What Are The Different Types Of Therapy Included In Physiotherapy?

​If you are suffering from niggling or chronic pain, then you are probably overdue for a physiotherapy consultation. At our clinics, we believe that any physical discomfort should be tackled immediately and effectively. Physiotherapy can act as the springboard for achieving greater physical fitness and health. Even while recovering from injury or surgery, it can still ease the path to a quick recovery. While physiotherapy is a broad term, it has some main branches. These include:

Sports Physiotherapy

This is what usually comes to mind when the term “physiotherapy” is mentioned. Most people ignorantly assume that only athletes require physiotherapy. These misconceptions are, however, not baseless as sports physiotherapy constitutes a significant number of cases of those that require the help of a physiotherapist. Sports and exercise physiotherapy entails the prevention and treatment of ailments and injuries sustained due to playing a sport or participation in athletics of any kind. While there is significant emphasis on enabling healing and quick recovery, sports and exercise physiotherapy can also assist physically uninjured individuals to augment their athletic performances and stamina. With advances and discoveries in sports medicine and other related fields, sports physiotherapy continues to develop and adopt new and improved ways of injury treatment. At Movement 101, we strive to keep up with the latest technologies and techniques in this field. Non-athletes involved in sports for recreational purposes can also enjoy the benefits of exercise physiotherapy. A typical sports physiotherapy session involves the diagnosis of pain, loss of function, and immobility. A physiotherapist can then institute a series of exercises designed to restore function and mobility. The nature and scope of what exercise physiotherapists do mean that they routinely consult and work closely with other professionals, including doctors and psychologists. For professional athletes, physical injury can have a devastating psychological effect. As such, such injured individuals may require professional counselling to complement the physical recovery programs. Our treatment includes exercise regimens to enable progress, even if such progress seems minimal at the start.

Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy

This branch of physiotherapy is often confused with sports physiotherapy. While they may overlap in some treatment options and techniques, they have some distinct characteristics. Musculoskeletal physiotherapy (also known as orthopaedic physiotherapy) focuses on re-establishing normal functioning of the musculoskeletal elements like ligaments, tendons, bones, among others. Unlike sports physiotherapy which focuses more on exercise-related injuries, orthopaedic physiotherapy also deals with disease conditions and injuries unrelated to sports. Muscular dystrophy, for example, is the progressive weakening and loss of muscles. This condition is brought about by a set of genetic disorders unrelated to sports injuries. Sufferers will gradually require the use of a wheelchair due to significantly reduced muscle strength. Orthopaedic physiotherapy helps to address this condition by instituting exercises designed to restore muscular strength. Patients may not recover complete physical strength but can experience significant improvements. Arthritis is another condition unrelated to sports that may require musculoskeletal physiotherapy. With physical recovery being the primary objective, a physiotherapist also helps build a coping mechanism as a secondary objective. These techniques can be crucial during this critical stage of recovery.

​Rehabilitation and Pain Management

A wide range of conditions and ailments can cause chronic pain. Patients exhibit debilitating discomfort that does not seem to abate. Osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, and neuropathic pain are some of the causes of such pain. Physical manipulation of the affected body part and manual therapy are common in such treatment regimes. More traditional “old school” methods also included electrophysical therapies like Microcurrent stimulation. It was thought that this type of physiotherapy could help to lessen physical pain by inducing the release of serotonin and dopamine. These chemicals are natural painkillers in the body. Microcurrent stimulation may discharge alpha waves into the brain to enable the release of these natural painkillers. Major surgery can result in severe pain. While drug therapies can usually do the trick, physiotherapy can also be useful for alleviating pain. Muscle weakness, a limited range of motion, and postural problems are some of the many issues patients may have to deal with after a surgical procedure. Exercise, manual therapy and cognitive functional therapy are some of the several ways in which a physiotherapist can help patients deal with chronic pain after surgery. Pain hypersensitivity can sometimes result in individuals after surgery. Relaxation therapies and a gradual introduction to certain sensory stimuli can help remedy this problem. Our physiotherapists can help create a pain management program tailored toward your specific physical needs.

Vestibular Rehabilitation

Restoration of body balance is the main objective of this type of physiotherapy. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and calcium deposits in the semicircular canal can cause body balance and eye movement issues. Genetic factors or other environmental conditions can also cause body balance issues. Physiotherapy aims to address such balance and eye coordination issues. Gaze stabilization is one such physiotherapy regimen. It involves gazing at a fixed object and moving your head. All this happens with your gaze fixed on the target. Varying the speed and intensity of head movements as directed by the physiotherapist can help to improve eye movements. Balance retraining and other positional body treatment options endeavor to remedy postural and balance issues. Conditions like Benign Positional Paroxysmal Vertigo (BPPV) can cause dizziness and affect normal positional maneuvers. Habituation exercises are also a crucial part of vestibular rehabilitation physiotherapy. These exercises can help combat dizziness by carefully introducing sufferers to the stimuli that induce such dizziness. The object is to retrain the brains of such individuals to acclimate to these seemingly harmful stimuli.

Neurological Physiotherapy

Every year millions of people fall victim to neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s disease, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, and spinal cord injuries. All such individuals need physiotherapy to mitigate some of the debilitating effects of these conditions. A series of therapeutic sessions can help strengthen weak muscles. Victims of spinal cord injury resulting from accidents can equally benefit from such therapies by regaining some range of motion to the affected limbs. In reality, physiotherapy can benefit all of us regardless of our injuries or physical difficulties caused by disease. We should take our physical health seriously by ensuring exercises that can help keep our musculature in good condition. To learn more, visit https://www.movement101.com.au/

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