24/1557.citation-tools, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1568997218302106