What Are the Two Types of Physical Therapy?

Physical therapy is a type of rehabilitation that helps patients regain movement and function after an injury or surgery. There are two main types of physical therapy: rehabilitative and restorative. Rehabilitative physical therapy in Wichitais designed to help you regain movement and strength after an injury or surgery.

Restorative Physical Therapy by Phoenix helps improve your quality of life by increasing mobility and independence. Both types of therapy can be very beneficial, so it is essential to understand their differences.

What Is Rehabilitative Physical Therapy?

Rehabilitative physical therapy is designed to help patients recover from injuries and regain their strength and mobility. This type of physical therapy can be used to treat a wide variety of injuries, including sports injuries, work-related injuries, and car accident injuries. Rehabilitative physical therapy can also treat arthritis, back pain, and stroke.

Some types of rehabilitative physical therapy exercises include:

• Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation: This physical therapy helps patients recover from heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiovascular conditions. Patients will work with a physical therapist in Wichita to improve their cardiovascular fitness and reduce their risk of future heart problems.
• Strength Training: It involves building the muscles to enable one to withstand future injuries. It is done through weightlifting and other exercises that strain the muscles.
• Range of Motion Exercises: These exercises are typically used to restore movement to a joint that has been injured or surgery. It includes moving the joint through its full range of motion and stretching the surrounding muscles.
• Balance Training: Patients with a stroke or vestibular disorder often have difficulty with balance. Physical therapists in Wichita can help these patients by working on their proprioception, which is the ability to sense where your limbs are in space. Balance training exercises often involve standing on one leg or walking heel-to-toe.

What Is Restorative Physical Therapy?

When you think of physical therapy, you might think of someone undergoing intense exercises to rehab an injury. However, there is another type of physical therapy focused on restoring function and quality of life: restorative physical therapy.

Restorative physical therapy can benefit those who have experienced a decline in function due to a chronic condition, such as arthritis, stroke, or Parkinson’s disease. This therapy aims to help people regain as much function and independence as possible.

Some forms of restorative physical therapy include:

• Gait Training: When someone has difficulty walking, gait training can help them regain the ability to walk correctly and with more confidence. This therapy often includes using assistive devices, such as canes or walkers.
• Manual Therapy: Manual therapy is a hands-on approach that can help to reduce pain and improve the range of motion. This therapy includes techniques such as massage, joint mobilization, and stretching.
• Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES): Functional electrical stimulation (FES) is a type of physical therapy that uses electrical stimulation to help improve the function of muscles and nerves. FES can be used to help people with conditions such as stroke, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, and spinal cord injury.

Call Physical Therapy by Phoenix for the best services. Our team of experts will help you with the right type of therapy you need.