Physical therapy is a treatment used to aid in the recovery of various conditions and injuries. It uses different forms of passive mobilization, facilitated stretching, therapeutic massages, electrotherapy, ultrasound therapy, and targeted exercises to help muscle imbalance re-education aimed at a full recovery to prevent further injury and pain.
All body parts can be treated with physical therapy. Every case is different, and some patients may feel there isn’t progress. This isn’t true, as physical therapy often has minor improvements that are not immediately noticed. For significant injuries, it can take numerous months before treatment ends. Many patients might be under the impression that it may not be worth the time needed.
Today we’ll review how long physical therapy lasts and when to know your body is ready to stop.
What does Physical Therapy Treat?
As previously stated, physical therapy can aid in the recovery of nearly every body part and injury to a certain extent. For example, after a bone breaks, it needs to remain immobilized in a cast while the bone heals. After the bone is repaired, you’ll need to strengthen the muscle around it to not re-injure the healed bone. Other conditions physical therapy can treat include:
- Muscle sprains
- Muscle tears
- Tendonitis
- Bone Fractures
- Post Surgery Recovery
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
As well as several other conditions. When recovering from injuries, physical therapy is one of the most common forms of treatment, often avoiding surgery altogether. Though some situations may still require surgery, physical therapy can help you develop supporting muscles to help with post-surgery recovery. After surgeries, physical therapy is used to help reduce swelling and inflammation caused by the surgery. Some patients fear that physical therapy can cause more pain, which is generally untrue as physical therapy is designed with your current conditions in mind.
How Long Does Physical Therapy Last?
There’s no exact metric for this. Physical therapy can take months to recover fully. Every patient will have a unique program based on strengths and weaknesses to help their specific condition. Other factors include lifestyle, physical condition, age, and mindset.
Although there is no accurate number for calculating how long your physical therapy treatment will take, there are general time frames you can consider. Minor injuries can be treated with as little as 2 or 3 sessions. Injuries in the tendons and muscles may take 1 to 2 months. At the same time, chronic conditions and serious injuries can take much longer. For example, patients who undergo ACL reconstruction surgery may be required to do physical therapy for up to 6 months before regaining the full range of motion needed to relieve knee pain and strengthen the joint.
Post Treatment
Once you’ve recovered and reached the end of your physical therapy program, your therapist will give you additional instructions for using what you learned during the sessions in your day-to-day life. However, no longer part of physical therapy itself. Some of these instructions are meant for you to keep strengthening the injury and ways to ease back into activities that put some strain on the treated area. This can include stretches, exercises, and rules to avoid pain and re-injuring yourself.
Take the Next Step In Improving Your Health by Contacting SOHMA Integrative Medicine
Our goal is to help you improve your health. You can reach out to us and ask about the Myers Cocktail, IV Therapy, Chiropractic care, or how our other health service lines can help you with your journey to improved health.
Located in Long Beach, CA, we help individuals from the surrounding cities.
We look forward to helping you take the next step in your journey to better health.
