As you age, your body changes. You may experience stiffness and pain and may become slower in your motor movements. Some reasons why your body slows down and suffers from mobility problems include injuries, compromised posture, nature of your job, and the most common—aging. Physiotherapy is one of the options you can consider that may be of benefit to your body as you age.
Physiotherapy is a medical art of healing that focuses on treating the musculoskeletal system through the use of specific treatment techniques, medications, and devices. It’s meant to treat disorders and injuries of the skeletal, muscular, and circulatory systems. If you are suffering from any pain, disability, or disease due to aging, this comprehensive medical approach can help in treating and improving your condition.
Here are some of the ways that physiotherapy can benefit you as you age:
1. Increases Your Flexibility
Stiffness of the joints is one of the many signs that you are aging. This can lead to difficulties with your daily activities if not addressed through treatment methods such as physiotherapy. The main cause of stiff joints is damage to the bones as well as the soft tissues surrounding them. Usually, the first part of the equation is an injury to the bone because these become brittle when they are hit or stretched by another object.
Another contributing factor to stiff bones as you age is the decreased production of glucosamine. This nutrient is the major building block of connective tissues. Without this element, the body cannot produce new cells; the lack of glucosamine results in weaker connective tissues and increased stiffness. Physiotherapy helps to massage the joints and to encourage effortless movement.
Vitamin D deficiency is also another reason why the body stiffens as you age. Vitamin D is needed for the collagen in connective tissues, which is the main structural fiber of the bones. The fewer these fibers are in the bones, the greater the chances that the bones will stiffen. Lack of vitamin D can be corrected by increasing your vitamin D intake through diet or supplements. An exercise physiologist may help correct the consequences of the Vitamin D deficiency that your body may have experienced.
2. Increases Your Energy
One of the reasons why physiotherapy is beneficial as you age is because it helps increase your energy levels. As you get older, your body does not have as much energy to use, so your body does not work as hard. As a result, more work and pressure are put on the bones resulting in stiffer joints. The more functional your muscles and joints are, the less energy you will exert when performing daily activities. Physiotherapy, together with a healthy diet, however, may increase energy levels by working on your joints and muscles to function efficiently.
3. Alleviates Pain
Physiotherapy can help an injured body part heal properly and faster. After doing physiotherapy exercises, you will be encouraged to exercise regularly to strengthen the muscles and bones. The treatments may also include massage to relax sore muscles and deep tissue massages to stimulate blood flow. This helps to restore elasticity to the injured area and to prepare it for healing.
4. Improves Posture
The type of physiotherapy that helps with improved posture involves a combination of manual techniques, soft-tissue manipulation, and electrical stimulation. The posture focused exercises are intended to heal muscles, bones, tendons, and spinal ligaments throughout the body. When the skeletal system is not properly aligned, patients can suffer from pain, restricted mobility, and other things that contribute to poor posture.
5. Provides Relaxation
As you get older, your stress levels may increase compared to when you were younger. This may be a result of added responsibilities, witnessed tragedy, and long hours put in working. Stress can impact how your body moves and operates; it may also cause various physical conditions. Physiotherapy also includes exercises that help with relaxing your body and alleviating stress.
The massaging exercises, for example, facilitate blood flow throughout the body. Efficient blood flow means the increased circulation of oxygen, which would have otherwise been compromised due to stressed breathing. Stressed breathing involves taking in air in short bursts, which doesn’t encourage the circulation of oxygen recommended for optimum health.
Conclusion
Physiotherapy is of major benefit as you age. It helps with joint flexibility, energy increase, pain alleviation, improved posture, and relaxation. Visiting a physiotherapist is worth considering to help you get your body in its optimum shape. Make sure to visit recommended and reputable physiotherapists for the best possible services. Keep in mind that for optimum health, you also need to rely on daily exercises and a healthy diet. Physiotherapy is meant to improve your body state while you work on maintaining that state.
