7 Telltale Signs It’s Time to See a Physical Therapist

Physical therapy (PT) is a medical treatment that helps your body regain strength and flexibility, especially after a traumatic event, such as an accident or a stroke. You could also benefit from a physical therapist’s services due to:

• Trauma 
• Surgery
• Head injury
• Arthritis
• Sprains and strains
• Chronic health conditions, such as cerebral palsy

Treatment in physical therapy aims at healing your body through supportive interventions that help you function better. Modalities include everything from massage to acupuncture to cold-laser therapy.

At Advanced Medical Care, we also encourage you to pay attention to your body’s signals. Symptoms you’re experiencing, such as the following, could indicate that you would benefit from physical therapy with our team.

1. You have balance problems

Whether you’re recovering from a stroke, you’ve suffered a traumatic brain injury, or you’re simply aging, if you have balance problems, you can benefit from PT. Balance involves the muscles in your feet, legs, and core, as well as your eyes and your brain. If you tend to lose your balance, you’re at increased risk for immobilizing or potentially fatal falls and fractures.

You may benefit from a specific type of PT called vestibular rehabilitation therapy (VRT). Your PT assigns you exercises that help improve your balance and also reduces dizziness.

2. You’re in pain

Pain is always a signal that something isn’t right in your body. You can benefit from PT whether your pain is from an acute injury or a chronic problem. Pain conditions that respond to PT include:

• Back or neck pain
• Knee or hip pain
• Sprains and strains
• Arthritis
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Sports injuries

Part of PT pain treatment encompasses prevention, too. Your therapist may suggest new ways of moving or different approaches to vary repetitive tasks so you don’t reinjure yourself or exacerbate a current injury.

3. You have trouble moving

Whether you’re recovering from surgery, stroke, or an injury, you may have difficulty moving one or more of your body parts. This can make accomplishing even the most mundane of daily tasks challenging or even impossible.

Your provider works to increase circulation in the injured or compromised area. This may include therapies such as massage, ultrasound, or heat therapy. Then, they help you regain strength and flexibility.

They also help you learn to walk again after surgery or an injury. If you need a walker, crutches, or cane, they train you on how best to use your assistive device.

4. You’ve been immobilized

After a long period of immobility due to surgery, an accident, or a medical condition, your muscles atrophy. PT helps your muscles regain their strength and also their flexibility so you can be more mobile. Your provider also helps you use and, when appropriate, wean off of assistive devices.

5. You have a recurrent injury

Joint pain or conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome may be caused by repetitive motions that you use in your job or avocation. If you’ve injured yourself in the past — such as by spraining your ankle — you may be more susceptible to reinjury than someone who’s never suffered a sprain.

Your physical therapist focuses their attention on the muscles, ligaments, and tendons that support the injured area. They also evaluate the motions you must use and make modifications so that you’re less likely to suffer the same injury again and again.

6. You’re incontinent

If you have trouble controlling urinary or fecal leakage, your pelvic floor muscles may be weak. PT that focuses on the pelvic floor muscles trains you how to use them properly so they support rather than stress your pelvic floor. 

7. You want to improve your athletic performance

You don’t have to wait for an injury to benefit from PT. Whether you’re a professional athlete or sports are just your passion, if you want to perform at as high a level as possible — while staying safe — PT can help you do that.

Is your body telling you that you need physical therapy? Trust the experienced providers at Advanced Medical Care and take advantage of our state-of-the-art equipment to help you improve function and mobility. Contact us today in Queens and Brooklyn, New York.