What is therapeutic exercise?
Therapeutic exercise is indicated to improve the patient’s physical function and prevent loss of function. It also seeks to improve functional abilities and prevent or reduce disability, as well as to correct specific problems or injuries. This exercise must always be prescribed by a qualified health professional.
In short, therapeutic exercise aims to improve general health and fitness, to provide a greater sense of well-being.
Why is it done?
Therapeutic exercise is very useful to achieve the rehabilitation of injuries, but it also serves to prevent injuries, discomfort or dysfunctions.
This exercise offers the benefits described below:
- Improve the patient’s mobility.
- Increases balance to prevent falls.
- Prevents physical injuries, including sports injuries.
- Reduces or eliminates pain.
- Restores joint and muscle function.
- Accelerates recovery from physical or sports injuries.
- It helps in those physical problems derived from aging or certain health conditions, such as postpartum or fibromyalgia.
Relaxation and breathing techniques can be part of the therapeutic exercise.
What does it consist of?
The patient has a fundamental role in therapeutic exercise, since the active exercise he or she performs will bring great benefits for recovery. For this reason, exercise should be included in daily life, not only with the specialist.
Some therapeutic exercise techniques are as follows:
- Therapeutic Pilates
- Circulatory exercises
- Hypopressive exercise
- Relaxation techniques and breathing exercises
- Exercise to achieve postural control
- Active mobility and range of motion exercises
- Various stretches
These exercises, as well as the possible exercise plan to be programmed, should be reviewed regularly by a specialist in physiotherapy. In this way, he/she will be able to monitor the evolution, indicating the modifications that he/she considers most appropriate.
Finally, it is important to emphasize the importance of doing the exercises correctly, since, if not done correctly or without the proper dosage, it can lead to complications for the patient.
Preparation for therapeutic exercise
Initially, the specialist in Physiotherapy, will make an exploration to the patient, from which will allow him to mark a series of objectives to achieve through a program of individualized exercises. These exercises should be adapted to each phase, to the patient’s activities and habits, as well as to the current state of the injury or ailment.
Communication between the specialist and the patient is important in order to understand how to perform the exercise properly and to know its benefits.
Care after the procedure
No special care is required after therapeutic exercise. The only important thing to take into account is not to force and to know how to dose the effort, especially in the initial stages.
Alternatives to this treatment
Therapeutic exercise has multiple varieties and options, for which the specialist in Physiotherapy will be able to find the option that best suits the patient’s needs.