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Facts About Physical Therapy Cambridge MA

By William Kelly


Physical therapy is a form of treatment that one may need when health problems make it hard for them to move around and do tasks that they should be doing. It helps to enhance movement and relieve pain in addition to ensuring there is restoration of physical function and fitness level. When considering physical therapy Cambridge MA residents should know the goal is to make daily activities easier.

It can help with recovery after some surgeries. Doctors will normally recommend it for injuries or long-term health problems like arthritis. It is either used alone or with other forms of treatment. The therapist examines you to know the various symptoms you are experiencing. This helps to come up with a treatment plan. The main goal is to make joints move better and restoration of flexibility and strength. It will also enhance strength, flexibility, coordination and endurance.

There are various forms of physical therapy. One of the most common is exercising. Exercise is a controlled physical stress that is applied to the body to help with improvement of strength, motion range and flexibility. Exercises can be active or passive. With the passive exercises, you are required to only relax while the physical therapist applies stress. An example is the hamstring stress where a person lifts your leg so that hamstring muscles are elongated on the bag of the thighs.

Active exercises are performed under the power of the individual. Examples include walking on treadmills, straight leg raising and hip strengthening exercises. Home exercise programs are recommended. These are exercises that are supposed to be performed individually. They are very important when one wants to return to normal function. In general, exercising is one of the main techniques used by therapists.

On some occasions, electric stimulation can be used to help in reducing pain around injured tissues. There are two main theories about the way the stimulation works. These are the gate theory and opiate theory. Other forms of electric stimulation can also be used for muscle contraction. This is normally used for helping injured muscles to relearn how to properly function.

Traction is used in treating low back pain and neck pain to help in minimizing pain and enhancing mobility of the spine. To make use of lumbar traction, one is strapped into a mechanical machine. A vest is used in helping to support ribs. In theory, traction is used in separating joints and disk spaces at the lower back and neck. This decreases spinal nerve pressure.

There can also be the use of laser and light therapy. Light therapies involve use of light at specific wavelength to help in improving healing process of tissues that are injured. It is painless treatment that lasts a maximum of three minutes. The therapist holds the light emitting wand directly over the injured part of the body before pressing a button to activate the light.

Massage is also an option. It involves using hands to knead injured tissues of the body and thus decrease pain and improve circulation. Muscle tension will also be decreased.




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