There’s a common misconception that physical therapy, or physiotherapy, is as simple as doing a bunch of exercises. While therapeutic exercises are an important tool for physical therapists, there are many other ways that physical therapy in the Bay Area can help people.
What are the goals of physical therapy?
The basic goals of physical therapy are fairly universal, whether you live in the Bay Area or another part of the country. First, physical therapy seeks to help people reduce their pain. Typically, this is done using techniques that help improve movement and flexibility. The second basic physical therapy goal is prevention. This can mean helping people avoid injuries, or it can mean working to help people avoid surgery for a specific issue. Thirdly, physical therapists work to help people with recovery, which can mean recovering from a sports or car accident injury or even recovering from a surgery.
What are some physical therapy services you’ll find in the Bay Area?
If you’ve never used them before, you might not be aware that there are many in-person and virtual physical therapy services available in the Bay Area. A few of these services include:
- Functional capacity evaluations — Have you ever wondered if an illness or injury has affected your ability to work? Physical therapists can help you answer this question using a functional capacity evaluation (FCE). An FCE will start with a physical therapist interviewing you and asking about your medical history. They will then have you go through a battery of physical testing to assess your strength, mobility and ability to do normal work-related activities. In total, an FCE tends to take four to five hours.
- COVID recovery — Physical therapists probably aren’t the first medical professionals people think of in relation to COVID recovery. However, they can be more helpful than you may think. Physical therapists can help you deal with many of the lingering effects people may experience after recovering from COVID-19. Some of the effects a COVID recovery program can help you address include:
- Fatigue.
- Difficulty doing normal daily tasks.
- Difficulty getting back to your regular exercise routines.
- Shortness of breath.
- Chest pain.
- Physical limitations that are keeping you from returning to work.
- Changes in your balance or frequent dizziness.
- New joint pains or muscle weaknesses from inactivity or periods of bed rest.
SOL PT offers top-notch physical therapy services in the Bay Area
Our team at SOL Physical Therapy is proud to offer effective physical therapy services to the Bay Area. We offer a wide range of services at our physical clinic locations and virtually, and we can help you address pain, improve your ability to move and much more!
Contact our team today for more information about all the services we offer or to schedule an initial appointment with one of our experienced physical therapists.
