If you have been injured and are being treated by an Orthopedic surgeon, then you may well be referred to undertake some physical therapy as part of your rehabilitation and injury management plan. Your physical therapist will work closely with and is largely guided by the outcome goals of your treating Orthopedic surgeon. The physical therapy practitioner will liaise with your doctor to ensure that the recovery plan and pain management for your condition is proceeding according to expectations.

A physical therapy practitioner will not only be assigned to a patient to help monitor and manage post operative care, they may also be assigned to a person who has undergone trauma that does not result in surgery being performed. Some of these could be for breaks and fractures, sprains and strains as well as back and neck issues. The role of the physical therapist in these instances would be to restore a patients strength, motion and activity.

The physical therapy for the patient is specifically chosen according to the injury or trauma. It may consist of deep tissue massage, remedial massage, as well as hot or cold therapy. Some physical therapy medical centers also have the option of using ultra sound to treat the deep tissue of the injury site. This is a highly effective way to increase blood flow and promote healing. The injury will dictate the therapy that is chosen and the main objective for your therapist is to get as much motion, strength and movement back into the effected area. Given the study and medical advances made in the past five to ten years the options and processes of providing physical therapy today differ greatly from what was available years ago. Today therapists understand that a patient should start to exercise and move the body soon after surgery in order to restore strength, this differed before where a patient would be bed ridden for weeks and months at a time.