Would you you or your loved one enjoy moving again? Would you like to run, play golf, keep up with your grandkids or engage in any activities after injury, trauma or medical condition that limits your mobility or impairs body function? Or would you like to regain your strength, stability, coordination or balance after suffering a debilitating neurological, aging-related, metabolic or orthopedic condition?
If so, then medical exercise therapy is ideal for you.
Medical Exercise Therapy (MET) refers to an organized exercise program prescribed as a treatment protocol to achieve an optimal level of physical fitness, relieve musculoskeletal and mobility dysfunction, alleviate symptoms associated with specific ailments or conditions, and regain normal physical functioning after suffering an injury or when recovering from a disease. The goal of medical exercise therapy is to improve independence, enhance sensory function, reduce pain and boost the overall quality of life. The emphasis is on increasing exercise tolerance, normalizing muscle imbalance, improving coordination and enhancing range of motion.
What is a typical medical exercise therapy plan?
MET is a physical workout program that involves a broad range of exercises devised to improve the function of muscles, organs and nerves. The treatment is based on scientifically proven exercise techniques that meet the individual needs and abilities of patients. The exercises range from simple breathing moves to high-speed walking on a treadmill that are tailored to prevent secondary injury and speed up recovery.
The criteria for prescribing specific exercises depends on the patient’s diagnosis, physical ability and age—though, in every case, the therapist crafts a plan that addresses the specific concerns, pain and dysfunctions of individual patients. For instance, to improve strength and endurance, exercises for enhancing muscular function are prescribed. Likewise, to improve coordination, exercises with many repetitions are used, but with emphasis on correct execution. Equally, to loosen contracted muscles and tendons, improve joint mobility and reduce rigidity, exercises for enhanced range of motion are designed to exploit the patient’s range of motion and control movement around physiological axes.
The specific exercises can be generalized aerobic or strength training, but condition-specific training may also be necessary in some cases. A good example of condition-specific training is a series of specific movements for promoting good physical health, such as strengthening the lower back muscles in patients with lower back pain or pelvic floor muscle exercises in patients with urinary incontinence.
Examples of exercises commonly included in therapeutic programs are:
- Stretching exercises
- Free weight exercises
- Resistance band exercises
- Flexibility training
- Endurance exercises
- Pilates exercises
- Yoga exercises
- Aquatic exercises
- Body weight exercises
- Foam roller exercises
- Resistance machine exercises
- Plyometric exercises
So who can benefit from medical exercise therapy?
- A patient who is injured.
- A patient recovering from surgery.
- A patient suffering from metabolic diseases, diabetes, cancer, asthma, emphysema, COPD, scoliosis or Parkinson’s disease.
- A patient experiencing chronic joint, muscle or tendon pain and discomfort.
- A patient with arthritis.
- A patient with musculoskeletal disorders or conditions that affect balance and coordination.
When properly administered, medical exercise therapy helps patients to:
- Regain movement, endurance and strength after injury or illness.
- Enjoy improved quality and efficiency of movement.
- Loosen contracted muscles and tendons, improve joint mobility and reduce rigidity.
- Achieve improved circulation, ambulation and respiratory capacity.
- Treat pain and decreased motion.
- Recover from injury or trauma.
- Recover from stroke or paralysis.
- Manage age-related medical problems.
- Have improved balance and reduced risk of falls.
- Restore function to the individual in order to enjoy a more active lifestyle.
The Positive Effects of Medical Exercise Therapy (MET)
- Significant reduction in pain
Exercise therapy alters a patient’s perception of pain, elevating pain threshold and improving pain tolerance. In fact, in conditions such as arthritis, the therapy significantly reduces pain symptoms. This is why patients often enroll in therapeutic exercise programs with chronic pain stemming from various causes, but gradually overcome their pain, build stability and grow strength. And eventually, they are able to enjoy more vigorous activity again. Interestingly, the effect of therapeutic exercise is stronger with more than 12 directly supervised training sessions than with fewer exercise sessions.
- Improved function and reduced disability in orthopedic patients
MET is an effective treatment for musculoskeletal injuries that involve muscles, ligaments, tendons, bones and fascia. It is ideal for medical conditions such as tendonitis, fractures, sprains, bursitis, and chronic medical problems. For example, therapeutic exercise involving low-intensity stretching and mild walking is greatly protective against post-surgery infections in patients recovering from surgery.
Likewise, patients with osteoporosis enjoy improved strength and tolerance when therapeutic exercise is administered. However, in such patients, low-impact weight bearing exercises are recommended, particularly if they are at risk of pathological fractures due to low bone density. Still, caution must be taken when making sudden or twisting movements during such a program.
- Reduces disability and increases independence in older people
For older people who develop conditions affecting their mobility and physical function, including osteoporosis, arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease, incontinence, balance disorders, and hip and joint replacement, therapeutic exercise helps to restore mobility, increase physical fitness levels and reduce pain. The exercises are modified to suit the level of endurance, stage of recovery, ability and severity of the condition.
- Improves cardiovascular performance and reduce the risk of cardiac mortality
In patients with cardiopulmonary conditions, MET increases physical stamina and endurance and lowers blood pressure levels. Actually, therapeutic exercise improves heart rate variability in patients with coronary artery disease and reduces total cardiac mortality by 31-percent.
- Boosts wound healing, vestibular restoration and pelvic floor rehabilitation
Therapeutic exercises improve blood circulation, delivering adequate oxygen and blood to wounds. Hence, the use of manual therapy, compression therapy, electric stimulation and wound care exercises promote the healing of wounds. Similarly, balance and coordination problems due to inner ear conditions are improved by various manual techniques and exercises.
MET is also effective in treating fecal and urinary incontinence, pelvic pain and urinary urgency in men and women, triggered by injuries, surgery or certain conditions. For patients with accumulated fluid due to lymphedema and other conditions characterized by fluid accumulation, therapeutic exercise helps to drain the fluid and speed up healing.
- Improves neurological and pediatric conditions
MET increases limb responsiveness, treats paralysis and reduces muscular atrophy. As a result, the exercises help with conditions such as brain injury, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, stroke, spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy and Alzheimer’s disease. Besides, therapeutic exercise is effective in treating and managing various conditions in infants, children and adolescents, including cerebral palsy, developmental delays, torticollis, spina bifida, and other conditions affecting the musculoskeletal system.
- Reduced fatigue
MET improves muscle strength and aerobic functional capacity without harmful effects. It reduces depressive syndromes, enhances sleep and is better than antidepressants in alleviating fatigue.
At FYZICAL Sarasota Downtown, we deliver safe and effective medical therapy programs to patients with specific conditions. The medical conditions may be orthopedic in nature, such as post joint replacement or post-spinal surgery; neurological in nature, such as Parkinson’s disease or post-stroke; metabolic in nature, such as high blood pressure and diabetes; or balance challenges that accompany aging.
Our medical exercise treatment and physical therapy programs are personalized to respond to the unique needs of our patients. And each exercise regimen is crafted according to a patient’s injury, pain level and ability—and always tailor-made to deliver the best results for specific conditions and help patients get better as fast as possible.
When patients come to us, we assess their ability to move and we perform basic agility tests before designing appropriate exercise programs based on the patient’s individual needs, ability and medical limitations. We value our patients’ input about the intensity of their exercise treatment programs, with all exercises done at their comfort level.
Want to learn more about medical exercise therapy and whether it can work for you? Visit a FYICAL location near you for a consultation today.