Modern life is often chaotic. With so much to fit into the limited hours of each day, seeing a physiotherapist may well be the last thing on your mind. But for many people who struggle with constant aches and pains, even if you’ve become good at ignoring them, a course of physio may be just what you need. Physiotherapy is the study of the human body, focusing on anatomy and rehabilitation of movement when someone has been affected by injury, illness or disability.
In this post, we will take a look at three common signs that you could benefit from seeing a physiotherapist.
Restricted movement
If you’re experiencing any sort of stiffness or finding it more challenging to move around as easily as you’d like, physiotherapy can help you restore some mobility. By using specific movements, a physical therapist can stretch your muscles and ligaments, helping to relieve tension. Over a series of treatments, you’ll start to feel an increase in your flexibility.
Your body is good at healing itself. But sometimes, especially if we didn’t seek treatment after the injury, the body can heal in ways that cause chronic discomfort and restrict our movement. A licensed physiotherapist can assess the root cause of your stiffness and create a personalised treatment plan to improve both your range of motion and your comfort.
Constant pain in one area
As we get older, it’s normal to feel that our bodies aren’t working quite as well as they used to, but if you notice a certain area is giving you grief consistently – it’s time to get it looked at. Did you know that the average person sits for 13 hours a day? Unsurprisingly, desk workers are regularly plagued with chronic pain in their necks and backs. Poor posture and lack of frequent movement all contribute to overstretched spinal ligaments and strained spinal discs.
Physiotherapy can help to strengthen your core, a powerful tool in relieving pressure off the spine. It will also help you to identify where you can improve your ergonomics to avoid falling back into poor habits that damage your body. One of the best things about physiotherapy is that it teaches vital lessons on looking after your body that you can continue to practise long after your treatment is completed.
Loss of balance
Balance is an essential part of our daily lives, and it’s something we often take for granted. But when you feel unbalanced, vertigo, dizziness and nausea can make even the simplest of tasks unmanageable. Our sense of balance is regulated by the vestibular system, which is a series of several structures which take information from our eyes, ears, muscles and joints to provide our brains with information about where we are in space.
Certain illnesses and injuries such as inner ear problems or musculoskeletal conditions can disrupt this delicate system, and physiotherapy is a key part of restoring proper functionality and movement. Vestibular rehabilitation physiotherapy can be used to relieve symptoms and restore confidence in those struggling with their balance, and physical treatments can support the body in adjusting to any changes in the vestibular organs.
