Throughout our lives, we all experience the occasional ache or pain. Whether it is just a twinge after exercising or stiff joints from sitting at a desk all day. While most of these smaller, more common pains can be treated with over-the-counter painkillers or simple rest of the affected area, some types of pain might be more limited and make it hard to continue with your day-to-day activities. If you are at this point, getting in contact with a relatable physiotherapy team in Croydon such as Freedom Sports Management is a great first step to regaining your range of movement.
What is physiotherapy?
Physiotherapy is an area of healthcare focused on assessing and treating people affected by injury, illness or disability, using physical methods like movement, exercise and manual therapy. It takes great care in assessing the person’s lifestyle and circumstances to ensure that their health and well-being are being managed in the way most appropriate for them, it is designed to both health and prevent future injury.
There are multiple branches of physiotherapy, designed to assist people with different issues, just some of these branches include:
- Cardiovascular
- Respiratory
- Neurological
- Musculoskeletal physiotherapy
Of all these disciplines, the one most easily recognised is musculoskeletal that mainly focuses on bodily injury due to sports, exercise or general strain. It is designed to assist in restoring healthy movement to the body.
Below are some reasons that you might consider looking for a ‘physiotherapy near me’ and signs that your body likely needs some help recovering.
You get pain sitting at your desk
It is quite common to feel pain when sitting at your desk all day, in most people, this will manifest as either a backache or a headache. The reason this happens is that our bodies are designed to be mobile and sitting in the same positions for hours can put a strain on both your joints and muscles. Taking regular breaks and stretching when you can is a good way to prevent any serious injury. It’s also important to set your desk up correctly and try to maintain good posture while working.
However, if this pain has manifested into something more frequent that doesn’t stop even with regular stretching and movement, it’s possible that you have damaged or strained something from poor posture and a physiotherapist should look at this.
A Small Injury Is Worse Than You Thought
As with above, an injury is expected to cause pain in a small area that slowly improves over time as the tissue heals. However, if an injury that you believe to be small doesn’t seem to be getting better after a week or so, or especially if the pain begins to move to another part of the body, it’s important to get it looked at. Pain in the lower back and neck can be a frequent type of this chronic pain and should always be checked out if it doesn’t heal with rest and time. Physiotherapists can work with you to assess the issue and provide a targeted exercise and rehabilitation programme that will ease your suffering and get you back to your best.
Treatments for pain can include pain education, massage, manipulation and exercises to help you support your damaged body part better and prevent the injury from happening again.
You’re not moving as easily as you used to
If you’ve noticed that you don’t feel as flexible or movement isn’t as easy as it used to be, then meeting with a physiotherapist may be highly beneficial. They can take the time to assess what it is that might be restricting your movement and help you through a series of exercises to strengthen your body, regaining both strength and range of movement.
You’ve just had a baby
Having a baby is incredibly taxing on the body, not just due to the strain of childbirth, but also due to the number of changes the body goes through in such a short time. For this reason, seeing a physio can help to strengthen areas that may have been stretched or weakened during pregnancy and they can help guide you on a plan to safely increase your activity level after these months of restricted movement. A Women’s Health physio can also help specifically with pelvic floor or bladder and bowel problems that may occur after childbirth.
So Why Should You See A Physiotherapist?
After looking at just what physiotherapy in Croydon can offer you across different aspects of health, you should have a good idea as to why it is important to your overall wellness to see a physio when your body is weak or sore. So if you are looking for help managing current injuries or preventing future ones, stop searching for ‘physiotherapy near me’ and instead get in contact with Freedom Sports Medicine to work on improving your range of movement!