According to the American Physical Therapy Association, the goal of physical therapy is to prevent and treat movement and physical dysfunction, while promoting overall health. Physical therapy is a recommended form of treatment for a variety of injuries and illness that may benefit from specific restrictions as you resume your activities of daily living.
High Impact
Activities that increase the amount of pressure on your joints, such as running, hopping, jumping and high-impact aerobics, may be restricted after physical therapy. These activities create stress that can increase damage and pain. Back pain, arthritis and lower body cartilage injury may be aggravated by the increased force of high impact activities. Running, according to the American Society of Biomechanics, typically creates forces of more than two times your body weight.
Cutting and Agility
Cutting and agility activities, such as quickly changing directions, should be avoided if you have joint instability in your hips, knees and ankles. Strength and proprioceptive training, which is the ability to know where you are in space, can be developed to decrease risk, but excessive movement of the joint itself creates risk of further injury. As your joint "slides around" during these quick and forceful movements, increased stress is placed on the muscles, ligaments, tendons, bursa and cartilage.
Overhead
Shoulder injuries, both with and without surgical repair, may require avoiding overhead activities following physical therapy. According to MD Guidelines, patients with rotator cuff tears and repairs should not perform heavy or repetitive overhead activity, which is any activity that requires reaching your hands above the height of your head. These activities can include painting a ceiling, hanging curtains and throwing a ball. Impingement, which is inflammation due to pinching of the tendons, can also occur and be negatively affected by this type of motion. Repeatedly reaching overhead can create rubbing of the muscles against the acromion, which is the portion of the shoulder blade located on top of the shoulder, creating irritation and swelling.
Bending
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, excessive bending should be avoided on a regular basis if you have osteoporosis. Osteoporosis makes your bones brittle and forward bending creates increased stress on your spine.
Physical Therapy Injuries
Due to the guidelines and research set forth for rehabilitative purposes, injuries due to physical therapy itself are not common. In the event that an injury does occur, your activity limits will be decreased according to your symptoms. Decreasing functional activities, which include exercises such as side to side hopping and balancing on a board while playing catch, may be necessary if you have increased pain or injury. Strength training activities may be reduced by decreasing the amount of weight or repetitions. Activities can be adjusted by limiting the amount of range of motion that you perform during each movement. Reassessment throughout your rehabilitative program is key to determining which activities can be added and which should be limited.
References
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: Physical Activity Limitations for Certain Medical Conditions
- American Society of Biomechanics; Ground Reaction Forces Between Running Shoes, Racing Flats and Distance Spikes in Runners; Suzanna Logan, et al.; 2007
- Kids Health: Physical Therapy
- MD Guidelines: Rotator Cuff Tear
