Physical Therapy for Back, Shoulder and Knee Pain

Body pains especially neck, lower back, shoulder pain and knee pain are very common with more than 90% of all people experiencing such body aches at least once in their life time. Most structural related pains are associated with improper body posture such as excessive bending and seating postures that affect your neck and back.

There are diverse ways of treating structural aches including medication and in some extreme cases surgery. However, one of the more effective ways of dealing with these pains is physical therapy. Physical therapy entails both passive and active processes.

Passive Physical Therapy

Passive therapy, as opposed to active therapy are the processes that are done onto your body by a physiotherapy without involving exercising.

Massage

Deep tissue massaging is ideal for neck, back and shoulder pain relief as it applies sufficient pressure on tissues to relief pain and muscular tension. Massage is especially ideal for the simple conditions especially those associated with poor posture. However, to resolve the main cause of the condition, it is important to train the patient the right body postures to protect them from the re-occurrence of the conditions. If the pains are severe, massaging may not be ideal as it may cause further discomfort.

Heat Therapy

Heat therapy is very effective in treating aches since it helps relax muscles and allows for better blood circulation which in turn provides more oxygen and nutrients to the affected areas. Though heat therapy will not resolve the cause of the aches, it will help reduce it to manageable levels. Heat therapy is especially effective in resolving both back and shoulder pain.

Electric Muscle Therapy

Electric muscular therapy helps reduce muscular discomfort and body aches by reducing muscular tension. This therapy process also triggers the body to produce more endorphins that are used by the body to naturally relief pain. Electric therapy is mainly used for neck, hip and knee pain.

Hydro-therapy

Water is known to be a pain reliever and it simply helps muscles to relax as the water massages your body. Relaxing in a water bath helps in reducing structural discomfort especially back and shoulder pain. However, there are advanced hydro-therapy machines available with some physiotherapists to aid in relieving body aches.

Ultrasound

This is a physical therapy process that uses machine generated ultrasound waves to increase general body temperature and thereby allowing for better blood circulation. Improved blood circulation increases oxygen levels in the affected areas and therefore speeding the healing process.

Active Physical Therapy Treatment

Active therapy involves personal exercising of your body to relax muscles and improve blood circulation. These exercises may be used hand in hand with medication. However, in some more severe conditions, the victim may not be able to perform these exercises and therefore, other treatment processes may be used.

Abdomen Muscles Exercises

Abdominal muscles play a major part in maintaining body structure and stability. These muscles help support the back muscles that in turn help in supporting and protecting the spinal cord. Abdominal muscle exercise is therefore ideal for back and shoulder pain relief. These exercises include captain chair, bicycle maneuver, exercise ball crunch, vertical leg crunch and torso track exercise.

Muscle strengthening

Muscular strengthening exercises are exercises that work to build your muscular strength and thereby protecting your body structure from excessive strain and pressure in your daily chores. Furthermore, some structural pain conditions may be averted by the muscle strengthening processes.