What's stopping you from exercising?

Courtesy of EveryDayHealth.com

Weight loss programs continue to tout the advantages of physical activity, but for some, exercise is risky business. The pain and anxiety associated with a chronic disease, obesity, or a sports injury, can keep you sidelined. But don’t give up. A physical therapist may be able to help you get mobile again. October is National Physical Therapy Month and this year’s theme is sports injury prevention across the lifespan.
Physical Therapy vs. Personal Training

If you have a debilitating disease like diabetes, heart disease, or obesity, a personal trainer alone may not have the expertise you need to exercise safely or help you recover to your full mobility potential. Personal trainers may improve your physical fitness and help you maintain a healthy weight, but they are generally not trained to treat physiological illnesses. On the other hand, physical therapists are trained not only in human anatomy and exercise science, but they are also educated in all four of the major body systems, including musculoskeletal, neuromuscular, cardiovascular/pulmonary, and integumentary (skin). Unlike personal trainers, all physical therapists are required to receive a graduate degree, either a master's degree or a clinical doctorate, before becoming eligible to receive a license to practice.

Alleviate Pain

If you are unable to do daily activities like walking, reaching, and bending without persistent pain, exercise is the least of your worries. That’s where a physical therapist may be able to help. Research shows individuals with low back pain who receive active physical therapy experience greater improvement in function and decreased pain intensity. By creating a wellness and exercise program that takes your specific limitations into account, a physical therapist can improve your strength and flexibility so that you can go about your daily routine with less pain.

Preventing Injury

Physical therapists are also educated in physics. They are able to treat your specific limitations by creating a program that can improve balance, help prevent falls, and increase coordination. By assessing posture and gait, they can also address issues of use by counteracting movement that may put added stress on damaged joints and ligaments.

Physical Therapy Specialties

If you think you need a physical therapist, be sure to find the right one. There are five specialties in physical therapy. Many are familiar with the rehabilitation work of neurological physical therapy, which treats patients with brain and spinal cord injuries, stroke, multiple sclerosis and the like. Orthopedic physical therapy is the specialty that treats joint pain, sports injuries, arthritis, and other injuries of the musculoskeletal system. The other three specialties are Geriatric, Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation and Pediatric.

If you feel you are in need of Physical Therapist ask your physician for a referral or search the American Physical Therapists Association’s website where you can find a licensed Physical Therapist in your state.