Exercises have been proven to be an extremely important modality in the management of many musculoskeletal conditions. A detailed and personalized program developed by a physiotherapist will help target the right goals and prevent injuries. It should include different types of exercises geared towards the impairments observed in your specific condition.
Physiotherapy exercises are used to increase circulation, decrease muscle spasms, improve muscle strength and activation, and restore your body to its natural state of functioning properly.
Considering Surgery: Types and Benefits of Anesthesia.(Opens in a new browser tab)
The physiotherapist plans the exercises according to the condition of the patient. They start by listening to the problem of the patient, check the past and present medical history, examine the patient properly, and then make a provisional diagnosis. According to this provisional diagnosis, they plan a treatment procedure.
Below are some of the most common types of physiotherapy exercises:
1- Resistance exercises:
These are exercises that are performed with some type of resistance. The resistance can be from a variety of things such as gravity, weights, or elastic bands. Your body responds to stress placed on it, and when you make your muscles do something that they are not used to doing they respond by getting stronger. As we get older, if we no longer challenge our muscles by not exercising or if we are performing only the same activities day in and day out, our muscles adapt to this and no longer grow, and more likely will get weaker. So if you sit at a computer desk all day then it is likely your muscles are getting weaker.
2- The stretching Exercises:
These exercises are done in order to improve flexibility. The goal is to pull away from the origin and insertion of the muscle in question in order to stretch it. In order for these exercises to be effective, it is important to align the segments of the body involved by correcting the compensations. It is also important to exhale well to help the muscle relax and thus minimize its resistance. The stretching positions are maintained for a long time and for a small number of repetitions.
3- Strengthening Exercises:
It improves strength, endurance, or muscle power. They can be addressed to two different types of muscles: mobilizing muscles or stabilizers. Reinforcement can be done without a load (hands-free) or using dumbbells, elastic bands, pulley systems, your own body weight, etc.
4- Functional Exercises:
Functional activities are specific physiotherapy exercises that are prescribed to practice an everyday life movement which is difficult after your injury. If indicated, the physiotherapist may ask you to practice a specific movement that you perform at work, at home, or in your sport.
5- Balance and Neuromuscular Exercises:
This form of exercise helps your nerves and muscles to communicate better. They are used to help prevent falls in the elderly or help improve knee stability in an athlete, among other things. An injury disrupts the communication between your muscles and nerves, limiting your body from appropriately responding. If you have ever sustained a joint injury and then felt very unstable afterward, that could be the reason. We explain to patients that it’s as if a person were to flip a light switch in a large room full of lights. With an injury you decrease the communication between the switch and those lights so that when you flip that switch, only a third of them turn on, another third just flicker, and the last third remain dark. Neuromuscular exercises help to improve this connection so when you flip the switch, all the lights, or muscle fibers, turn on.
Five Common Orthopedic Problems Elderly People Experience.
Conclusively, Exercises are a very important part of life. One should do regular exercises under proper guidance. Take all the safety measures. Increase the intensity of these exercises under the proper guidance of a physiotherapist.
Here at Blue Tree Clinics, Our professional Physical Therapist will educate you on how to perform the different types of exercises in physiotherapy and also ensure that progression is done properly.