What Can a Physical Therapist in Coral Gables Do for You?

Physical therapists or PTs help out their patients when physical limitations keep them from moving and operating normally. These licensed professionals work with individuals that sustain disabilities, impairments, as well as limitations that negatively impact their overall physical function and mobility. These physical issues in movement can take place as a result of disease, injury, and illness. However, a physical therapist in Coral Gables may also help you to work towards mitigating and even preventing an injury from occurring in the first place.

You can find these specialists doing their work in a wide variety of settings. A PT may practice in private offices, clinics, hospitals, patient homes, and nursing facilities. Nonetheless, people that remain in dire need for physical therapy care in the South Florida area may not know where to begin looking for the best physical therapist in Coral Gables.

For this reason, our team from Progressive Therapy Center wants to share some information on physical therapists, including how they do what they do, and what to look for. Read on to learn more!

Physical Therapist Expertise

Therapeutic exercise represents the primary treatment most will receive when visiting a PT. A physical therapist in Coral Gables reflects a movement expert. Exercise is the primary tool that they employ to get you moving again. In most scenarios, movement is key to helping you move better, as well as feel better.

When you visit a physical therapy specialist for an issue related to pain or movement dysfunctions, they will additionally employ a variety of therapeutic modalities to help you reclaim normal, functional mobility and strength. 

The particular method that a physical therapist chooses will depend on your unique, individual condition, in addition to your needs and overall recovery goals. Some of these interventions will include:

Hot and Cold Treatment

Administering heat to afflicted areas will help you by increasing circulation to the injured tissues and ligaments. Heat additionally relaxes your muscles while offering pain relief.

However, PTs may also prescribe cold treatment as well. Applying cold can decrease temperatures in the tissues that may reduce inflammation. In turn, this can help you mitigate your pain and swelling.

Massage, Traction, and Joint Mobilization

Massage, also known as soft tissue therapy can help you to decrease tightness in muscles to treat chronic pain. This also affects restrictions in the surrounding tendons and ligaments. As a result, this method from a physical therapist in Coral Gables can provide pain-free movement.

Physical therapists may also apply traction to treat lower back and neck pain. Tractive force is the force a PT generates as a pulling force to treat muscle and skeletal disorders. This can decrease pain and pressure while increasing mobility in your spine.

Finally, joint mobilization works by a physical therapist passively moving the joints of your body in specific directions. With this motion, PTs can stretch and move tissues to treat muscle spasms, release tension, and improve overall flexibility in your joints.

Electrical Stimulation and TENS

Electrical stimulation and TENS rely on electrical current to cause a single muscle or group of muscles to contract. This method increases overall muscle strength while stimulating blood supply to areas that can promote healing.

TENS or Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation depends on a small, battery-operated machine that disperses electrical transmissions to help decrease pain. Pain is often the result of miscommunications or improper transmissions in the neuromusculoskeletal system. TENS attempts to alleviate and repair these transmissions, decreasing pain and malfunction as a result.

Information on a Physical Therapist in Coral Gables form Progressive Therapy Center

Getting Started with a physical therapist in Coral Gables isn’t difficult. However, you will want to find a caregiver or facility that does their best to develop a program while they work with you towards optimal recovery and rehabilitation.

If you suffer from an injury, illness, or another condition that causes you pain or prevents you from moving normally, visiting with a PT is a great idea. Choosing physical therapy care prior to medication administrations and surgery can actually alleviate the need for these elevated interventions. Physical therapy is typically a safe, value-packed mode of care for various afflictions.

Any relationship you establish and maintain with a physical therapist should feel like a therapeutic alliance. Both PT and patient should work together to help you move and feel better. To learn more about physical therapy care from our team at Progressive Therapy Center contact our caring and concerned PT team today!