How Can Physiotherapy Help Elderly Patients to Regain a Healthy Life?
Aging or becoming old makes our body go through several physical changes. These changes frequently cause a decline in muscular strength, bone density, and body coordination and even make the joints stiffer, occasionally leading to falls and fractures. For senior adults, exercise may be essential for resurrecting and preserving the physical function essential in everyday living.
Exercise programs developed by our physiotherapists in Calgary can aid in lowering bodily discomfort, strengthening the mobility of joints, enabling coordination, and improving pulmonary function.
Don’t skip physical treatment if you’ve just been hospitalized, regardless of the cause. You can have a professional visit your house at your convenience. Why is training with a physiotherapist so crucial at these times?
What does physiotherapy for elderly patients include?
Physio for geriatric patients include the following—
1. Sitting exercises: As many elderly people may not be able to utilize their legs, sitting exercises may be done with the legs, hands, and head. A skilled physiotherapist may augment these exercises with elastic bands, rope, balls, or weights.
2. Lunge walking: Taking broad, purposeful steps in a straight line while placing your hands on your hips is a less strenuous alternative to the standard lunge walk. Improves leg strength and coordination by stretching the leg muscles. This activity is beneficial in aiding elderly persons with mental illnesses that cause muscular and coordination loss.
3. Tai-chi: It is a martial arts that uses slow, concentrated motions to improve the body’s energy flow. It is a fantastic exercise for older, wounded, and disabled individuals. Enrolling in a tai-chi class will also enable the older person to meet others with the same condition, encouraging them to make friends and prevent them from feeling alone.
Ensure better strength and endurance
The more you work out and increase your strength, the longer it lasts. You need it because it may lower blood pressure and enhance circulation, keeping your body’s oxygen levels high. Without it, your chances of experiencing a fatal heart attack, stroke, or blood clot increase.
Helps stay efficient
Becoming older is indeed a part of life, but that doesn’t mean you have to become frail and helpless. Your physiotherapist may teach you how to do everyday tasks more effectively to regain independence.
Lesser body ache
Physiotherapists are specially educated to assist you in moving your joints and alleviating discomfort, so they can help you begin going again. Do not wait for the warning signs that indicate you need to visit a physiotherapist ASAP. When you get regular treatment, you will feel less body ache and experience the better movement of body parts without any ache.
Help in Osteoarthritis (OA)
Osteoarthritis is the most prevalent degenerative joint disease worldwide, affecting millions of individuals. As a person ages, the prevalence of osteoarthritis (OA) grows, and the expenditures associated with disability and hip and knee replacements amount to billions.
Assist with maintaining joint range of motion, growing muscle mass and strength, correcting gait and utilizing canes and crutches. Controlling weight are all things that physiotherapists are trained to help with.
Fights dementia and frailty
In the next twenty to thirty years, as the percentage of senior persons in the population rises, so will the number of older people who are feeble or have dementia. Physiotherapists may work with dementia patients to enhance their functional abilities and train family members on how to handle activities and transfers.
Enhanced cognitive functioning
Physical therapy may assist elderly adults with dementia enhance their cognitive function and delaying their pace of deterioration. Physical therapy for the elderly is a fantastic preventive approach since several studies have shown that increased activity reduces the chance of dementia. Seniors with already-degraded cognitive skills may benefit from physical therapy, which teaches them to be more aware of their physical surroundings and possible dangers, reducing their risk of falling or being injured in other ways.
Lesser dependency on medication
For seniors living in Alberta, The Port Physiotherapy in Calgary offers a convenient space and expertise where physiotherapists focus on elders. Our courteous and knowledgeable therapists provide one-on-one consultations to ensure you get the best possible therapy.
Better strength and body flexibility
The loss of strength and flexibility that occurs as we age is one of the most prevalent problems that practically everyone confronts. Other chronic illnesses, such as neurological, endocrine, and musculoskeletal difficulties, might further aggravate the condition. Poor muscle tone and tight joints are only a few of the side effects of aging’s degenerative changes.
A physiotherapist is a professional that specializes in pain relief and mobility restoration. Thyroid illness, anemia, depression, lack of sleep, diabetes, congestive heart failure, and drug side effects are among the most prevalent reasons for diminished strength. Physiotherapy helps patients regain their strength and flexibility while enhancing their overall well-being.
Helps manage cancer treatment
Cancer treatment management is a fascinating arena in which physical therapy can assist the elderly. Because cancer treatment has so many negative side effects, physical therapists can assist those in treatment with better flexibility, range of motion, decreased pain, and improved quality of life through massage, exercise, compression therapies, and patient education.
For some types of cancer pain, a physiotherapy program can lessen pain and keep you strong enough to continue in your home and work life. A physical therapist is more important for cancer patients to continue taking care of themselves better.
Conclusion
Physical therapists are increasingly being integrated into seniors’ health care as vital. From decreasing pain to improving quality of life, elders with physical therapists find their overall bodies better and more flexible.
Talk to your doctor if you think you or a loved one might benefit from physical therapy. They can suggest some clinicians who can treat your specific needs. Ask a friend or colleague, too, if they have recommendations.
Find a physical therapist near you in Calgary, and they will get started with senior physical therapy sessions for geriatric patients.