A physical therapist, also identified as physiotherapist, may give therapy physically as well as by using either mechanical or electrical apparatus to aid in therapy and support the recovery process of his patients. The physiotherapy gear works on minimizing the pain besides healing and joints and muscles. Some equipment also makes the patient relaxed in the visit to the physiotherapist. Stroke recovery rehabilitation can be an uphill task. Following a stroke, patients can be left with paralysis, especially one-sided paralysis.
Soreness, as well as sensory incapability, has to be dealt with. Physiotherapy is important feature of the treatment preparation. Physical therapists begin stroke rehabilitation very soon after the stroke has occurred, while the patient is still in acute care. The physiotherapist will firstly perform an assessment to found what disabilities have to be addressed through stroke physical therapy. Patients will relearn to use their hands and feet that the stroke has made momentarily ineffective. During stroke physical therapy, it will be confirmed whether these limbs will reach their previous capacity.
While the physiotherapy couch, chair, bed and table are some of the general physiotherapy apparatus, a cushioned flat bench with head support that is also cushioned and modifiable sections ranging from two to seven in number, is also used. The function of these sections is that they are adjustable and the patient can lie down on the stomach or on the back, as required. It can also be folded into various degrees to serve as a chair or an exercise table. This equipment lets the physiotherapist make the patient at ease during tests and diagnosis.
The same equipment is also used during exercises that have to be performed by the patient and during massage therapy. Primarily the physio judges the arm, asking the patient about their pain level as this varies greatly, examining the swelling and bruising of the arm. The physiotherapist then checks the available range of movement of the shoulder, elbow, forearm and hand.
Any muscle weakness and sensory loss is noted as this may denote nerve damage. If not operated upon, a fling is sustained with and if the fracture is not too painful or severe, early exercises are started by the physiotherapist. Pendulum exercises, with the patient bending over at the waist, are important in the early stages as they allow movement of the shoulder joint without much force.
For the sports men like the soccer players and cricketers who often pull their hamstring there is facilitating hamstring treatment without a high amount of weight bearing on the limb it can be appropriate to use pool therapy and patients can carry on with their aerobic training to keep their cardiovascular ability and arm training.
The injured area will be exercised with sub maximal training endeavor. The stage of remodeling takes the injury towards the six week time after the injury and the physio will test to see if the patient can handle with a full strength contraction without any pain. If it works the rehab can be carried further through range exercises with light weights and high repetition.