Physical Therapy Falls Church, VA

Physical therapy is a great treatment option to start with if you suffer from joint pain. It can help you restore function in your joints, recover from an injury, prevent future injuries, and maintain your overall health. Our Falls Church, VA physical therapy specialists can help you address the pain you’ve been dealing with. With a qualified PT to provide treatment for you, AmeriWell Clinics can identify the source of your pain so that you can obtain the best results possible. We work closely with new patients to create personalized plans designed to relieve or eliminate their pain. We have 13 clinics in the Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia area. Contact us today to set up an appointment with one of our client-recommended PTs. 

Common Physical Therapy Exercises

The goal of physical therapy is to stimulate pain-free movement. Thus, our work focuses on the body as a whole–not just the neck, back, or certain ligaments.

Our physical therapists will develop an exercise program for you to do at home for several weeks. Combined with ice, rest, compression, and elevation, they should help to alleviate your pain and help accelerate your recovery. Keeping up with exercises such as wall slides, hip abduction exercises, and quad flexes at home can help reduce aches and pain, strengthen your muscles, and improve your flexibility.

The wall slide helps to strengthen your quads, glutes, and calves. If these muscles are weak, it can cause knee pain to develop. Stand next to a wall and press your back against it, with your feet spread shoulder-width apart. Slowly slide down, keeping your back pressed against the wall until your legs are at a 90-degree angle. Pay attention to your breathing and keep it consistent throughout the exercise.

For hip abduction exercises, you will need a soft yoga mat that you can lie down on. Lie down on your side with your legs extended. Point your toes to the side and slowly raise your leg until you feel your hip flex. Hold the position for three to five seconds, then return to your starting position. You can have your leg that is on the mat bent slightly to keep yourself stable. Repeat the exercise ten times for three sets.

Keeping your quads flexible can help you minimize pain in your knee. Stand on one leg and hold your foot on the other leg. You can hold onto a chair or wall for support. Pull your foot until you feel a stretch in your quadriceps muscles or front of your thigh. It should be a light to moderate stretch that should not cause pain or discomfort. Hold for ten seconds and repeat on the other side.

Reasons to Seek Physical Therapy

If you are feeling sore, experiencing aches in your muscles, or recovering from surgery, you should consider visiting a physical therapist. There are many benefits to working with our Falls Church physical therapy specialists, including but not limited to: 

Avoiding Surgery

Surgery is expensive. Many people find themselves in medical debt long after their operations. Fortunately, that doesn’t have to be you. Did you know that regular physical therapy sessions are a great alternative to surgery? If you have muscle aches, neck pains, or other injuries, consider trying a physical therapist first. Routine physical therapy sessions are known to alleviate many ailments that otherwise require surgery. Thus, more and more people are using physical therapists’ recommendations so that their bodies heal naturally, without having to get on the operation table.

Aside from healing naturally, you can avoid the risk of unsightly post-operation scars and infections. A physical therapist will never have to cut you open (although your therapist will inform you when you’ve reached your maximum recovery and whether surgery is necessary for further mobility and pain reduction). Rather, your therapist will assess you and create a workout regimen to improve your mobility, minimize inflammation, and reduce pain.

Preventing Injury

As suggested above, many patients wait until an issue manifests before scheduling an appointment. Did you know that seeking physical therapy is a strategic preventative step to avoid injury? Yes, that is correct. Physical therapy can decrease the likelihood of you suffering injuries in the first place.

For example, suppose that you know you’ll join a local soccer team. You can start setting up PT appointments now. Remember that physical therapists are licensed professionals specializing in preventing and treating pain. Thus, they know better than your soccer coach which stretches are ideal for your body. Your sports coach will have the team do the same workouts, but some of these workouts may not target your weak areas nor increase your bodily functions to maximum capacity. Visiting a therapist will ensure that you’re less likely to hurt yourself playing sports.

Increasing Health

Physical therapists do more than improve your mobility. We improve your health as well. Some patients have experienced improvements in managing their diabetes, kidney problems, and more. Remember, targeted stretches increase blood circulation. The fluidity of blood circulation affects your organs. Stretches are also exercises that boost your metabolism and promote weight loss. Therefore, better health is a common benefit of regular physical therapy.

Better Mobility

As we age, our bones and muscles are negatively impacted. Bone density and sore muscles promote poor posture. Poor posture can become permanent, exacerbating your aches and increasing the likelihood of injuries. But bad posture isn’t only a result of aging. Working from home often results in people not realizing they’re hurting their skeleton’s makeup.

For example, if work requires you to sit at a desk all day, you’re probably prone to holding your neck in a certain position. You may arch your back towards your computer. You may sit with your shoulders rounded. Even if you work outside the home, straining your neck to text can cause neck pains. Whatever the issue, we can help you.

What We Can Do For You

AmeriWell Clinics offers treatment, guidance, and support. The treatment offered has seen many people restore function to parts of their body that have become difficult to use over time or after an injury. The support we offer is through their exercise plans to restore function and form in a person’s limbs, muscles, tendons, or other areas in need of care from physical therapy.

Benefits of Physical Therapy

• Avoid Risky, Costly Surgery

Surgery is expensive. Many people find themselves in medical debt long after their operations. Fortunately, that doesn’t have to be you. Did you know that regular physical therapy sessions are a great alternative to surgery? If you have muscle aches, neck pains, or other injuries, consider trying a physical therapist first. Routine physical therapy sessions are known to alleviate many ailments that otherwise require surgery. Thus, more and more people are using physical therapists’ recommendations so that their bodies heal naturally, without having to get on the operation table.

Aside from healing naturally, you can avoid the risk of unsightly post-operation scars and infections. A physical therapist will never have to cut you open (although your therapist will inform you when you’ve reached your maximum recovery and whether surgery is necessary for further mobility and pain reduction). Rather, your therapist will assess you and create a workout regimen to improve your mobility, minimize inflammation, and reduce pain.

• Increase Your Health

Physical therapy improves your health. Did you know that some patients experience improvements in their diabetes, kidney, and heart? Targeted stretches increase blood circulation. The fluidity of blood circulation affects your organs. Stretches are exercises, which boost your metabolism and promote weight loss. Therefore, better health is a common benefit to routine physical therapy sessions.

• Improve Your Mobility

As we age, our bones and muscles are negatively impacted. Bone density and sore muscles increase bad posture. Unfortunately, poor posture can become permanent. Having bad posture long term will exacerbate your aches and increase the likelihood of injuries. But bad posture isn’t only a result of aging. Working from home often results in people not realizing they’re damaging their skeleton’s makeup.

For example, if work requires you to sit at a desk all day, you’re probably prone to holding your neck in a certain position. You may arch your back towards your computer. You may sit with your shoulders rounded. Even if you work outside the home, straining your neck to text can cause neck pains. Thankfully, if you have a mobility issue, our physical therapy clinic can help you.

• Prevent Possible Injury

As suggested above, many patients wait until an issue manifests before scheduling an appointment. Did you know that seeking physical therapy is a strategic preventative step to avoid injury? Yes, that is correct. Physical therapy can decrease the likelihood of you suffering injuries in the first place.

For example, suppose that you know you’ll join a local soccer team. You can start setting up PT appointments now. Remember that physical therapists are licensed professionals specializing in preventing and treating pain. Thus, they know better than your soccer coach which stretches are ideal for your body. Your sports coach will have the team do the same workouts, but some of these workouts may not target your weak areas nor increase your bodily functions to maximum capacity. Having therapy can help ensure that you’re less likely to hurt yourself playing sports.

Physical Therapy Statistics

According to a study published in the Journal of Physical Therapy Science, researchers found that physical therapy was effective at reducing pain in people with a variety of conditions, including low back pain, neck pain, and shoulder pain, in some people up to 80 percent.

Falls Church Physical Therapy Infographic

FAQs

When Should I Seek Out Physiotherapy?

You may wonder when you should schedule an appointment for physiotherapy. How bad do your injuries need to be? How restricted should your muscle movements be before you come to us? Unless your doctor tells you otherwise, you should come to us as soon as you start feeling pain or stiffness. Don’t wait for the problems to worsen. The earlier the appointment, the earlier the detection, and the better the prevention and pain reduction.

Most of our clients come to us after suffering an injury, such as from a car crash or slip and fall, or after surgery. Even plastic surgery can leave you stiff and improper movement post-surgery can promote fibrosis. Our licensed physiotherapists will assess your limited movements. Then, we’ll develop a personalized plan for you. We will do targeted stretches with you and demonstrate how to move correctly to reduce your pain.

How Much Schooling Do Physical Therapists Generally Have?

Physical therapists typically have a 4-year undergraduate degree in subjects like kinesiology, exercise science, and other similar degrees. Once they graduate from their undergraduate program they then enroll in a 3-year physical therapy program where they receive a physical therapy doctorate degree or DPT. This means that the total school they generally have is 6 to 7 years. They learn an assortment of important lessons, information, and practices in these programs that provide the foundation for them to become a physical therapist.

What Do Physical Therapists Learn In Their Training?

Physical therapists learn the important skills and tactics that they will use throughout their practicing physical therapy career during their schooling and subsequent training that they may have. This training and schooling teaches them all about the different ways of helping people restore functionality and comfort to limbs, muscles, and other parts of the body that are affecting them negatively. They also learn how to successfully communicate with patients who are suffering from a variety of different conditions.

What Injuries May Need Physical Therapy?

There are numerous injuries that generally require the service of a physical therapist. Injuries, where a strain, sprain, or tear has occurred, will heal faster when a physical therapist is able to assist. Soft tissue injuries that affect muscles, tendons, and ligaments also may require physical therapy to heal. These injuries may result in pain, swelling, bruising, loss of motion, spasms, and a loss of functionality. Some examples of these injuries include ACL tears, shin splints, rotator cuff injuries, and a variety of others that may occur from over-exertion on different muscles and tendons.

How Do Tears, Sprains, And Other Injuries Needing Physical Therapy Generally Occur?

Many injuries can occur in the workplace or even at home. Simple trip and fall injuries can sometimes do significant damage to someone’s body. Other places where injuries occur are from participating in sports. Tennis players, baseball players, and soccer players put enormous stress on their arm muscles and leg muscles when participating in a match or practice. This stress leads to many injuries that require physical therapy.

Why Should I See A Physical Therapist For Prevention?

A physical therapist can perform screenings for orthopedic dysfunctions and help determine your likelihood of injury before an injury happens. They can then prescribe exercises you can do at home to help reduce the risk of injury. There is plenty of research that shows the connection between physical therapy and the prevention of ACL tears and lower fall risk in people susceptible to falls. It can also help those who are physically active prevent injuries from overuse of their muscles.

Why Should I See A Physical Therapist For Headaches Or Jaw Pain?

If you want to avoid medication, then contacting a physical therapist about headaches that won’t go away and jaw pain can be beneficial. They will be able to investigate what is causing the problem and be able to create interventions to address the poor movement patterns. It could be that your headaches and jaw pain are caused by clenching of the jaw. A physical therapist can help you with exercises to reduce clenching and relax your jaw.  It is important to note that it may not work for everyone, but many have found that learning jaw exercise has reduced their pain.

Why Is It Important To Follow Through With All Scheduled Appointments?

Just because you are feeling better, doesn’t mean that you should stop going to your appointments. Many people stop coming when they feel that everything is good enough and they feel better. It is great that you feel that way, but to ensure that you reduce the risk of re-injury you should follow through with all your appointments. The goal of physical therapy is to help you recover and reduce the risk of re-injury. By following through with all the appointments made, you can know that you are making the fullest recovery possible. 

AmeriWell Clinics, Falls Church Physical Therapy

5985 Columbia Pike Suite 100 Falls Church, VA 22041

Contact Us Today

Stretching your muscles and doing strengthening exercises can help you get rid of chronic pain. It’s important to keep these muscles engaged so that your joints, tendons, and ligaments are functioning properly. Our Falls Church physical therapists work closely with many attorneys to assist clients in their personal injury claims as well. If you are suffering from pain that has not gone away, you may benefit from physical therapy. Schedule a consultation at AmeriWell Clinics to learn more about the benefits our treatment can deliver.