Physical Therapy

A trained sports physical therapist can help restore full or partial functionality of injured muscles and bones. Sports men and women are susceptible to various forms of physical injuries during games or even practice. Treatments involving heat, water, or massage can help restore injured muscles and bones. Depending on the extent of your injury or disease, a trained physical therapist can use one or more physical therapy methods to help you recover. 

Types of Physical Therapy

Mechanical Manipulation

This method combines various forms of physical therapy including massage and medication. Massaging injured muscles and bones and subjecting them to certain movements helps to increase blood flow to the injured parts. Increased blood flow to the injured parts of the body help to promote healing. This type of sports therapy is often used on athletes who have injured their knees. Mechanical manipulation helps to strengthen muscles, improve mobility, and eliminate pain. In addition, exercises such as weigt lifting involving light weights and water therapy enables injured atheletes to gain full or partial control of injured mucles and joints. 

Cold Therapy

Some injuries may be accompanied with internal or external bleeding. Stopping the bleeding helps to reduce swelling and reddening of the injured parts. To expedite healing, press an ice pack on the injured area or take a cold shower. This not only helps to relieve the pain, but it also slows down blood flow to the injured area. This process helps to reduce oxygen flow to the injured area hence preserves muscle cells.

Heat Therapy

In case your injury comes with an active swelling, consider going for heat therapy within 24 to 48 hours after the injury. Unlike cold therapy, heat therapy effectively increases blood flow to the injured area and helps to reduce muscle spasms. Increased blood flow supplies more oxygen to the injured tissue and helps to remove dead cells from the injured area. Depending on the seriousness of the swelling, heat can be applied to the injury using moist heat packs, hot water, conversion, diathermy or, ultrasound.

Electrical stimulation

This is a common sports therapy for people who are likely to lose muscle tone because they are confined to a wheelchair or bed. Their muscles become smaller and weaker because of immobility. To prevent loss of muscle tone, a sports therapist can use electrical stimulation to exercise injured, immobile muscles.