Hydrotherapy Can Help Provide Relief from Long Term Joint Pains

If you are suffering from long term joint pain or arthritis, try hydrotherapy. It has been proven to be beneficial regardless of how joints are affected. Hydrotherapy is routinely recommended for patients who have undergone joint replacement surgery as well as those with back pain, psoriatic arthritis, osteoarthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis, but it is also useful in other types of arthritis—and it’s certainly worth a try.

Understanding arthritis and how it affects you

Do you know what happens to your muscles and joints when you have arthritis? Understanding your condition is the first step to managing its effects. A physiotherapist can explain the problem to you in detail and prescribe a recovery program, which may include hydrotherapy.

Improving your fitness

Staying active is extremely important for people with arthritis. Are you afraid that exercising might cause further damage to your joints or increase your pain? Don’t worry—joints are designed for movement, and the tissues and muscles around them weaken if they are not used. Lack of exercise can cause your joints to ultimately become unstable and therefore reduce your range of movement, mobility, and independence. Hydrotherapy exercises can improve your fitness, keep your weight healthy, increase your general mobility and give you more confidence.

Hydrotherapy is ideal for seeking relief from long term joint pains because the exercises are done in a hydrotherapy pool filled with warm water. People who suffer from joint pains often find it much easier to perform exercises in a hydrotherapy pool. Like them, you might also find the warmth to be soothing. The water will support your weight, allowing you to move your muscles and joints without straining them.

What to expect during a hydrotherapy session

You might need to share the pool with other patients during your therapy, but exercises will likely be tailored to your specific needs. Sometimes, you’ll join group sessions with people who have similar conditions.

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Five Reasons Why You Should Consider Physiotherapy

Physiotherapy is a conservative treatment approach that is proven to be helpful for people who have injuries, illnesses, or medical conditions that limit their ability to move. This is why many primary care doctors refer their patients to physiotherapists at the first signs of a problem. A customised physiotherapy program can help you return to your prior level of functioning while teaching you the skills you need to prevent further injury and safeguard your overall wellbeing. Here are five ways it may benefit you: 

• Avoid surgery – If physiotherapy successfully eliminates your pain or heals your injury, then you may no longer need surgery. Even in cases when surgery is still required, pre-surgery physiotherapy makes you stronger and puts you in better shape so that you can recover faster afterwards. 

• Eliminate or at least reduce pain – Exercises and manual therapy (including soft tissue and joint mobilisation) combined with electrical stimulation, ultrasound, acupuncture and other such methods can relieve pain as well as restore joint functions. These therapies have also been proven to prevent pain from coming back.

• Improve mobility – Physiotherapy can greatly help you if you have trouble moving, walking, or standing—no matter how old you are. The strengthening and stretching exercises help recondition your body so that you can move independently. A therapist can customise an individual care plan that allows you to safely do the activities that are important to your life.

• Manage diabetes – Physiotherapy is a useful addition to an overall diabetes management plan because exercises can help keep your blood sugar under control. 

• Prevent falls – Are you at high risk for falls? A physiotherapist can design exercises that carefully and safely challenge your balance so that you can deal with real-life situations. These exercises may also improve your coordination assistive devices that you might require for safer walking.     

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Benefits of Sports Physiotherapy

Sports injuries can sideline you and put a damper not just on your athletic conditioning and training, but also in how you feel overall. If you want to get back on your feet as quickly as possible following an injury, it’s time to see a physiotherapist. Sports physiotherapy can help you recover quickly—and in many cases, completely. Below are just some of its many benefits:

Reduce swelling and pain – The most basic physiotherapy methods, including the application of hot and cold packs to injured areas, can relieve the immediate pain of an injury and allow the patient to do therapeutic exercises.

Regain flexibility and range of motion - More involved methods such as range of motion exercises, stretching, and strengthening movements help patients regain balance and strength. Some therapists also use ultrasound technology or shockwave therapy to speed up healing.

Personalised routines – A good physiotherapist will always take an individualised approach to treatment, ensuring that the treatment and exercise plan focuses on meeting the patient’s physical performance goals in a safe and controlled manner. The physiotherapist will ensure that you don’t push yourself too far and too fast so that your sports injuries don’t flare up—and to lessen your chances of acquiring new injuries.

Useful for other conditions - Sports physiotherapy is not just strictly used for sports. Its benefits extend to neurological disorders such as spinal cord injuries, stoke, cerebral palsy, and multiple sclerosis.

When left untreated, sports injuries may cause long term and even permanent damage to the body. Physiotherapy allows patients to return to the court, field, or ice with a body that has completely healed. Sports physiotherapy is a better alternative to trying to your own sports injury at home, without access to the knowledge and expertise of a professional. At the first sign of a sports injury, consult a team of licensed physiotherapists about how they can help accelerate your recovery. 

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Six Effective Physiotherapy Methods

Before heading to a physiotherapy clinic, you might find it useful to familiarise yourself with the most effective treatment methods used by physiotherapists for different ailments. Note that these are general assessments and should not be taken as professional medical advice.

1. Manual Therapy

Effective for: Most injuries

Physical therapists use hands-on approaches such as massage, stretching, and strengthening exercises to help a patient’s body re-learn proper mechanics and movement. Manual therapy is one of the primary methods to remove restrictions in movement and help patients move better overall. Manual therapy often forms the backbone of a physiotherapy plan.

2. Ice Therapy

Effective for: Injuries with swelling and inflammation

Ice constricts blood vessels after application. Cold therapy can reduce (and even prevent) swelling immediately following the injury. It can also leave the affected joint more mobile, thereby enhancing manual therapy.

3. Heat Therapy

Effective for: Injuries that involve tightness and muscular spasms

For injuries involving soft tissues like tendons, muscles, and ligaments, the application of heat can decrease pain while increasing mobility. Heat therapy makes tissues more pliable so that the therapist can stretch the area better. 

4. Ultrasound

Effective for: Connective tissue injuries

The use of sound waves that are undetectable to the human ear help a patient’s body generate from within, helping loosen up tissues to prepare for exercise and manual therapy.  Therapists use an ultrasound wand to apply sound waves safely and directly to the skin. 

5. Low-Level Laser

Effective for: Connective or muscular tissue injuries

This method involves the use of specific wavelengths of light in stimulating healing. Everything happens well below the skin, so the patient does not feel anything. Low-level laser treatment can reduce inflammation, pain, and muscle fatigue, allowing the therapist to manipulate the joint easier.

6. Traction

Effective for: Disc herniation

Traction involves separating the patient’s vertebrae to less compression on disc cartilage and give nerves more space. Many researches demonstrate that traction can reduce pain experienced by patients with herniated lumbar discs. It’s a viable choice for those who don’t want to undergo surgery.

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