Many people who have some sort of injury or accident have to undergo physical therapy. This is when you learn how to do certain physical task that you might have lost with the injury. In addition to learning new skills, you will be strengthening the muscles and working out your body. Physical therapy can be very challenging for some individuals. Here are a couple things to remember during your physical therapy.
1. The Basics Are What Will Give You The Most Results
During your therapy sessions your therapist might ask you to do very basic things. It might seem frustrating at the beginning that you are paying someone to have you do just simple tasks. But as you will find, these simple tasks are going to be what help you heal the fastest.
If you are asked to do the exercises at home, make sure you are respectful and try to do as much as your therapist asks you. It is by repetition of those simple tasks that you will graduate the quickly from therapy.
2. It Will Hurt
Sadly, physical therapy generally hurts. This doesn't mean that it should be so painful that you are brought to tears. If this is the case than your therapist is working you too hard and you need to let them know that the pain level is not normal. However, there should be discomfort.
As you work through the pain and build the muscles again, the therapy will get easier. You should expect to feel sore after a therapy session and while you work on your own at home. If the pain makes you feel horrible throughout the day, ask your therapist for a massage, painkillers, or a way to help ease the pain after your sessions.
3. The Exercises Will Be Hard To Complete
After an injury you might find that you are unable to do normal things. For instance, you might not be able to walk across the room without help. When you are initially asked to do these exercises you might think that there is no way that you can do what your therapist asks or that it is hopeless.
Don't give up hope and trust your therapist. They know how to push your body so that you can get the results that you need. If you go in there with the mindset that therapy will be hard, but worth it, you will be able to achieve your goals
These are just a couple things you should know before entering physical therapy.
Share19 February 2015
My name is Katie Langer. For a long time, I was bed ridden and I felt like I had no control over my life. I simply went along with what was instructed by my doctor and I didn't ask questions. It wasn't that my doctor wasn't willing to work with me, but I preferred to simply not think about the illness I was suffering from. I didn't realize that some of the symptoms I was suffering from were side effects of my medication and were not normal. After communicating more with my doctor, I was able to alleviate my symptoms. Since then, I've taken an interest in patient-doctor relationships and how to improve them.
