Physical Therapy Modality: Electrical Stimulation

The physical therapists at the Family of Caring facilities use a wide variety of modalities to help treat their patients. Over the following days, we’ll be discussing what these different treatment offerings are, as well as how they’re used as a treatment.

Today, the focus is on Electrical Stimulation.

For this form of treatment, a single muscle or group of muscles is subjected to an electrical current, causing it/them to contract. The therapist places electrodes on the skin, in various places, to affect the appropriate muscles. Contraction through electrical stimulation is helpful in developing strength in the muscle, and the current setting can be changed to cause either forceful or gentle contractions.

Along with an increase in muscle strength, the contractions from the electrical therapy promote an increase in blood supply to the area, assisting in the healing process.

Physical Therapy Modality: Ultrasound

The physical therapists at the Family of Caring facilities use a wide variety of modalities to help treat their patients. Over the following days, we’ll be discussing what these different treatment offerings are, as well as how they’re used as a treatment.

Today, the focus is on Ultrasound.

For this form of treatment, the physical therapist uses an ultrasound machine to direct high and low frequency sound waves to the affected areas of the body. These sound waves penetrate deeply into the tissue, causing deep muscle warming. This promotes tissue relaxation, which is useful for treating muscle tightness and spasms. Much like during the use of the hot pack therapy, ultrasound therapy used in that manner causes vessel vasodilation and increases circulation to assist in the healing process. The physical therapist can also modify the frequency of the ultrasound machine to have the treatment act more like the cold pack treatment, decreasing inflammation, pain and swelling.

Physical Therapy Modality: The Cold Pack

The physical therapists at the Family of Caring facilities use a wide variety of modalities to help treat their patients. Over the following days, we’ll be discussing what these different treatment offerings are, as well as how they’re used as a treatment.

Today, the focus is on the Cold Pack.

For this form of treatment, the physical therapist applies a frozen gel substance, wrapped in layers of towels, directly to the area of the body in need of treatment. With the transference of the cold from the pack to the skin, muscle and tissue of the patient, several positive effects are achieved. The cold temperature causes vasoconstriction of the blood vessels in the area; this leads to a decrease in inflammation, which also decreases the pain and swelling.

Cold pack treatment is often the first type of treatment used in an acute injury.

Physical Therapy Modality: The Hot Pack

The physical therapists at the Family of Caring facilities use a wide variety of modalities to help treat their patients. Over the following days, we’ll be discussing what these different treatment offerings are, as well as how they’re used as a treatment.

Today, the focus is on the Hot Pack.

For this form of treatment, the physical therapist wraps a moist hot pack in layers of towels. This safely contained pack is then applied directly to the exposed area in need of treatment. The heat of the hot pack provides several valuable benefits; it relaxes muscles, causing the tissue to relax; it decreases pain, caused by muscle tension and spasms; it increases circulation to the blood vessels of the area through vasodilation.

Our patients suffering from muscle pains, arthritis, and spasms often benefit the most from hot pack treatments.

Family of Caring is Physical Therapy

From Dictionary.com: Physical Therapy is the treatment or management of physical disability, malfunction, or pain by exercise, massage, hydrotherapy, etc., without the use of medicines, surgery, or radiation.

The ultimate goal of physical therapy is to restore maximal functional independence to each individual patient. At Family of Caring, our goal is so much more than just that. We are dedicated to ensuring that each individual achieves superior clinical outcomes, with a speedy return to health and home.  Our Family of Caring Healthcare System currently consists of two health and rehabilitation centers that provide subacute care and rehabilitative services, catering to the needs of adults of any age.  Our continuum of care also includes long-term, respite and hospice care services.  Each of our centers has a unique character, with both providing an atmosphere of gracious elegance and hospitality where optimal independence and recovery is the priority.

Physical therapy is useful in treating many different medical disorders, from injuries to neurological and muscular illness, as well as cardiopulmonary diseases. Through patient and therapist interaction, Family of Caring’s physical therapy can help restore movement and function helping patients return to their prior level of independence.

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