Improving Movement and Much More
Professional physical therapy is a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialty that remediates impairments and provides mobility, function and quality of life through examination, diagnosis, prognosis and physical intervention. Specific exercises, manual therapy, mechanical devices and physical agent modalities are used. There are many sub-specialists within physical therapy (PT).
Physical Therapy Specialists
At GSC Therapy Services, our PT staff provides services at our outpatient physical therapy clinics and at assisted living communities. Physical therapists treat conditions such as back pain, any joint or muscle injury, sports injuries, work injuries, foot and ankle injuries and neurological conditions such as CVA, MS, Parkinson’s.
Outpatient Physical Therapy Clinic Goals
Our goals consist of both short-term treatments to relieve pain and restore function and longer term goals including walking, return to sports or pro-sports physical therapy, strengthening and general function.
Unknown to most, physical therapy, especially outpatient physical therapy, is one of the most vital and essential branches of medicine.
People usually see it as merely connected to sports or in regards to rehabilitating injured individuals. But basically, what is Physical Therapy? Let’s get an in depth look at Physical Therapy, its different branches and its huge contribution in the field of medicine.
Overview of Physical Therapy
Physical therapy or otherwise known as Physiotherapy, aim to rehabilitate or treat several illnesses or injuries that hinder a person from moving freely or perform functional activities in their lives.
Professionals in this field are referred to as Physical therapists (PT) or Rehabilitative Scientists. PTs basically look into a patient’s health history as well as do essential examinations to come up with a diagnosis and eventually generate a management plan to help treat the patient’s condition. Oftentimes integrating their examinations with results from laboratory examinations and radiologic tests, PTs produce an accurate diagnosis of the patient’s state of health.
The management plan usually includes administering of manual therapy and manipulation as well as aiding in the performance of vital exercises or workout routines. PTs also employ the principle and function of heat, sound waves, radiation, electricity, prostheses, orthoses to help normalize or treat specific injuries from patients.
PTs make use of a holistic approach when it comes to preventing loss of mobility or reversing damage of injuries by administering fitness and wellness-oriented programs to lead patients to live a healthier and more active lifestyle. With this, even after treatment, patients can maintain a good routine that will allow them to get the best of their functional movement throughout their life. In physical therapy, especially outpatient physical therapy, functional movement is of their utmost concern. Without free movement and with only limited mobility, an individual is not considered healthy.
In addition to rehabilitative health, outpatient physical therapy also deals with non-patient roles such as health policy, health care administration and even health insurance. The scope of physical therapy even encompasses that of the medical-legal field wherein it contributes in the assessment of cases by the performance of medical examinations.
Specialty areas of Physical Therapy
As mentioned, the scope of physical therapy is huge. Because of this, a lot of sub branches exist in the field of physical therapy. According to American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties, there are nine known specialties in Physical Therapy.
Physical therapists in each specialty area undergo intensive training from accredited organizations and schools. The training usually lasts to a total of 2,000 hours of lecture and actual hands on training. The following that will be mentioned are the approved specialty areas of Physical therapy.