Physiotherapy is a healthcare discipline that focuses on the treatment and prevention of injuries to the musculoskeletal system. Physiotherapy treatments can relieve injuries to your bones, muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments, cartilage and connective tissues. But, that’s not all. Regular sessions with a licensed physiotherapist can improve your overall well-being. You don’t have to be an athlete to reap the healing benefits of this treatment. Anybody in pain can benefit from the treatments. Let’s take a detailed look at the various evidence-based ways physiotherapy promotes health and wellness.
How Physiotherapy Promotes Health and Wellness?
To answer this question, we need to first understand what they mean.
What is physiotherapy?
Physiotherapy is the science of human movement. It takes a non-invasive approach to treat movement problems and musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).
Read more: What is Physiotherapy?
What about health and wellness?
According to WHO, health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being. It is not limited to the presence of a disease.
Wellness is the ability of a person to experience personal growth in psychological, emotional, spiritual, social, physical and intellectual terms.
People can lead a socially and economically productive life only when they have both health and wellness in control. These help us maintain a high quality of life.
How are physiotherapy, health and wellness connected?
It is crucial to adopt and maintain an active lifestyle to promote overall health and wellness. You have to keep moving to ensure the prevention of specific chronic diseases that often develop later in life. This is where physiotherapy comes into play.
Most healthcare systems focus on curing the health problems. Physiotherapy helps assess, treat and prevent the conditions from recurring in the future. The latter equips you with stronger bones and muscles which minimize your risk of injuries. Physiotherapists help you manage pre-existing conditions and prevent the ones that may develop over time.
5 Ways Physiotherapy Promotes Overall Health and Wellness?
People often use the terms health and wellness interchangeably. Everyone needs both to lead a high quality of life. Physiotherapy promotes health and wellness without the involvement of surgeries or pain meds. The treatments get your entire body involved in the healing process so you can lead your life independently.
Here’s how physiotherapy promotes health and wellness:
Relieves pain and discomfort
Pain is the body’s way of telling us there has been a strain, an injury or any other underlying health problem. It signals potential issues that can cause severe impacts on your health.
Persistent pain is no longer just physical. It causes mental health problems as well such as stress, depression and anxiety. You cannot focus on work or do the things you love.
Physiotherapy is an effective pain management treatment which also improves overall function. Neck pain, for instance, is a common condition among people of varying ages. Physiotherapists detect the exact origin of the pain through a series of physical tests. Once they know the cause, the professionals prescribe specific treatments to heal the injury from its core.
The treatments include massage therapy, joint mobilization, therapeutic exercises, chiropractic care, acupuncture and more. The physiotherapists may use one or a combination of treatments based on what your body needs.
Restores movement of muscles and joints
Various conditions can limit the normal movement of muscles and joints. Frozen shoulder, for instance, is a common example where the shoulder muscles and joints become stiff and immobile. This stiffness reduces your range of motion and also causes pain.
The physiotherapist guides you through specific stretching and mobility exercises that increase your range of motion. They may help you with strengthening exercises as well to support the shoulder joint and prevent further stiffness.
These days a sedentary lifestyle is one of the most common reasons why people are experiencing limited mobility. Sitting at desks for long periods of time can cause stiffness in various body parts. Physiotherapy treatments strengthen your body and relax the stiff muscles, restoring normal movement.
Reduces dependency on medicines
It is possible to lead a healthy life without depending on pain meds. Popping meds may provide you with temporary relief along with a risk of developing potential health problems.
Physiotherapy, on the other hand, treats specific areas of pain through natural healing processes. It helps people manage their painful symptoms without the continuous dose of painkillers.
The pain management techniques physiotherapists use offer long-term solutions to fix underlying health problems. They also educate patients on workplace ergonomics, posture and exercises that can keep them healthy and free from medications.
Prevents injuries and surgeries
Proactive care and rehabilitation play a great role in preventing injuries and the need for surgeries in the future. Physiotherapy treatments focus on both these factors to promote overall health and wellness. They customize the sessions to strengthen muscles and joints, improve flexibility and mobility and correct posture if needed. You can also receive a thorough knowledge of the proper techniques for exercising, lifting and performing daily tasks without hurting yourself.
Recovering after surgery is a whole another complicated process. Physiotherapy can provide effective rehabilitation and restore optimal strength to the affected area. In other words, the treatments help you return to normal life after surgery. It promotes natural healing and recovery.
Improves sleep quality
Sleep quality is a fundamental aspect of health and wellness. Good sleep supports immune function, improves mental health and also manages hormonal balance. However, it may not be always possible to get uninterrupted sleep.
Physiotherapy addresses this problem in several ways. It helps reduce pain and relax muscles, which improve sleep quality. The exercises involved in your treatment can reduce anxiety and regulate your sleep cycle.
Final Thoughts
Being healthy isn’t just about being disease-free. It is rather about feeling good physically, mentally and emotionally. You have enough energy to do the things you love without feeling frequent pain. Physiotherapy primarily focuses on improving your physical health. However, the treatments simultaneously improve your mental health as well through muscle relaxation, pain reduction and stress relief. You should get hold of licensed physiotherapists such as the ones at Physiotherapy First Clinic and set on an interesting journey of self-care and a healthy lifestyle.
