Talk to your health care provider about physical therapy and the role it could play in your overall health and wellness.
If you’ve been injured or had surgery, you may have been prescribed physical therapy as part of your recovery plan. But did you know physical therapy can also help treat chronic pain, respiratory illness, and neurological diseases?
Learn more about physical therapy, its benefits, and the many conditions it’s used to treat.
What Is Physical Therapy?
Physical therapy is a combination of exercises, stretches and movements that help increase strength, flexibility, and mobility to allow you to move more safely and confidently. It can be part of a generalized pain management plan, a specific treatment for an injury or health condition, an important part of a surgical recovery, or a way to improve your ability to complete daily tasks and prevent future injuries.
Physical therapy may include a combination of the following:
- Exercises and certain movements you do yourself (the physical therapist shows you how to do the exercises and then you practice them on your own time)
- Guided, passive movements that the therapist does for you (helping you move your body in a certain way, maybe to unlock a stiff joint, for example)
- Stretching
- Strength training
- Pressure such as manual therapy and massage
- Treatments based on physical stimuli such as heat therapy like warm baths, cold therapy like applying cold packs or cold air, electric nerve stimulation, ultrasound, and more.
What you do and how long you do it will depend on the symptoms and specific problems you’re trying to address. Your personal preferences and overall level of fitness will play a role as well. Sometimes you may do physical therapy for a few weeks; other times you can be prescribed therapy for months or years to help you manage long-term conditions.
Physical therapy can be done in both inpatient and outpatient settings, such as within physical therapy practices, hospitals, rehab centers, and nursing homes.
What Can Physical Therapy Treat?
Physical therapy can be used to treat a wide variety of health issues, including:
- Back pain, neck pain, knee pain, and hip pain
- Sports injuries
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Osteoarthritis
- Problems caused by wear-and-tear or injuries of the muscles, tendons or joints, like ACL or rotator cuff tears
- Pelvic floor problems such as incontinence or pain
- Concussions
- Spinal cord injuries
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Cardiovascular disease and stroke
- Respiratory diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s or multiple sclerosis
- Limb amputation (adjusting to the loss of a limb and how to function without it)
What Are the Benefits of Physical Therapy?
Because physical therapy is used to treat a wide range of health issues, the benefits vary, but can include:
- Relieving pain, either acute or chronic
- Rehabilitating after long-term medical problems, surgery or injury
- Improving mobility and coordination
- Strengthening weakened muscles
- Enabling patients to do more on their own, gaining independence
- Improving or restoring the functioning of the body or the ability to move normally
- Improving metabolism and the circulation of blood
- Compensating for physical disabilities – for example, strengthening the left arm if the right arm can’t move due to paralysis
Why Is Physical Therapy Important?
For many people, physical therapy begins at a hospital after surgery or within a therapy practice with a prescription from your health care provider. But most times, patients are supposed to continue the exercises and movements at home on a regular basis. Too often, however, patients end up quitting or not following through on their physical therapy assignments.
It’s easy to feel frustrated when you don’t see big results right away, and it may feel like it’s not challenging enough or worth continuing. Others may get discouraged when they see how difficult or exhausting certain aspects of physical therapy can be. It’s true, physical therapy can be a slow and difficult process. But if you stick with it, many people see their strength, flexibility and mobility improve.
Be sure to engage with your physical therapist and ask questions to understand the reason you’re being asked to do certain exercises. Make sure the goals you have are realistic, but also challenging. Understand the therapist’s plan and how to adhere to it for the best results.
What Resources Are Available for Veterans?
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides physical therapy services to Veterans and service members.
- In 2023, physical therapists treated more than 829,000 unique patients within VA, for a total of approximately 3.68 million sessions. Physical therapists examine patients and develop a treatment plan aimed at reducing pain, promoting wellness, restoring quality of life and improving function and independence.
- Veterans can receive same-day physical therapy in 194 VA facilities across the country, with physical therapists embedded in primary care teams. Earlier involvement with physical therapists has shown a reduced need for opioids, an improvement in symptoms and better satisfaction among patients.
- The Veterans Health Library provides a physical therapy information page filled with exercises and stretches you can do to rehab after limb loss, shoulder injuries, knee problems and more.
Talk to your health care provider about physical therapy and the role it could play in your overall health and wellness.