Rehabilitation or ‘rehab’ is one of the more common applications for physical therapy. Rehabilitation is the use of medical treatment to speed recovery from injury or disease so a patient can return to normal life.
Physical therapy for rehabilitation is most commonly used for muscle injuries and bone breaks, but can also be part of recovery from strokes, heart attacks or other traumatic medical conditions.
The focus of rehab physical therapy is to restore mobility, strength and fitness, which are often reduced or lost after a injury or medical crisis such as heart attack or stroke. Like all physical therapy, rehabilitation physical therapy will include treatment goals set by the therapist and patient. Often, these goals are specific increases; for instance a stroke victim who has lost mobility in her arm, may have a goal first of being able to raise the arm to shoulder level, then a new goal of trying to raise the arm past shoulder level.
Each area of physical therapy rehabilitation will use different techniques and tools. Rehabilitation for mobility will often include many stretches, both active (the patient stretching their muscles) and passive (the patient resting while the therapist stretches the muscles). Rebuilding strength uses many exercises. Mobility work will often use a combination of exercises and stretching. Of course, physical therapists have many other tools and practices to aid in rehabilitation as well.
The effectiveness of physical therapy for rehabilitation varies depending on how quickly physical therapy is started and what is being treated. Rehab physical therapy for a stroke must start as soon as possible, or it won’t be nearly as effective. On the other hand, physical therapy to rehabilitate from a broken bone needs to wait until the bone is fully healed, and is mostly to help the muscles recover from the long period they spend doing nothing while the bone heals.
