How Can Physical Therapy Treat Repetitive Strain Injuries?

When you repeatedly engage in the same motions, your body experiences a unique type of stress called repetitive strain. Over time, repetitive strain can damage your joints, tendons, ligaments, or muscles. 

Without the right treatment, your condition can continue progressing, with increasing inflammation, discomfort, and dysfunction in the affected area of your body.

Our South Texas Spinal Clinic team of experts offers physical therapy treatments that can help with repetitive strain injuries. Could you benefit from physical therapy for a repetitive strain injury (RTI)? Here’s what you need to know.

Physical therapy and rehabilitation

Physical therapy uses various techniques to adjust your body, improve strength and flexibility, and reduce pain and inflammation, so physical therapy is a great way to recover from a repetitive stress injury. Bonus: After physical therapy, you’ll better understand how to avoid future repetitive stress on vulnerable areas of your body.

Your physical therapy plan at South Texas Spinal Clinic might involve structured exercises or manual therapies like massage, myofascial release, kinesio taping, or spine, joint, and soft tissue mobilization. You may need support with functional rehabilitation related to your work, home, or exercise routines. 

We also support your recovery with state-of-the-art technology, such as ultrasound therapy and electrical stimulation.

Physical therapy specifically addresses your RTI symptoms, including:

• Inflammation
• Stiffness
• Muscle weakness
• Numbness
• Tingling
• Pain and tenderness

Manual therapy, joint mobilization, and movement coaching can release muscle tension and restore soft-tissue elasticity after an RTI, so you can get back to living pain-free.

The benefits of physical therapy

Physical therapy is a noninvasive way of returning your body to health. You don’t have to deal with surgery, medication, side effects, or recovery periods when you work with the physical therapists at South Texas Spinal Clinic. However, if needed, physical therapy can also be effectively paired with more intensive treatment approaches.

Physical therapy involves modalities to help your body relax and recover from pain and inflammation, including ultrasound therapy, icing or heat therapy, and electrical stimulation.

Physical strengthens your muscles, relieves pressure from vulnerable joints, reduces inflammation and pain, and improves your quality of life. After physical therapy, your body is well-aligned, with a full range of motion and increased blood flow to injured areas that accelerates tissue healing.

The physical therapy process

At South Texas Spinal Clinic, your physical therapy treatment starts with a professional musculoskeletal evaluation, the basis of your personalized treatment plan. 

In addition to your sessions at South Texas Spinal Clinic, your physical therapy continues with at-home exercises. We show you how to perform each exercise properly, so you get the full benefits of gentle stretching, strengthening, and pain and inflammation relief with safety.

To learn more about how physical therapy could help you recover from your repetitive strain injury, contact any of our 14 South Texas Spinal Clinics today. Schedule your initial consultation appointment online or over the phone now.