Orthopedic Physical Therapy

Orthopedic Physical Therapy - What Does A Specialist Do?

Orthopedic physical therapy is physical therapy that focuses on treating problems involving the muscular and skeletal systems. This includes issues with bones, joints, and muscles.

Some of the conditions that might be treated using sports physical therapy include tendonitis, arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, joint replacement recovery, whiplash, bursitis, sciatica, and spinal injuries.

A specialist in sports physical therapy will try to treat these muscular and skeletal conditions using special exercises, stretching, ultrasound, ice and heat therapy, electrical stimulation, aquatic therapy, and biofeedback. Which treatments are used depends on the condition that is being treated and the suspected cause of the condition.

Many times a condition can be helped by strengthening certain muscles, using exercises specifically targeted to these muscles. During an orthopedic physical therapy session, the physical therapist will teach the patient these exercises, some of which will be done at home and some of which are done with the supervision of the physical therapist. Sometimes special tools and equipment will be used during the physical therapy session to make targeting these muscles easier.

I have had physical therapy on two separate occasions, once for tendonitis in my rotator cuff, and once for knee pain, and I will tell a bit about my experiences with sports physical therapy in order to give you a good idea of what it involves.

I got tendonitis in my rotator cuff while practicing martial arts, and my doctor referred me to a specialist in sports orthopedic physical therapy in order to cure my tendonitis. During the first visit the orthopedic physical therapy specialist evaluated the extent of my condition by testing the strength of various muscles, having me push against her hand from various angles. Then she pushed on various places on my shoulder to see where the pain was located. After the evaluation, she gave me a set of TheraBands to use to complete a series of exercises and stretches she taught me to do at home. Then she performed therapeutic massage on my shoulder and used ultrasound to try to improve the pain. I continued attending orthopedic physical therapy sessions until my condition improved, with the whole process taking approximately two months.

The second time I had orthopedic physical therapy was due to knee pain. My primary care physician couldn't figure out what the problem was, so he referred me to a professional in orthopedic physical therapy. Once again, the session began with me explaining the problem and the specialist in orthopedic physical therapy using various simple tests and prodding the knee to find where it was painful. It was then that the orthopedic physical therapy specialist discovered the problem was caused by fallen arches, which had me rolling my feet and putting pressure on my knee. I was once again given exercises to do at home, and I was taught how to tape my feet to help bring my arches back into the proper position. Between the exercises and taping my feet the problem was resolved in a few months.

I hope these examples have helped to show what is involved in orthopedic physical therapy, and the types of work that specialists in orthopedic physical therapy perform.

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