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Physiotherapy and Sports Rehabilitation.
The Difference.
Physiotherapists facilitate individuals stricken by in an injury, illness or disability, through movement and exercise, manual therapy, education, and advice. They maintain health for people of all ages, helping patients to manage pain and prevent diseases. To put it in simple terms, a physiotherapist acts as a mechanic for the human body. They help to in gradual development and facilitate recovery, enabling people to perform and enjoy their chosen sport, work, and uncomplicated daily life.
On the other hand, Sports experts understand that some patients often want to return to recreational or competitive sports. The main focus at the Sports Rehabilitation Center is to help patients return to their previous level of activity by the quickest and safest means possible. A sports therapist, who is qualified to provide specific sports rehabilitation, has studied physical therapy and exercise treatment that is specifically applicable to athletes and sports professionals.
Where physical therapy caters for rehabilitation, alleviating pain, and return to everyday life, sports therapy aims to help those with special physical demands regain full health and resume activities requiring high-level performance.
Physiotherapy – A Drug-Free Approach
At the core is the patient’s involvement in their care through education, awareness, and empowerment in their treatment. Physiotherapy is a treatment that believes in physical rather than chemical methods. It includes physical movement, exercise, massage, heat therapy, and electrotherapy. Physiotherapists offer services directly to the patients, but can also work with referrals from orthopedic surgeons and doctors. Hospitals often work with physiotherapists for rehabilitation of patients from strokes, recovery of muscles after surgery, car accidents, and many other chronic diseases.
Assessment plays an important role in the initial sessions. This involves several movement questions on health history as well as observations on the same. It is followed by comprehensive analysis, such as x-rays or MRI.
The physiotherapist will discuss a treatment plan with the patient in the next session, and begin the treatment. As we all know, one show doesn’t fit all. Hence the progress of treatment is hard to assess as it can vary from person to person. So a basic outline, methods, and aims are discussed and followed by a session where acute treatment is provided for patients with chronic and severe illnesses, with the aim of immediate pain relief or restored function.
Rehabilitation is the next chapter in this treatment, designed to return full function. It is mostly based on exercises, some of them as simple as Pilates or yoga.
Physiotherapy is a very collaborative form of treatment, where the patient will be a part of the process every step of the way.
Sports Rehabilitation – A Therapeutic Approach For Athletes
Sports Rehabilitation is a multi-disciplinary approach to prevention, evaluation, and treatment of specific sports-related injuries. During sport-specific rehabilitation, patients are introduced to an exercise progression that goes on the far side of commonplace weight coaching. To assist patients back to their pre-injury level of activity, the professionals closely monitor progress and incorporate a stepwise progression of activities. As strength and a full range of motion are achieved, patients are given exercises that incorporate balance and proprioception.
The stages of sports rehabilitation treatment are often low impact exercises such as walking or stretching, followed by kinetic chain exercises and higher impact exercises such as running, the next physical stage focuses on sports specific exercises. Finally, prevention strategies are reviewed.
The Verdict
Now let’s take a look at more services at Dunn Clinic.
If you’re in a dilemma about choosing your first Massage, let us put you to ease. What follows is a list of massage options along with their benefits for you to choose what suits you the best.
Deep Tissue Sports Massage
Myofascial Release Technique
Lymphatic Massage
Hot Stone and Cupping Techniques
Deep Tissue Massage
Trigger point Massage
Shiatsu
Sports Massage Reflexology
Chiropractic Care
So, what’s the alternative, you ask? Chiropractic care for pain relief. We understand that most of our readers don’t come from a medical background, so here’s a guide to everything you need to know about Chiropractic –
What Is Chiropractic?
Does Chiropractic have a history?
The word ‘chiropractic’ comes from the Greek words cheir (meaning ‘hand’) and praxis (meaning ‘done’), i.e. Done by Hand. The name was chosen by the developer of the treatment, Daniel David Palmer.
Palmer had practiced phrenology and magnetic healing and had undergone osteopathic training. Palmer performed the initial chiropractic adjustment in September 1895. He examined a janitor, Harvey Lillard, who had become deaf 17 years prior after he felt something “pop” in his back. Palmer examined this and found a sore lump which he believed was a spinal misalignment and a possible cause of Lillard’s poor hearing. He restored the hearing of janitor Harvey Lillard and concluded that the spine was the key to health and disease. Following the primary adjustment, many people became interested in Palmer’s new science and healing art.
What exactly do chiropractors do?
Chiropractors follow a drug-free approach to health care. This treatment includes patient examination, diagnosis, and treatment. When working on a patient, these experts look for blockages that are affecting the spinal joints. The limitation to this misplacement or blockage does not just limit to the spinal cord but can affect any joint — such as wrists, hips, feet, knees or even ribs. The proper alignment of the body’s musculoskeletal structure is then taken care of, that will enable the body to heal itself without surgery or medication. This process can also be referred to as ‘manipulation’. This restores mobility to joints that were formerly restricted by tissue injury caused by a traumatic event, such as falling, or repetitive stress, such as sitting without proper back support. Hence, used as a pain relief alternative for muscles, joints, bones, and connective tissue, such as cartilage, ligaments, and tendons.
What to expect when you visit a Chiropractor?
On your first visit, your chiropractor may assess you through clinical examination, laboratory testing, diagnostic imaging, and other diagnostic interventions to determine when chiropractic treatment is appropriate or when it is not. Your chiropractor may also do some tests, such as taking x-rays. These tests would look for problems that might be adding to your back pain. Chiropractors can refer patients to the appropriate health care provider if chiropractic care isn’t suitable for the patient’s condition, or when the condition requires the treatment to be parallel with other health care service.
The following visit will jumpstart the treatment where – You may be asked to lie on a specially designed table, where the chiropractor would perform the spinal manipulations.
The most common treatment is manipulation done by hand. It involves moving a joint in your spine, followed by a light-weight thrust. This is called an “adjustment.” It basically realigns the bones of your spine.
The chiropractor may also do other treatments, like massage or perform other exercises on soft tissues.
Is There A Post Treatment Care?
Although a huge part of this treatment is – rehabilitation, because let’s face it, you can’t normalize a joint with one treatment. During this, patients are taught how to move correctly and how to activate muscles. As there’s a tendency for muscles to go back into spasms because they’re still trying to protect the joint, there needs to be a focus on the strengthening part, experts say.