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Therapeutic Exercise

When you hear the words “physical therapy” most people assume it’s for people who are aging, or only for those who have had surgery. Yet physical therapy goes beyond post-surgical care restoring strength, endurance, flexibility and stability to people who have been injured, are in chronic pain, or after having experienced an illness and need to regain movement.

Through therapeutic exercise, it is possible to have your function restored and live a better life that is pain free. Contact Connecticut Family Physical Therapy to schedule your consultation and find out how we can relieve your pain.

How can therapeutic exercise help me?

The goal of any exercise program is to leave you feeling healthier and stronger than when you began. Therapeutic exercise has similar goals, but incorporates exercises especially selected to heal your painful movements, to help you regain your strength, flexibility, balance, endurance, or stability.

Whether you have a chronic injury, experienced an illness, or are simply noticing you are losing freedom to movement, therapeutic exercise can improve your day to day function and prevent further impairment and disability. When used as a part of a physical therapy treatment plan, in conjunction with 1 on 1 care where you have your therapist’s full attention on your visit, it can help you heal faster, for good, and live a better life.

You can learn how to move freely without pain, drugs, and surgeries here

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Types of Therapeutic Exercises

Each therapeutic exercise is classified by its purpose.

  • Range of Motion. These exercises are aimed at increasing the range of motion in your joints and soft tissues. This may be done through active, passive or assisted stretching activities designed to help your joints move better, without pain.
  • Muscle Performance. Increasing power, endurance and muscle strength is vital to good balance and stability as well as bone and joint health. Resistance exercises and endurance exercises are designed to increase muscle strength without injury.
  • Posture. Hours spent at desks, bending over keyboards, poor muscle tone, or simple habit can all lead to terrible posture. What you may not realize is that posture has a direct impact on muscle strength, balance and a tendency toward injury. Posture exercises are aimed at correcting poor posture, not just when you exercise, but in your life in general which can alleviate aches and pains.
  • Balance & Coordination. Every time you stand or sit, bones and muscles work in conjunction with one another to help you remain upright. Every time you stand, walk, sit, brush your teeth, cook a meal, or take care of your daily activities, you are testing your coordination between the muscular and skeletal systems in your body. Your ability to care for yourself or your loved ones depends on your ability to balance and the coordination of your arms, legs, hands, and feet. That is why balance and coordination exercises are so important, especially after an injury or illness. If you cannot balance, if you lose coordination, you lose the ability to care for yourself.
  • Relaxation. Relaxation is part of therapeutic exercise? You bet! While it is important to work the muscles, joints, and soft tissues in the body, it is also important to help them relax. Pain relieving techniques including heat, cold, electrical stimulation, massage, or trigger point therapy can all help the body relax, improve your sleep, lower your blood pressure, and keep you coming back for more exercise!
  • Area Specific Exercises. It’s easy to think of exercise as something we do with our muscles, but it is also important to help the body’s other systems. In these cases, exercises that target breathing or circulation may be recommended to help speed healing, improve blood flow or lower stress on the body.

How does therapeutic exercise relieve pain?

It may seem counterintuitive to exercise when you are in pain. After all, the last thing you want to do when you are uncomfortable is make yourself more uncomfortable. Yet when you treat pain with medication and rest, you are only allowing the supporting muscles to weaken, causing greater pain and less functionality of the area. A physical therapist is trained to evaluate your body’s function, strength and range of motion as well as your pain levels when you perform basic tasks. They can then create a customized treatment plan, including therapeutic exercise, that can strengthen weak areas, restore function to healing or surgically repaired joints, and reduce your overall pain levels. Not only can you experience a pain free life, you can do so with greater strength and endurance than before. Still curious how physical therapy services and therapeutic exercise can help you? Let Connecticut Family Physical Therapy conduct an evaluation and help you get on the road to recovery. To learn more on how it is more than possible for YOU to move freely, watch this complimentary Free Training