Physical therapy, also known as physiotherapy, is a type of therapy/treatment for patients who have difficulty in moving around, doing daily tasks of living or have other physical impairments. PT helps the patients in moving better, improves their functioning, helps in relieving pain, restores their lost physical function, improves a patient's fitness level, balance and overall improves a patient's quality of life. The main aim of PT is to make the daily tasks of living easier for the patient, such as moving around, walking up or down the stairs etc.
Physical therapy also helps in restoring function, flexibility, stability, strength, range of motion after any trauma/accident/injury or surgery to a patient. Physical therapy often consists of an exercise program and is beneficial for chronic or long-term problems such as:
- Back pain.
- Problems with tendon or ligament.
- Osteoarthritis.
- Rheumatoid arthritis.
- COPD.
- Stenosis of the spinal canal.
- Multiple sclerosis.
- Parkinson's disease.
Physical therapy can be used in conjunction with other treatments or can be done alone.
We have given a brief overview on some PT exercises for some conditions. If you would like to know more about what physical therapy is and to read in detail about more PT topics, then please refer to our PHYSICAL THERAPY section on our left side menu.
Ankle sprain or twisted ankle is a commonly occurring injury in athletes and is the commonest cause for ankle pain. Stretching and/or tearing of ligaments/muscles of the ankle results in an ankle sprain. Physical therapy helps in making the healing process faster and to enable the patient to return to his/her daily activities of living sooner. The physical therapist will evaluate your ankle and the degree of the sprain and chalk out a specific treatment plan to follow, which may include ice/heat application, electrical stimulation and exercises to be done to speed up the recovery process, increase flexibility, strength etc. We have given detailed and easy to understand description of exercises to be done for ankle sprain which you can read under our PHYSICAL THERAPY section and under the topic "Physical Therapy for Sprained Ankle" on the left side menu.
Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS) is a condition where the patient experiences pain at the front side of the knee, also known as anterior knee pain. The common reason for patellofemoral pain syndrome is mal-tracking of the patella upon flexion and extension of the knee. What the physical therapist does is provide the patient with suitable exercises and rehabilitation program to relieve the patellofemoral pain. After pain relief, the next step in PT is to focus on enhancing the strength and mobility by doing strengthening & stretching exercises for the muscles. We have given some strengthening exercises such as quad set, straight leg raise, wall slide with ball; and stretching exercises, such as calf wall stretch, hamstring wall stretch and quadriceps stretch. To read more about them, please visit our topic "Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome Exercises & Physical Therapy" under the PHYSICAL THERAPY section on the left side menu.
Other Physical Therapy Topics Which are Covered in This Section:
- What is Physical Therapy?
- What is Laser Therapy?
- Performing Wrist Stretch, Ball Squeeze
- Lumbar Lordosis or Lumbar Swayback
- Physical Therapy for Back Pain
- 10 Best Physical Therapy (PT) Exercises for Fibromyalgia
- Physical Therapy Treatment For Cervical Spondylosis
- Physiotherapy Management for Neck Pain
