When it comes to eliminating pain, first things first.
When we as therapists are helping patients with pain, we make it a point to assess the entire region of an injury. One of the primary things we are looking for is movement problems. Faulty movement patterns can involve stiffness, limited muscle control, or both.
Out of the gate, treatment of tissue stiffness (mobility) takes precedence over treatment of motor control/muscle strength limitations. This stiffness can be located within or around your joints and your muscles. When you restore your body’s ability to move through its normal range of movement, you are opening the door to then reteaching your muscles to perform and control movement properly and, as a result, eliminate your pain.
Sometimes you must reset your body’s ability to move before you can retrain your muscles how to move. So, first things first …
Here are some of the ways that we at Allegiant Physical Therapy correct mobility dysfunctions:
Manual Therapy From Your PT
Joint mobilization
Soft tissue mobilization
Myofascial release
Mobilization with movement
PNF
Exercise Therapy/Home Exercise
Static & Dynamic Stretching/flexibility exercise
Active/Active-Assistive range of motion
PNF
Self joint mobilization
Self soft tissue mobilization
These strategies often represent an important first step in helping our patients to recover from their injury. As you can see, you truly team up with your therapist to achieve positive results.
Stay tuned for our next submission when we talk about Step #2 in pain relief: Muscular (motor control) training and strengthening!
