Why At-Home Physical Therapy is Important

 There are a plethora of reasons why a person might have to have physical therapy. One might be recovering from illness, surgery, or injury.  Sometimes you need to go into the physical therapist's office, but exercises should also be done at home.  Everyone knows that physical activity is good for the body, but it can be hard to get up and move when one doesn’t feel like moving.  Many physical therapy exercises are easy and done with minimal effort, space, and equipment. 

Anyone who suffers from joint pain knows that performing the simplest of daily tasks, such as folding laundry or even picking up a mug of coffee, can cause severe pain. Doing some physical therapy exercises at home can help relieve joint pain. The more you do the exercises, the better your joints will feel. Eventually, most, if not all, of the pain will cease or significantly lessen. Arthritis exercises can also help improve the range of motion in the joints, prevent further damage, keep bone and cartilage strong, increase endurance, and improve flexibility. 

It is crucial to keep on moving. More pain is caused when you keep a joint still and in the same position for an extended length of time. Getting up and moving around by doing everyday activities like dishes or walking to the bathroom can help prevent the stiffness that comes with joint pain. As you sit and watch TV or read a book, you can move your joints in circles to help ease discomfort.

Depending on your body and the issues you have, there are some low-impact exercises you can do outside of your home but still as part of your home physical therapy. Riding a bike is an excellent exercise to increase mobility, relieve pain, and improve overall health. Swimming is another low-impact physical therapy exercise that almost everyone can do. The water helps to release some of the pressure that normal walking, standing, or sitting causes on the joints. Scheduling these activities a few times a week can have a significant impact on how your body feels.

Keeping up with a doctor's physical therapy regimen might also prevent having surgery. Many times you can work out the issues with area-specific exercises. The more you do these, the better. However, there will be times that surgery does become necessary. Still, keeping up with the exercises beforehand strengthens the affected area, making healing happen faster after surgery than if you do not exercise. 

Some problems make surgery necessary, such as arthritis and osteoporosis. While surgery may be needed, the recovery can be more pleasant and faster when followed up with physical therapy exercises. These exercises are straightforward and require no special equipment. For example, one exercise following wrist surgery might include entwining the fingers together and using the healthy hand to slightly push back the affected wrist. Walking, sitting, standing, and walking up the stairs, can be helpful after knee and ankle surgeries.

Recovery from a sports injury, accident, and surgery can happen a lot faster when physical therapy is involved. Sports injuries happen to people of all ages and in all sorts of sports. These injuries can be minor or more severe, requiring surgery. For minor injuries, sometimes physical therapy is all that is necessary. Doing that physical therapy at home as prescribed can mean the difference between surgery and a longer recovery or quicker and much less invasive healing. Car accidents can leave people not only with a smashed car but a smashed body that aches from head to toe even though there were no outward injuries. Checking with a physical therapist, such as Alex Klurfeld, who can give you specific exercises focused on your area of pain, can be extremely helpful. Physical therapy after surgery works the same. It speeds up the healing process and builds up any weakened muscles instead of allowing them to atrophy.

Improved balance and stability, especially for those getting older, benefit from using specific physical therapy exercises. Balance is a motor skill that can be practiced and improved. Patients who have had a stroke often have trouble with balance since a stroke usually affects one side of the body, leaving it somewhat paralyzed. This paralysis is sometimes temporary and, with consistent physical therapy, can improve immensely or even be completely healed. 

While physical therapy exercises can help improve injuries or healing from surgeries, they can also provide health benefits like weight loss, diabetes and blood pressure management, and overall well-being. An increase in movement can help with increased blood flow to the extremities. People who have diabetes often have difficulties with their feet. Physical therapy combined with a proper diet can help tremendously in preventing further issues.

If you're having trouble moving, make sure to follow through with the physical therapy exercises that doctors, such as Alex Klurfeld, give you. This deterioration in movement can come from several reasons. There could be health issues that cause a lack of mobility. Arthritis and inflammation in the joints can deter everyday movement, but daily physical therapy can alleviate some discomfort and allow for more expansive movement. 

There are a couple of other things you can do to help make your at-home physical therapy even more beneficial. Before doing any of the more strenuous exercises, make sure to stretch first. This will help prevent further damage or injury. If you are walking or doing any activities that require standing, make sure to wear comfortable shoes that fit well and offer plenty of support. If you experience minor discomfort, you can take an over-the-counter pain reliever – just make sure it doesn't interact with any other medications you might be taking. You can also relieve minor discomfort caused by at-home physical therapy by using a heating pad on the affected area. 

When doing any of these physical therapy exercises at home, start slow. It's a good idea to have someone present to help if necessary and to prevent falls, especially when starting. Alternate your exercises to include strength training, flexibility, and balance to get the greatest benefits. Having a chair handy when working on balancing exercises can help prevent falls as well. If you experience worse pain, decreased range of motion, excessive exhaustion, or swelling (particularly in the joints), you might want to stop all physical therapy exercises and contact your doctor.

Being consistent at home with the physical therapy exercises assigned by your physical therapist can help to improve all areas of your life. Remember, if your physical therapist gives you exercises you can do at home, do them as often as possible for faster healing and pain-free living.

Many people, especially those with underlying health issues, are trying to stay home as much as possible in today's world. Doing specific physical therapy exercises at home will improve your health overall and relieve a lot of the daily pain. As always, if you ever have any questions about in-the-office physical therapy or at-home physical therapy, don't be afraid to contact physical therapist Alex Klurfeld to get all the answers you need.

•  10 reasons why physical therapy is beneficial. Burke Rehabilitation Hospital. (2015, October 20). Retrieved October 6, 2021, from https://www.burke.org/blog/2015/10/10-reasons-why-physical-therapy-is-beneficial/58. 
• Brett Sears, P. T. (2021, September 23). Balance physical therapy: Exercises, equipment, and more. Verywell Health. Retrieved October 6, 2021, from https://www.verywellhealth.com/exercises-to-improve-balance-4013215. 
• Bruce, D. F. (n.d.). Heat and cold therapy for arthritis pain. WebMD. Retrieved October 6, 2021, from https://www.webmd.com/arthritis/heat-and-cold-therapy-for-arthritis-pain.