Physiotherapy helps your elderly family member to regain or to keep her strength, flexibility, and function. With May being National Physiotherapy Month, your elderly family member could benefit from working with a physical therapist on issues that she’s having.
Stretches
Stretching is a great way for your senior to loosen up tight muscles and joints. Proper stretching can also help her to regain mobility and heal from injuries. It may also help her to avoid injuring herself in her regular daily activities and during exercise. Stretching every day is a good way for her to improve range of motion, too.
Balance Exercises
Older adults tend to lose their ability to balance well as they age. This is especially true if your elderly family member is less mobile than she used to be. By performing the right balance exercises with a physiotherapist, your elderly family member can regain some of the balance that she’s lost. It also may help her to avoid a fall.
Resistance Exercises
Resistance exercises enable your elderly family member to regain muscle tone. These can be easier than other types of strength training exercises and they offer your senior results that she can use immediately. Strength training can also help your senior to avoid falling.
Relaxation and Massage Therapy
Stress is a huge issue for most people, even your senior. Learning how to relax and how to let go of stress has tremendous benefits for your senior’s overall physical well-being, too. Massage therapy can also loosen up tight muscles and joints, leading to pain relief.
Gait Training
Gait training is important if your elderly family member has been immobile for a long time due to injury or illness. This involves helping your senior to walk properly, with the right body movements to safely propel her as she moves.
Posture Correction
If your elderly family member has back pain, a dowager’s hump, or posture that is causing her issues, then posture correction is another type of exercise that a physiotherapist can help her master. Correcting postural issues eases strain on the back, reducing pain. Your elderly family member may even find that she’s better able to be as mobile as she wants to be.
Physiotherapy can do a lot for your senior, but it also relies on her doing exercises when she’s at home, too. Elderly care providers can help to ensure that your senior is safe while she’s practicing these moves outside of her physiotherapy sessions.