The obvious answer to the question, How do Physical Therapy Assistants improve the lives of their patients? Is, Physical Therapist Assistants help their patients rehabilitate and heal after serious injury.
But in reality PTAs help their patients’ live better lives in a number of ways and more and more research is showing this. Here are just a few of the ways Physical Therapy Assistants are helping their patients live better lives.
Improved Quality of Life
Physical Therapist Assistants are truly movement experts. Patients not only heal the injury they come into a PT Clinic for treatment on. Patients typically walk away from Physical Therapy more flexible than before and with pain free movement which improves their quality of life.
By moving more fluidly with less pain patients are able to be more active and less depressed, earning higher wages and more able to pursue their leisure activities. Without Physical Therapy many patients would be stuck immobile spending much of their time sitting. And recent studies show that prolonged sitting is unhealthy.
Reduced Risk of Illness, Disease, and Injury
Just being able to be active helps prevent obesity which is the cause for 18% of adult deaths!
Other disease risk is reduced from physical therapy treatment, such as stroke and heart attack. The ability to balance is also improved which helps reduce the risk of falling and getting injured. Or even worse for elderly this could prevent falling and possibly dying.
Avoided Surgery and Prescription Drugs
Although many patients come to physical therapy treatment for a specific injury, perhaps sports related or from an accident, increasing research is proving the many applications of physical therapy treatment.
For example back surgeries can be avoided and physical therapy treatments can heal back pain. This is becoming more and more common for doctors to recommend physical therapy prior to back surgery.
Avoiding surgeries and healing injuries through physical therapy treatment often also help patients avoid prescription drugs. Many patients who are on prescription drugs for chronic back pain are able to stop taking them during their physical therapy treatment once they have progressed past a certain point.
So, now are you starting to see how physical therapy assistants can really change and improve patient’s lives? Physical Therapy is a growing field because of how effective physical therapy treatment is.
Learn more about Physical Therapy Assistants and what they do at their jobs.
If you are a PTA then leave us a comment and let us know how you change your patients’ lives 🙂
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