Getting into a complex offering physical therapy can be a little daunting. You can see many unusual items around the treatment room, as well as more familiar sports equipment. If you are suffering from illness or injury, some things you see may make you feel a little nervous. If the therapist in this room is properly trained, you don't need to be nervous at all.

The first thing that will be done after the assessment and before the PT begins is to prepare for the area to be prepared. The heating pads are a good start and they actually feel very good. This warm-up will help your muscles and joints work better and reduce the likelihood of pain. At the end of your course, you may have an ice pack to reduce any inflammation caused by your workout. This is also very good.

Spa treatment may be recommended when the area in need of treatment is weight bearing. This makes it a “no impact” session and provides resistance to help build muscle faster. If this is the problem that the doctor thinks is best for you, it can also be used for non-bearing joint problems. [Don't worry, if you can't swim, most of these exercises are done in the shallow waters of the pool, they know about us who are afraid of a lot of water.]

You can expect some kind of monitoring during the PT. This type of monitoring is especially important if you are part of cardiac rehabilitation and may include clues to any rhythm problems and other abnormalities. For damage-related PTs, it may just be watching and listening to avoid further damage.

If you feel pain, stop and tell the therapist. You may have been told to take some medications half an hour before the start of the meeting. If not, please. The therapist may know that this can be painful, so you may get advance warnings and other instructions. Otherwise, this may indicate that your body is not ready for exercise.

This type of exercise usually has two main goals. One is to relieve pain and the other is to improve the range of motion. These are done through a series of exercises that gradually stretch the muscles, tendons and ligaments to near the original length and train the muscles to help the joints get the job done.

You may notice some stiffness during and after the practice. This is normal at the beginning, but it should be improved when you complete the course of your doctor's order. If you don't see enough improvements, you might get different types of PTs.

Looking forward to your muscles being exhausted. If you don't exercise your muscles any time before you start, they will take some time to meet their extra requirements. This is different from muscle pain, which is also possible.

PT is an important tool to help you recover from serious problems and resume normal day-to-day work. It is a good idea to talk to your doctor before, during and after completing the entire process. Then the doctor can fine-tune what you are doing so that you can achieve this commendable goal.

What to expect from physical therapy was originally published on Spring