When you are recuperating from a sports injury, your doctor will tell you to do a lot of things. One of the things they may recommend is that you go to physical therapy. Here are some reasons why your doctor may want you to go to physical therapy to help with your injury.
Pain Control
One reason is that you can get some pain control while you are seeing your physical therapy. That's because the therapist is going to help you learn ways that you can manage the pain from the injury by learning new ways to move so that you rest the area while it's healing. The physical therapist can also teach you how to use a TENS unit as well as the right way to ice and heat your injury. Both of these things will help it heal better and not hurt as much. A TENS unit has little pads that you stick on your skin and then gives you a very mild electrical current that runs through your muscles, which can help with pain control.
Strengthening Muscles
Another reason why your doctor may recommend physical therapy is that the therapist can teach you a series of exercises that will help you strengthen the muscles in the injured and surrounding areas. Strengthening those muscles can help keep the injury from recurring in the future. It will also help to make sure that the injury will heal better and help you feel better in general. Regaining muscle strength is a major part of physical therapy and can help you get better.
Range of Motion
Range of motion is how much you can move your joints or your limb. If you get injured, your range of motion can be limited because of the injury or because of the pain of the injury. When you go to physical therapy, the therapist will help you figure out what your current range of motion is and then create a plan that will help you get as much of that range back when you are done with the treatment plan from your doctor.
If you have gotten injured while you were out playing a sport, then your doctor might send you to a physical therapist so that they can help you with your injury. There are several reasons why your doctor will do this, and they will all help you. Contact a physical therapy service for more information.