Muscle and joint pain can be debilitating. Common symptoms of this particular type of pain can involve twitching or burning of the muscles and achy, stiff joints. It can also cause you to lose sleep. This pain can become chronic. Relying solely on pain medications for relief can be a quick fix and also have undesirable longterm consequences.
Physical therapists and other healthcare professionals are always in search of conditions that they can treat with the least invasive, most cost-effective, evidence based methods. The intention on these techniques are to provide relief and comfort to patients while preventing prolonged recovery times due to surgery and painkillers dependency. Strengthening muscles and stretching is a recommended approach to relieving neck and back pain associated with musculoskeletal disorders. Strengthening the muscles improves mobility and has been demonstrated to reduce pain.
Part of a therapist’s approach to improving patients’ mobility is by identifying weaknesses in movements that cause patients to overcompensate. Certain exercises will be recommended to balance the strain on joints and muscles, sometimes with the use of special machines or resistance bands. Exercise based prescriptions, tailor made for the client as well as Physical Therapy can be more effective than other ‘quick’ solutions such as strong painkillers and invasive surgery.
