Five Reasons to Seek Physical Therapy When You Aren’t Injured

By Brian Acton

Physical therapy is commonly thought of as a method for recovering from a serious injury. But there are other reasons to see a physical therapist other than recovering or building up strength after an injury. In fact, you can use it to improve your overall health and manage everyday conditions in many ways.

Here are five reasons to seek physical therapy when you aren’t injured.

1. To Prevent Future Injuries

Whether you’re an elite athlete, a weekend warrior, or you just want to go about your everyday activities, physical therapy can help you prevent future injuries. Training, stretching, and muscle strengthening exercises can help people avoid injury in their everyday lives, and physical therapists can even help evaluate or diagnose potential issues before they lead to injuries or serious health conditions.

Physical therapists can put together an injury prevention program to help you avoid future problems, especially if you’ve been hurt in the past and you’re looking to prevent specific injuries moving forward.

2. To Reduce Common Pains

Physical therapy can do more than relieve the temporary pain from knee injuries, broken bones, and other extreme accidents. It can also be used to alleviate every day, recurring pain - from chronic headaches and pinched nerves to joint pain resulting from arthritis and more. Unlike prescription medication, physical therapy focuses on long term pain reduction as opposed to short term solutions (though certain methods such as massage may provide fast relief).

3. To Improve Athletic Performance

Whether you regularly engage in intense exercise or you just want to tend your garden in warmer months, physical therapy can help you improve many aspects of physical performance including mobility, strength, and even balance.

4. To Manage an Existing Health Condition

Common health conditions including diabetes, osteoarthritis, and autoimmune diseases all have symptoms that physical therapy can help to manage. Physical therapy can help improve mobility, reduce pain, and convey other benefits that can help you manage your existing health issues. You may want to speak with your doctor about the potential benefits of physical therapy for your situation.

5. To Avoid Taking Medications

Prescription pain medication is commonly provided to patients with recurring pain (which may or may not be attributed to a specific injury). But studies have shown that physical therapy is a viable alternative to pain meds; one study found that adults with lower back pain who consulted a physical therapist were 89% less likely to receive an opioid prescription than adults who sought care from another type of medical provider.

If you’re looking to avoid (or reduce your reliance upon) prescription medication, physical therapy may be able to help. 

Sources:

https://healthcare.utah.edu/healthfeed/postings/2016/11/pain_relief.php
https://www.health.harvard.edu/pain/early-therapy-helps-people-with-low-back-pain-avoid-medication
https://lifesworkpt.com/2018/02/physical-therapy-for-headaches/
https://www.moveforwardpt.com/Resources/Detail/7-myths-about-physical-therapy
https://news.umiamihealth.org/en/can-physical-therapy-help-me-avoid-surgery/
https://sportscarephysicaltherapy.com/preventing-treating-sports-injuries/
https://www.webmd.com/pain-management/physical-therapy