What are the best techniques that Physical Therapists use to Relieve Pain?

If you have ever sought physical therapy for treating a musculoskeletal condition, then you must be aware of the fact that it’s, without a doubt, one of the best ways to relieve pain and promote the healing process. People trust physical therapy treatments for pain a lot, so physical therapists should also go above and beyond to retain that trust.

They should be committed to the recovery of their patients, and for that, they must be well-versed with all the advanced physical therapy techniques. When a patient consults with them, they should offer them the best treatment solutions to address their health problems and to promote their overall well-being.

So, if you are a physical therapist, here are the techniques that you can use to help your patients’ recover from their injuries and illnesses quickly.

Massage Therapy

From reducing pain, stress, and fatigue to improving circulation, flexibility, immunity, and sleep, massage therapy is ideal for people of all ages including both males and females. It also helps lower blood pressure and promotes muscle relaxation, so physical therapists must use it for improving their patients’ quality of life.

If paired with other treatment options, it can provide amazing results when it comes to helping a patient recover quickly from an injury or an illness. Massage therapy has different forms such as Swedish massage, trigger point massage, deep tissue massage, sports massage, and hot stone massage, so you should try to learn a couple of them if not all.

Manual Therapy

Manual therapy is also one of the best pain relief techniques that a physical therapist can use to reduce pain and heal injuries. You can use it to subside the pain that stems from a chronic condition like arthritis, reduce muscle stiffness that occurs due to inactivity, and cure stiff joints by restoring mobility.

As a physical therapist, you can use manual therapy techniques like joint manipulation, spinal mobilization, soft tissue massage, etc., to address the postural imbalance, reduce pain, restore function, and strengthen flexibility. You can use manual therapy techniques to treat people living with arthritis. Although, there is no permanent treatment for conditions like osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis; however, physical therapy techniques like manual therapy can help arthritis patients manage their pain and improve joint mobility.

According to FYZICAL Therapy & Balance Centers, “Manual therapy makes a natural complement to rehabilitative exercises and other physical therapy techniques,” so you can combine it with different types of stretching and strength-building moves to offer quick relief from pain and discomfort to your patients.”

Ice and Heat Therapy

Ice and heat therapy are the best ways of relieving pain and healing injuries. You can include ice therapy in the treatment plan of your patient’ if they have received an acute injury. It is also great for managing the pain that stems from a chronic condition. On the other hand, heat therapy is ideal for relaxing injured tissues, and for loosening stiff muscles as well as joints.

Kinesio Taping

Kinesio Taping is also an ideal treatment technique for relieving back, neck, and shoulder pain, etc. You will have to use a therapeutic tape on the injured part of your patient while administering Kinesio Taping. As soon as you apply this tape to your patient’s body, it will activate from their body heat.

It not only helps in subsiding pain, minimizing swelling, and reducing inflammation but also relieves muscle spasms and speeds up the healing process.

Dry Needling

Dry needling is a highly significant physical therapy technique that helps in increasing blood flow, relaxing tight muscles, improving the range of motion, reducing pain, and accelerating the healing process. You can use this technique to heal people suffering from musculoskeletal problems like back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, foot and ankle pain, etc.

Apart from that, you should also use patient education to help your patient prevent injuries and falls that occur due to balance and coordination problems. You can teach them ways to correct their posture to minimize the risk of neck, back, and shoulder pain in the future. By teaching them the right sitting, walking, and sleeping techniques, you can help them improve their posture.

You can also provide the necessary guidance to your patients about nutrition. For example, you can tell those patients who are struggling with arthritis to consume anti-inflammatory foods to fight the inflammation. By explaining the significance of nutrition in healing injuries and illnesses, you can encourage your patients to make healthy food choices, which can play a vital role in improving their overall well-being.

Apart from that, whenever a patient consults you for healing their injuries or chronic conditions, make sure that you focus on examining the signs and symptoms of their problems effectively to arrive at a reliable diagnosis. Never make the mistake of starting the treatment process without identifying the root cause of their problem. Check their medical history and analyze their range of motion to understand the severity of the problem and to discover the actual source of the pain.