5 Benefits of Physiotherapy and How to Get Started

Are you or anyone you love wondering if physiotherapy is suitable for them? Well, physiotherapy treatments here in Singapore aim to improve or restore the body’s function and movement.

Using various recommended techniques, it is a hands-on treatment which can help relieve pain, reduce swelling, increase mobility, and prevent injury. All of which can be helpful if you or your loved ones have such experiences.

However, there are other forms of treatments and therapies that go beyond manual therapy or motor control exercises. There’s also Cognitive Functional Therapy (CFT), which is a behavioral intervention that addresses multiple aspects of lower back pain. This approach focuses on changing the patient’s beliefs, confronting their fears, educating them about pain mechanisms, increasing mental strength, and control of their body.

With all this in mind, let’s look at the five benefits of physiotherapy and how to get started.

How does physiotherapy help?

There are many benefits of physiotherapy, such as relieving pain, reducing stiffness, and improving range of motion and muscle strength. With therapy, you can enjoy the following benefits for more extended periods.

1. Better recovery and pain management

Our ability to manage pain tends to diminish with age, more so if you are older. This is why you get constant complaints from your elderly parents about their neck and lower back pain. These are often caused by poor circulation and insufficient physical activity.

Physiotherapy can help your elderly parents become more active as it involves performing activities that can increase their blood flow, flexibility, core strength, and mobility. At the same time, it helps to relieve pain.

Another approach to better pain management would be to opt for CFT, which considers how you or your loved ones feel about pain in terms of your emotions and sensory.

2. Safer way of exercising

Exercising regularly is essential for people of all ages, but it can also pose a risk to anyone with a heart disease, osteoporosis, or other common health issues, like your elderly parents.

With physiotherapy, your elderly parents can get their exercise done under the careful direction of physiotherapists. At the same time, it reduces their risk of exercise-related injuries.

3. Builds strength and stability

Due to age and weakened physiques, you or your elderly parents are more prone to injuries like slips and falls. These can be dangerous as such accidents can also result in internal injuries.

Physiotherapy can help your elderly parents to build the strength and stability they need to live life on their terms, without the fear of falling or slipping. At the same time, it helps to maintain their strength and muscle mass for areas such as the knees, hips, shoulders and various parts of the body.

4. Improved mental health

You might wonder how physiotherapy or Cognitive Functional Therapy helps to improve mental health. For instance, if you are constantly dealing with physical pain or adjusting to retirement, changing your lifestyle can make you feel anxious or depressed.

With physiotherapy and CFT, the exercises and stretches performed during the sessions can help release endorphins that alleviate anxiety and depression. Also, you get complete control of your body, improving your overall mental health.

5. Promotes independence

All of the benefits above add up to one crucial component of your life: independence, especially with the increasing ageing population in Singapore. For many people, maintaining their independence is the key to a better quality of life.

Effective physiotherapy, together with treatments such as CFT can keep you or your elderly parents out of wheelchairs or even out of it for longer. It can also encourage them to be more independent in performing everyday tasks without needing help from any caregiver.

How to get started with physiotherapy?

Getting you or your loved ones to go physiotherapy can be one of the toughest challenges you will ever face. For the latter, they may feel that you no longer want to take care of them, but you want them to be able to perform everyday tasks without needing constant help.

You can begin by introducing them to the idea of being independent, as physiotherapy can help reduce the risks of injuries and treat common medical conditions such as back pain. Additionally, CFT can help them to make sense of pain.

During the consultation, the physiotherapist will first assess the patient’s condition by asking questions about their symptoms and examining them. They will then provide a suitable treatment to help improve their condition.

Improve Your Quality of Life with Physiotherapy at Benchmark Physio

We are committed to delivering superior clinical outcomes to improve your quality of life using evidence-based physiotherapy care, as well as a holistic approach through treatments such as CFT. Learn more about the conditions we treat here.