Stiffness in the neck and shoulders, backache in the waist, swelling in the joints... Do you want to have a physical therapy

Physiotherapy has existed since ancient times.

Many ancient books contain records of physical therapies such as hot springs, massage, acupuncture, and magnetic therapy to prevent or treat diseases.

With the deepening of understanding and the development of medical technology, the research and development of medical physiotherapy equipment has also begun to develop and popularize in a blowout manner. However, various types of physical therapy instruments on the market are mixed, with both good and bad.

How to scientifically view the efficacy of physical therapy?

How to choose the appropriate physical therapy methods and instruments?

What is physical therapy?

The term "physiotherapy" in this article refers to physical factor therapy, which uses various physical factors such as electricity, light, sound, water, magnetism, and temperature to treat diseases and promote the rehabilitation of patients. It belongs to the field of rehabilitation medicine.

What is the effect of physical therapy?

Physical stimuli such as electricity, heat, and vibration can excite nerve muscles, exercise skeletal muscles, promote local blood circulation and lymphatic reflux, reduce swelling, relieve pain, soften scars, and promote tissue fluid absorption.

Common physical therapy methods include electrotherapy, phototherapy, ultrasound therapy, magnetic therapy, cryotherapy, hydrotherapy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and so on.

So, do you think there are many methods and functions of physical therapy?

In fact, physical therapy is one of the means to promote rehabilitation, and its role is affected by a series of factors such as individual differences in patients, the severity of the disease, whether the rehabilitation time is timely, and whether the rehabilitation plan is reasonable.

We still need to learn more.

What conditions require physical therapy?

"Usually, we feel uncomfortable in our lumbar spine and cervical spine, sprained our ankle, twisted our waist, and suffered joint pain. We often think of going for physical therapy, which is sometimes recommended by doctors. Looking at the market, there are many types of home physiotherapy devices.".

That's right! Many diseases, such as cervical and lumbar spondylopathy, muscle strain, arthritis, can alleviate pain and improve quality of life through standardized rehabilitation physiotherapy.

However, it is also necessary to correctly recognize the limitations of physical therapy, which cannot completely replace the diagnosis, necessary medication, and functional exercise of specialized physicians.

Some joint swelling and pain can be alleviated through physical therapy, but if inflammation and pain occur due to infection, antibiotics or hormones should also be used.

Physical therapy or manual massage can be tried for lumbar muscle strain, but strength training for the lumbar and back muscles is also even more important.

Physiotherapy should be symptomatic. If it is not symptomatic, it can lead to no therapeutic effect, delayed treatment opportunities, or aggravated illness.

Physical therapy also has corresponding contraindications.

For example:

Electrotherapy has a certain degree of treatment or relief for diseases such as muscle strain, neuralgia, and periarthritis of the shoulder. However, in cases of heart failure, implantation of a pacemaker, acute eczema, and local metal foreign bodies, electrotherapy cannot be used.

Phototherapy is also contraindicated for bleeding tendencies, high fever, active pulmonary tuberculosis, and malignant tumors.

Therefore, physical therapy is not available to everyone or any disease at will.

Advice on physical therapy?

The advice for you from Health Headlines (WeChat: Baojiandaifu) is:

1. For physical therapy, go to the rehabilitation physical therapy department of a regular hospital or a rehabilitation center;

If you need a home physiotherapy instrument, it is best to consult a physiotherapist;

If you choose home physiotherapy, you should also listen to the advice of professional physiotherapists and ask them to assist in developing a home physiotherapy plan;

4. Do not blindly follow the physical therapy experience of people around you or online, follow the guidance of doctors, and do not arbitrarily change the physical therapy plan and method;

When purchasing physical therapy equipment, do not only focus on advertising or manufacturer promotion, but ask professional physical therapy physicians more;

Physical therapy instruments and equipment should be used in strict accordance with the operating instructions to avoid accidental injuries caused by non compliant operations.

In a word, the principles to be followed in physical therapy are professional advice, symptomatic treatment, systematic treatment, and rational understanding.

In fact, exercise therapy and manual therapy are also part of physical therapy in rehabilitation medicine, and they are also important components in the treatment of certain diseases. We will discuss both in a later article.

If there are any further questions about physical therapy, friends are welcome to leave a message in the comment area and tell us that we will prepare more targeted content!