Physical therapists use a variety of equipment to treat the injuries of their patients and hasten them to recovery. Some products are highly specialized, while others are fairly common pieces of exercise equipment used to strengthen the legs and help them recuperate from injury.
Exercise Bikes
When deemed appropriate by a licensed physical therapist, an ordinary exercise bike can be an effective therapy tool. Upright models with high seats can sometimes be difficult to mount when recovering from leg injuries, but there are several recumbent models that are easy to sit in and are closer to the ground, further reducing the odds of any injury from falling out. Exercise bikes also provide a low- to no-impact exercise, often with fully adjustable resistance. This type of exercise builds and tones muscles, increases endurance and helps train muscle coordination. In addition to exercise bikes designed for traditional exercise, there also are models designed specifically for physical therapy. These are often modular in design, allowing freestanding pedals to be positioned directly in front of almost any sitting surface, even a wheelchair. Many of these models also have motorized pedals that can turn patients' feet in a cycling movement for them to increase lower extremity blood circulation and get accustomed to the movement.
Treadmills
As with exercise bikes, ordinary treadmills like those used in gyms are used in approved physical therapy treatments. Treadmills typically allow full control over speed and incline, and also help build muscle tone, endurance and coordination. Since this exercise is slightly higher impact, patients sometimes need to work up to a level where treadmill exercise is appropriate. There also are special models of treadmills designed for physical therapy applications. One type is designed to provide a lower-impact walking experience, with a moving path surface that sinks under the user's weight, much like a treadmill, to absorb some of the shock of each step. Another more elaborate type is a moving walkway at the bottom of a tank of water. Users walk along this path while submerged up to about their waists, providing additional resistance while simultaneously reducing some of the impact.
Resistance Bands
Resistance bands may be made of rubber, elastic or springs, and are used to provide physical resistance that increases with expended effort. There are a variety of leg exercises that can be performed with resistance bands, and since the difficulty of each repetition is directly related to the amount of effort put forth, these pieces of equipment can help reduce overexertion, which can cause a setback in rehabilitation.
References
- "The American Physical Therapy Association Book of Body Maintenance and Repair"; Steve Vickery, Marilyn Moffat; 1999
- "Introduction to Physical Therapy for Physical Therapist Assistants"; Olga Dreeben; 2006
- "Physical Therapy Aide: A Worktext"; Roberta C. Weiss; 1998
