Physiotherapy, a cornerstone of healthcare in Australia, is dedicated to enhancing movement and quality of life. With its pillars firmly rooted in promotion, prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation, this profession plays a pivotal role in addressing persistent musculoskeletal pain, a global health challenge with significant societal implications.
In this article, we explore how physiotherapy positively impacts musculoskeletal wellness through tailored exercise routines, innovative electrotherapy like ultrasound, and the therapeutic benefits of massage. Join us as we uncover its transformative potential for optimal health.
Exercises
Exercise is an important part of musculoskeletal wellness. It improves muscle strength, bone health and balance and helps prevent musculoskeletal conditions. It also increases energy levels and enhances quality of life. Physical activity includes all body movements that require energy expenditure. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines healthy fitness as a combination of muscular strength, endurance and flexibility.
Exercise is usually recommended at moderate to vigorous intensity, with a weekly frequency of 2 or more days. A variety of exercises is important, as different types of exercise have varying effects on muscles and bones. Weight-bearing impact activities, such as walking and jogging, are best for your bones, while muscle resistance training, like using weights and resistance bands, improves muscle strength. Postural stretching and strengthening exercises, like yoga or standing on one leg, can help you maintain good spine posture and reduce back pain. Balance and stability exercises can help you walk better on uneven surfaces and prevent falls, which are a major cause of spine fractures in older people.
Electrotherapy
A number of modalities that stimulate cellular activity are known for their ability to reduce pain and promote healing. This can help people with musculoskeletal injuries feel more comfortable during physical therapy and accelerate their recovery.
Most electrotherapy treatments involve placing electrodes on the skin that deliver low-level electrical currents. Unlike prescription pain medications, electrotherapy offers natural pain relief with few side effects.
Examples of electrotherapy modalities include interferential current (IFC), transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) and high-voltage electrical stimulation (HVES). Ultrasound therapy is also often included in the treatment plan, as it helps decrease inflammation and stimulates tissue healing.
Another type of electrotherapy, EMS, is an effective tool for strengthening the muscles in specific areas. However, research has found that this method of muscle training recruits fewer motor units than active exercise. This limits its effectiveness in strength-training programs. Nonetheless, EMS can relieve the pain associated with certain injuries and increase blood flow to the area.
Ultrasound therapy
Therapeutic ultrasound uses sound waves that exist beyond the range of human hearing. When a physical therapist uses a handheld probe over an injured area, the sound waves heat the tissue. These warm tissues are more receptive to healing and pain relieving techniques.
Ultrasound therapy increases blood flow, which carries nutrients to the injury and helps get rid of waste materials. This increases tissue healing and reduces inflammation, which also speeds up the process.
This non-thermal effect of the ultrasound is due to how the sound waves cause biological fluids to vibrate and move. This vibration causes tissue to expand and contract, which improves tissue elasticity and loosens the tissue that is tight.
The resulting reduction of stiffness and inflammation helps to increase the range of motion for muscles and joints. This enables them to respond better to manual stretching exercises and different types of massage. This technique can be used for a number of different injuries and aches that affect the ligaments, tendons and muscles, including tendonitis, muscle strain and shoulder impingement.
Massage
Muscles can become tight and tense from overuse, accidents, or simply age. This can lead to pain and a limited range of movement, and can also cause chronic health issues such as myofascial pain syndrome (which causes pain in places that don’t seem related to the area).
Massage therapy alleviates this tension by increasing endorphins and improving blood circulation. This boosts the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to muscles and reduces waste by eliminating toxins.
Physiotherapist Bendigo uses techniques such as kneading, friction, stretching and joint manipulation to relieve muscle tightness and pain. These include trigger point therapy, which targets knots in the muscle that are responsible for referred pain and dysfunction, neuromuscular therapy to address nerve-related pain and dysfunction, and soft tissue mobilisation to improve movement, break up scar tissue, enhance blood flow and promote healing. Interestingly, recent research has found that on a cellular level massage actually stimulates the growth of mitochondria in skeletal muscles.
The multifaceted approaches of physiotherapy, encompassing tailored exercises, innovative electrotherapy, and therapeutic massage, offer promising avenues for enhancing musculoskeletal wellness. By delving into these realms, we gain valuable insights into the transformative potential of physiotherapy in promoting optimal health and quality of life.
