Top Three Benefits of Physical Therapy for Seniors
Physical therapy for seniors is an important way of staying active, alert and independent. If you want to benefit from such therapy you should seek out professionals who can give you the best advice. It’s important for seniors not to overdo it and stay safe. Steady progress is key. You don’t want to pull a muscle, after all!
“A little and often” should be your watchword. It doesn’t matter if it takes you a while to get into the restorative routines of physical therapy. What matters is that you keep it up regularly. Customized programs of regular exercise help elderly people stay active and independent for longer.
Exercises will make daily tasks easier
Many seniors may have had medical conditions like strokes, Parkinson’s, COPD, spine injuries. Such conditions can leave seniors weak and confused and rob them of their physical and cognitive strengths and abilities.
Elderly folk may have difficulty getting dressed, climbing stairs, or walking a short distance to a local store. The therapy is good for their mental as well as physical well-being.
Physical therapy for seniors will help them stay healthy, making it easier to do daily tasks. Here are the three most effective benefits of the therapy.
Balance
One of the biggest fears of many elderly people is falling down and breaking a bone. Such falls are common in the elderly and are often caused by unstable balance. However, the risk of a fall can be greatly reduced with balance exercises. Such exercises can strengthen your leg, back and tummy muscles, improve your balance and keep you mobile.
An example of such an exercise is placing one foot directly in front of another and moving slowly forward. Professional supervision is important.
Flexibility
Physical therapy can also gradually improve flexibility. The more flexible you are the bigger the variety of tasks you can perform. Keeping supple helps elderly people stay healthy and independent into a ripe old age. Seniors with arthritis will need to take care.
Longevity
Most people want to live a long life and one of the best ways of achieving this goal is to take regular exercise and physical therapy. For seniors it is especially important to do the right kind of exercises that suit their specific needs. These exercises guided by professional therapists will help strengthen supportive muscles of the elderly.
Inpatient and outpatient physical therapy for seniors in Queens, NY
If you live in the Queens area, come over and check out the rehab services we provide at Fairview. See our facilities and meet our wonderful staff. Find out about our outpatient rehab services and our various exercise programs.
Visit us today: We have lots of experience in providing inpatient and outpatient physical therapy for seniors.
This article contains informational and educational materials and does not replace health or medical advice. For questions or concerns regarding your medical condition or health objectives, speak to a qualified physician or healthcare provider.
As you mentioned, we’re also afraid that my grandparents would eventually fall down because of an accident and break a bone. We’re more worried about our grandmother because she refuses to live with a helper and does everything by herself in her house. Maybe I can talk to her and see if she’ll like the idea of having a weekend session with a PT for her own safety.
Thanks for the information on how physical therapy can benefit senior citizens. My grandfather recently suffered from a bad fall while walking up the staircase so now my family is in the process of looking for treatment centers that can help him get his strength back. I appreciate how you pointed out that occupational therapy sessions can help boost the longevity of older people since regular treatment can also act as physical exercise. I’ll make sure to mention this to the rest of the family.
It’s great that physical therapy can help seniors with balance and flexibility. My mom has been struggling with her mobility for the past three months or so. I will advise her to start seeing a physical therapist.
I totally agree that many elderly people experience fall accidents because of unstable balance. My 65-year old grandmother had a slipping accident last Wednesday night. Since then, her lower back has been experiencing pains that could be severe at night. We’ll be sure that she will visit a pain management clinic for her physical therapy needs. Thanks!
I really enjoyed reading your article, it is very informative. I would also like to add some benefits of availing a physical therapy sessions for seniors.
Physical therapy is a necessary part of the recovery process for many injured senior citizens as it can do wonders for a recovering senior citizen. This does not mean that physical therapy is easy. No, in fact, physical therapy can be a painful and arduous task. If you have an elderly relative undergoing physical therapy, there are some things to be mindful of.
– An in home caregiver can be quite a help. If this caregiver is trained in therapy, they can save your elderly relative quite a bit of worry and trouble by coming directly to their home in order to save them the stress of leaving the home.
– Physical therapy is an important, yet stressful, part of the recovery process. If you have a loved one who has broken a bone in a fall, therapy is important in order to make a full recovery. Because therapy can sometimes take many months, many senior citizens will get frustrated early on in the process. If they have their physical therapy appointments at home, this can alleviate quite a bit of the stress that will naturally come with something like this.
I found it helpful when you said that with balance exercises, you can greatly reduce the risk of a fall to seniors. As you said, this must be due to an unstable balance. My 58-year old aunt will undergo knee replacement surgery next week, and she mentioned that she would want to recover fast. Also, she would want to ensure that the surgery won’t cause her any accidents such as slipping and fall accidents. I will ask her to undergo the needed rehabilitation process for her to recover fast.
Thanks for pointing out how physical therapy helps the elderly stay flexible and supple enough to be independent. We should encourage my grandma to try physical therapy. After all, she wants to be independent and is sometimes left at home by herself.
The other day, my mom mentioned she’d like to do something to increase my grandmother’s life quality. She spends all day in her house watching TV alone, so I think it’d be good for her to meet with a physical therapist soon. Thanks for explaining that physical therapy helps seniors improve their flexibility.