Athletes regularly seek the advice of an experienced physiotherapist to assist with their training efforts. Physiotherapists play a critical role in the performance and care of athletes. The only question is, how can physiotherapists be of benefit to the general population?
To have a good idea about when you need to see a physiotherapist, you should first be aware of the kinds of services that this important professional offers. Here, The Good Physio explains.
Injury Prevention
Athletes are usually well in-tune with their physiotherapists, but a physiotherapist may be unfamiliar to the rest of us. Physiotherapists are professionals that specialise in the prevention of injuries, which refers to the process of adjusting posture, form, as well as moving patterns to help reduce the risk of injury or re-injury.
If you are an individual who’s prone to injuries, it can be a good idea to seek out a physiotherapist to reduce your risk of injury within the shortest time possible. Doing this will help save you a lot of money, pain, as well as time off work.
Posture Improvement
The reasons you could be having nagging injuries that pop up here or there might be many, but your posture is probably one of the most important components if you want to avoid nagging pains.
Your posture might not necessarily be something that you usually pay close attention to throughout your working day, but if injuries or pain in your legs, neck, and back start appearing, then your posture could be the culprit.
Alleviating Generalised Pain
In some instances, your pain isn’t caused by a specific injury. Widespread, generalised pain can be linked with conditions such as hypermobility or fibromyalgia as well as numerous other systemic rheumatological diseases. Fortunately, there’s much that a physiotherapist can do to help ease the pain.
Flexibility and Stretching
If you usually sit at a desk all day at your place of work, you might assume that stretching isn’t important since you aren’t active, but sitting for extended periods may cause tightness in the lower back as well as hamstring muscle groups.
Regularly getting up, moving, and performing some simple stretches can make a difference when it comes to work-related aches and pains. Using activity to break your sitting is also important for your overall state of health.
Healing from a Complicated Surgical Procedure
One of the lesser-known services provided by a physiotherapist is healing from complicated surgeries. You might find yourself unable to exercise or be active for quite some time. This can result in a loss of physical fitness and muscle weakness, which can make it harder to resume your regular activities.
Disease Management
You could be diagnosed with a disease in numerous scenarios where the only option provided by the doctor is using medication to manage the disease. Heart disease, type 2 diabetes and osteoarthritis are all conditions whereby adults are required to manage the condition as opposed to “fixing” the disease.
Management of a Physical Limitation
People are often born with conditions that cause limitations. The limitations are sometimes created as you age, through injuries, car accidents and even new onset of debilitating diseases.
Recovery from Knee or Hip Replacements
If there’s ever a reason to see a physiotherapist, then this is perhaps the best one. Physiotherapists regularly work with clients who have been through a knee or hip replacement surgery. There are two key things that a physiotherapist can do in such instances.
Receiving Real-Time Feedback on Muscular Usage and Movement
The services can help anybody from an older adult who’s suffering from back pain to an athlete who’s returning to a particular sport and wants to enhance his/her performance in one way or another.
With the feedback, the physiotherapist can identify certain “weaker” spots throughout the body to promote recovery and improve your athletic performance or recovery.
Post-Partum Exercise Conditioning
Having a baby is an incredibly stressful situation for the body and the woman’s body is subjected to numerous bodily changes during the duration of the pregnancy.
Seeing a physiotherapist is safer than seeing a personal trainer since the former has a better understanding of the effects of pregnancy on the muscles, joints, and ligaments as well as what’s appropriate in the early months after delivery.