Seven Conditions You Didn't Know Could Be Treated By Physical Therapist.

Physiotherapists don’t only diagnose and provide rehabilitation for your pain and injuries, but also provide education and advice on how to best manage your pain, the prognosis of your specific injury (how long it will take to recover), and also help to prevent future occurrences of injuries.

Physical therapists are movement specialists who treat a number of medical conditions, some of which may surprise you.

Here are seven conditions you might not be aware physiotherapy can help resolve:

1 – Chronic Back pain:

Back pain or sciatica can be due to a number of different factors, and it may not even be the back itself that is the real culprit behind your pain. Whilst X-rays and other imaging can be used to try and find the source of your back pain, mostly they can show normal signs of aging and can be totally unrelated to your pain. With up to 30% of 20-year-olds and up to 85% of 80-year-olds showing spinal disc degeneration and bulges even though they have no pain or symptoms.

Pain in the lower back is extremely common, however, physiotherapists are able to use detailed physical examinations to not only identify what structures are affected but also find what other factors have contributed to the onset of pain (eg, poor upper back or hip mobility, weak hip muscles, poor movement patterns, etc) and treat these factors to both alleviate your pain and help retrain your movement patterns to prevent it from coming back in the future.

2- Jaw pain/TMD :

Jaw pain, commonly referred to as “TMJ,” is more accurately referred to as “TMD,” which stands for “temporomandibular disorder,” a disorder of the jaw. TMD can cause varying degrees of pain. Some individuals experience slight pain, others moderate, and others severe. TMD can cause a popping or clicking sound and sensation in the jaw joint, and can even cause the jaw joint to seize up. One of the most common causes of TMD is teeth grinding, which often stems from stress.

Physiotherapy can actually treat TMD… While many people reach for pain relievers for their jaw pain, sometimes the best thing to do is reach out to a physiotherapist. “Physiotherapy treatment is very effective in relieving and managing TMD, even when the symptoms are long-standing and severe. With appropriate physiotherapy, most patients will see a significant improvement in their symptoms within a short time.

3- Childhood Obesity:

Pediatric physiotherapists are playing an increasingly important role in combating childhood obesity. This condition affects more than a third of children and adolescents in the United States.

Pediatric physical therapists typically collaborate with other specialists, such as dieticians and nutritionists, at healthy weight clinics in pediatric hospitals. These clinics are dedicated to changing behaviors that lead to weight gain. One of those behaviors strongly associated with obesity is a lack of physical activity.

Pediatric physical therapists bring a unique skill set for treating childhood obesity. They’re trained in child development, they know how to modify treatment plans to accommodate a child’s developmental needs, and they make sure to involve the family in the child’s treatment.

4- Pelvic pain/pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD) :

Pelvic pain can drastically reduce your quality of life. It is often caused by pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD), and 1 in 5 people will experience PFD at some time or another. In women, pelvic floor dysfunction often starts with pregnancy and childbirth and can cause pain with intercourse. For both women and men, it can cause constipation, interstitial cystitis (IC), lower back pain, stool or urine leakage, a high urinary frequency, and more.

Many issues associated with pelvic floor dysfunction and pain can be treated with targeted exercises and stretches.

However, many people don’t know that physiotherapy is an effective treatment for PFD.

Physiotherapists with experience treating pelvic issues can find the root cause of the problems patients are facing and can work with them to resolve PFD. Those experiencing pelvic floor dysfunction should strongly consider physiotherapy treatment.

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5– Arthritis and Osteoarthritis:

Arthritis is a very common condition, particularly among older people, causing pain, stiffness, and inflammation of the joints. Arthritis is a big contributor to pain and disability in those affected, significantly impacting quality of life. Whilst currently not curable, there is lots of research supporting the use of tailored exercise programs to strengthen the muscles around the affected joints and improve mobility to ease symptoms, and have a protective effect to decrease the rate of degeneration.

Physiotherapists can not only help you return to walking and climbing stairs more easily but can also aid you to return to sports and activities that you enjoy that will keep you living and feeling young!

6- Vertigo :

Vertigo makes it nearly impossible to do daily tasks, and it takes the fun out of life. Some people think that medications are the only treatment for vertigo, but this isn’t the case. Physiotherapy can also treat vertigo.

Vertigo is often caused by an inner ear disturbance. The inner ears are responsible for our sense of balance and groundedness, and an inner ear dysfunction can trigger vertigo.

Physiotherapists specifically trained to assess and treat vestibular problems are highly skilled at treating vertigo caused by vestibular problems. Research demonstrates vestibular rehabilitation improves balance, decreases dizziness/vertigo symptoms and increases general activity levels

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7 – Sporting injuries :

Whether you are a professional athlete or a weekend warrior, injuries are common amongst all levels of the sport. Don’t let those injuries or persistent niggles get in the way of you achieving your goals or doing what you love to do!

No matter if your goal is to return to performing at your best, or just to get back out on the field enjoying time with friends, early intervention from a physiotherapist within a few days of the injury can ensure more rapid pain relief and a quicker return to activity. Not only that, but physiotherapists also look away from the injury to address the factors that may have contributed to it in the first place, giving you the tools to help prevent injuring yourself again in the future.

You don’t have to let pain take control of you!

If you would like to come in for an assessment with our team and experience for yourself how beneficial it can be to work with a physiotherapist, kindly visit our website www.bluetreeclinics.com to start your recovery process as quickly as possible and so that you can then get back to living young and healthy.