Use it or lose it…
Physical therapy is part of the process of re-learning how to function after an injury, illness, or period of inactivity. If muscles are not used, they can shorten and tighten, making joint motion painful.
What a Physical Therapist Does
A physical therapist treats a patient to relieve pain and help develop and restore muscle function. The therapist helps an individual maintain maximum performance through active and passive exercise, massage, heat, water, and electricity.
A physical therapist:
- Shows how to use special equipment
- Instructs in routine daily functions
- Teaches safe ways to move
- Sets up and teaches an exercise program
Depending on a person’s physical condition, a therapist may work on Range-of-Motion exercises, correct body positions when resting, suggest devices to help stroke patients, and find other simple ways to improve daily functions.
A physical therapist also checks the things that can affect a person’s daily activities, such as:
- His attitude toward his situation.
- How well he can move his muscles and joints (range of motion).
- His ability to see, smell, hear, and feel.
- What he can do on his own and what he needs to learn.
- His equipment needs, now and later.
- What can be improved in the home to make moving around safer and more comfortable.
- Who can and will be available for support.
Range-of-Motion Exercises
The purpose of Range-of-Motion exercises is to relieve pain, maintain normal body alignment, help prevent skin swelling and breakdown, and promote bone formation. A ROM exercise program should be started before deformities develop.
When you are asked to help with exercises at home:
Take each movement only as far as the joint will go into a comfortable stretch. (Mild discomfort is okay, but it should go away quickly.)
- Communicate what you are doing.
- Use the flats of both hands, not the fingertips, to hold a body part.
- Do each exercise 3–5 times.
- Use slow steady movements to help relax muscles and increase joint range.
- If joints are swollen and painful, exercise very gently.
Comfort Keepers provides in-home care to seniors and the elderly living in Ocala, Gainesville, and The Villages, Florida. We provide superior in-home care to seniors and the elderly throughout Central Florida so they can live enriched independent lifestyles! Call us today at 855-592-0013.
photo credit: roger_mommaerts
