Physical rehabilitation treatments are designed to help you get back to normal. The umbrella of physical rehabilitation can encompass things like physical therapy exercises as well as therapeutic massage, occupational therapy, and more. Here are some situations in which physical rehabilitation treatments may be needed.
1. You've Been on Bed Rest
One use for physical rehabilitation treatments is to help retrain muscles that have lost muscle strength due to disuse. This is common when you've had a severe injury, illness, or other medical event that caused you to need bed rest. Bed rest keeps you from exercising normally, which can be necessary in some conditions but can also reduce muscle mass.
Physical rehabilitation treatments such as physical therapy can help you to start using your muscles and joints again in a healthy way once you're off bed rest. Since too much or too little activity after bed rest can be detrimental, rehabilitation guided by a medical professional is critical here.
2. You've Had a Surgery
Surgical treatments can be lifesaving but often require treatments to help you heal thoroughly. For example, abdominal surgery could cause a lot of scar tissue to form, which could cause tightness and pain, especially if the scar tissue forms adhesions that cause internal organs to stick to each other (causing chronic pain and, less often, serious complications).
Physical rehabilitation therapies such as myofascial release and scar tissue mobilization may be needed to treat scar tissue.
3. An Injury Has Compromised Functionality
One example of an injury that can cut down on your muscle mass and cause you to need physical rehabilitation is a broken leg. If your leg is broken and placed in a cast, you won't be able to use the leg muscles the way you usually do until it's healed and the cast is removed.
Since this takes weeks and weeks, the leg muscles may need therapy to get back to normal. This type of immobilization can result in considerable loss of muscle mass, as well as weakening the muscle and lowering the percentage of muscle fiber compared to fat in the muscle.
4. You Have a Chronic Condition Such as Osteoarthritis
Often, a chronic illness such as osteoarthritis may not require a hospital stay but may still require physical rehabilitation treatments such as physical therapy. Physical therapy can help you to better manage your arthritis and may help to reduce overall pain, as well as teaching you strategies for treating pain (such as using heat therapy).
These are just some of the reasons you could find yourself in need of physical rehabilitation. For more information about physical rehabilitation treatments, talk to your doctor today.
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