People around the world suffer from injuries each day that restricts their ability to move freely and take care of themselves. For many of these people, physical therapy for injuries can help speed their recovery and return to their usual activities. There are three reasons physical therapy may be needed after an injury.
The first is that as the injury heals, scar tissue may form that restricts mobility and reduces the strength of the muscle and tendons. Scar tissue pulls muscles and tendons tight, like a rubber band that cannot stretch. Depending on what muscles are affected and where the scar tissue is this can interfere with raising an arm, opening or closing fingers, or walking. Stretching and massage are the most common physical therapy techniques to reduce scar tissue so that mobility can be restored.
The second reason is that during recovery from an injury, a patient is often unable to stay active. Lack of use can cause the muscles to atrophy, making them weak. Physical therapy treats this effect of injury with exercises designed to strength the specific muscles that have been weakened.
Lastly, a severe injury may cause damage to the nerves or spine. Physical therapy can both reduce the severity of this damage, and can help a patient find ways to adapt and work around restrictions caused by nerve damage. Sometimes, if nerve damage has broken a pathway in the body’s nervous system, frequent repetition can restore that damaged pathway and return function to that part of the body. More often, exercises to strength undamaged parts of the body can allow a person to compensate for the injury, for instance strengthening a non-dominant hand when a dominant hand has been injured; or a physical therapist can work with an occupational therapist to help a patient learn new ways of managing daily tasks, such as learning to tie shoes or eat one handed.
What kind of injuries does physical therapy treat?
Physical therapy can help recovery from almost any injury. However, most strains and sprains are mild enough that a person can recover without any assistance from a physical therapist. Physical therapy is most often used in sports injuries, injuries that require several weeks of immobility (like broken bones), and severe injuries that include muscle tears or detached ligaments.
