The goal of physical therapy is to restore a patient’s functionality, mobility, and strength. This treatment aims to prevent further damage to the area being treated and decreases or eliminates the need for treatments such as medicines, injections, and more. Through physical therapy, Richmond University Medical Center helps patients increase functionality and strength using individualized rehabilitation training, exercises, and treatments. Aside from increasing mobility and strength, physical therapy provides several other benefits that improve your overall health and well-being.
Reduce or Eliminate Pain
Therapeutic exercises and manual therapy techniques such as joint and soft tissue mobilization or treatments such as ultrasound, taping or electrical stimulation can help relieve pain and restore muscle and joint function to reduce pain. Such therapies can also prevent pain from returning.
Avoid Surgery
If physical therapy helps you eliminate pain or heal from an injury, surgery may not be needed. And even if surgery is required, you may benefit from pre-surgery physical therapy. If you are going into surgery stronger and in better shape, you will recover faster afterward in many cases. Also, by avoiding surgery, health care costs are reduced.
Improve Mobility
If you’re having trouble standing, walking, or moving, physical therapy can help. Stretching and strengthening exercises help restore your ability to move. Physical therapists can properly fit individuals with a cane, crutches, or any other assistive device, or assess for orthotic prescription. By customizing an individual care plan, whatever activity that is important to an individual’s life can be practiced and adapted to ensure maximal performance and safety.
Recover from a Stroke or Sports Injury
It is common to lose some degree of function and movement after a stroke. Physical therapy helps strengthen weakened parts of the body and improve gait and balance. Physical therapists can also improve stroke patients’ ability to transfer and move around in bed so that they can be more independent around the home and decrease the need for assistance when toileting, bathing, dressing, and performing other activities of daily living.
Meanwhile, physical therapists understand how different sports can increase your risk for specific types of injuries (such as stress fractures for distance runners). They can design appropriate recovery or prevention exercise programs for you to ensure a safe return to your sport.
Improve Your Balance & Prevent Falls
When you begin physical therapy, you will get screened for fall risk. If you are at high risk for falls, therapists will provide exercises that safely and carefully challenge your balance as a way to mimic real-life situations. Therapists also help you with exercises to improve coordination and assistive devices to help with safer walking. When the balance problem is caused by a problem in one’s vestibular system, physical therapists can perform specific maneuvers that can quickly restore proper vestibular functioning, and reduce and eliminate symptoms of dizziness or vertigo.
Physical Therapy Services in Staten Island, New York
The main purpose of physical therapy, of course, is to regain function and return to normal activity. However, a variety of benefits are offered by physical therapy, including decreased discomfort, enhanced function, increased range of motion, good posture, and more. Since 1937, Richmond University Medical Center has been providing patients in Staten Island with excellent physical therapy services getting them back to everyday life. RUMC operates a Comprehensive Outpatient Rehabilitation Center at 288 Kissel Avenue in Staten Island. You can contact the center at 718-818-3165. For more information on how physical therapy can help you, please contact us today.
