Physical therapy is essential for most forms of back and neck pain treatment. Exercise, stretching and physical therapy are all integral to treating and managing pain or providing rehabilitation after an accident or surgery. Physical therapy and exercise are certainly the most used, non-surgical procedures for back and neck pain so today we are sharing how to integrate physical therapy and exercise into your life to bring pain relief and recovery.
Find the Right Help
Your personal situation will require an individual approach and that should always start with your doctor. You doctor will be able to talk through your problem area, suggest the best physical therapy and exercise and may even be able to talk you through new technological advancements and therapy documentation software that may aid your recovery. So start by talking things through with your doctor and taking the next steps from there. Your doctor will be able to help you develop an appropriate list of activities to get involved with and which ones to avoid as well as helping you develop an effective exercise programme. They will also be able to point you in the right direction of other health care professionals such as, physical therapists, chiropractors and rehabilitation physicians.
Start Slow
Starting a new exercise regime must be approached slowly and patiently. If you are in a lot of pain then the thought of physical therapy and exercise can be very daunting. Therefore you may want to try massage therapy, heat (or cold) therapy and electric stimulation to reduce the pain before you start with any physical movements. Trying these techniques and finding what works best for you should go some way in providing enough pain relief to help you progress to an active exercise programme.
Get the Support you Need
It is very easy for family and friends to misunderstand what needs to be done in order to heal back and neck problems. The common tendency seems to be to advise suffers to refrain from physical activity and to spend time lying down and relaxing. It is common for people to encourage you to rest if they see that you are struggling with the exercise, which will work against you when it comes to staying strong and motivated. Therefore it is really important that you speak to your family and friends about this from the beginning. Explain that the best course of treatment is exercise and physical rehabilitation and that although it is going to be tough at first it is going to get easier and is essential for recovery.
Physical Movement
Active exercise is essential in order to keep the back strong and healthy and to help heal any existing problems. Some of the muscles in the back automatically stay strong through subtle, everyday use, whilst some are more redundant and tend to weaken with age. Therefore it is essential to be working through exercises that use all the back muscles through a range of stretching, strengthening and low impact aerobic exercise.
