Physical Therapy
Team Effort Helps Get You Back in Action

When an illness or injury sidelines you from your normal activities, you know that a health professional can often help you recover.

Expert Guidance
Physical therapists work with people who, because of an injury or illness, have experienced a change or loss in their ability to function physically. Therapists work to improve your strength, mobility, coordination, balance, endurance and/or flexibility to increase your overall level of functioning. A physical therapist can guide you through a range of treatments and exercises designed to decrease pain, help you recover lost abilities and prevent re-injury.

In addition to an individually planned exercise program, physical therapists may use massage, heat, electrical stimulation, hydrotherapy, ultrasound, magnetic fields, manual manipulation and other tools to help restore function.

It’s All About You
Whether you suffer from back or neck pain, are recovering from a stroke, have a sports injury or are learning to live with arthritis, physical therapy may help you live a healthier and more fulfilling lifestyle. These tips can help you get the most from your physical therapy program:

Keep your appointments. Staying on schedule with your physical therapy program will help you build on your improvements and minimize setbacks.

Follow safety guidelines. Your physical therapist will take your physical limitations into consideration when designing an exercise program. And although pushing yourself a little bit can help you make progress, overdoing it or doing something unsafely could do more harm than good.

Do your exercises. It’s important to do them correctly, the way your physical therapist showed you. Using incorrect form could lead to other problems. Be sure to stick to the scheduled number of repetitions. If you are using weights, use the suggested amount of weight so that you continue to make progress.

Set meaningful and realistic goals. You and your physical therapist should work together to decide on reasonable goals. Reaching goals and developing new ones can help you stay motivated – measuring progress can be very rewarding.

Provide feedback to your physical therapist. If you’re having problems with pain, or one particular exercise isn’t working for you, let your physical therapist know. He or she may be able to recommend another approach to achieve the same results.