What is Geriatric physical therapy ?

 Introduction: 

Data from the 2020 U.S. Census found that 1 in 6 Americans were 65 or older, creating a high demand for physical therapists specializing in treating older adults. These specialists are experts in working with conditions affecting aging patients, like arthritis, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Physical therapy for geriatric person is defined as treatment, prevention, restoration, accommodation and education about their health.

Physical changes related to normal aging is not diseases, people who live an active lifestyle lose less muscle mass and flexibility as they age. 

What is Geriatric Physical Therapy? 

For a person about 65 years of age it is important to maintain a good healthy lifestyle because after the age of 65 they used to have some physical and mental health related problems so to overcome that there is treatment called geriatric physical therapy. There are some common problems which an individual above age 65 faces during his/her life period, some of them are 

1. Loss of body balance and coordination

2. Decreased muscle strength

3. Lack of physical activity and poor sleep

4. Not able to perform their daily household activities and dependent on others

5. Muscular and joint pain

6. Unable to perform activities like bathing, dressing, toileting, eating and mainly depended on family members for this activity.

 It takes into account the unique issues and challenges that older adults face, such as decreased muscle strength, coordination, and reaction timing, and a lower tolerance for physical activity. Geriatric physical therapy focuses on building strength and endurance in older adults to help them maintain their independence in performing daily activities, prevent falls and related injuries, and keep them active.

Geriatric physical therapy can be performed in a variety of settings, including hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, assisted living facilities, and even at home. Most geriatric physical therapy is performed on an outpatient basis and covered by Medicare Part B. Home care services are also covered under Medicare Part B, while inpatient services are covered under Medicare Part A. For older adults not covered under Medicare, physical therapy can also be partially or fully covered by commercial insurance plans and state-funded Medicaid plans based on medical necessity.

So to overcome all this problems physical therapy is the correct choice of treatment and rehabilitation for the senior citizen or elderly patients.

Related article- how do you know when you need physical therapy?

What should be done by physical Therapist for elderly person ? 

There are some methods and techniques which are applied by physical therapist for the elderly patient to improve their lifestyle and also adds value to their life. Some of them are described below

1. For balance and coordination there is walking or gait training for the elderly person by physical therapist. Walking on ground surface or treadmill under the supervision of a physical therapist helps to improve body balance and coordination. Walking also aids in strengthening the legs and correction of posture, person feels independent when he/she walk without the use of Walker or stick and boost his/her level of  confidence.

2. Lightweight exercises can be helpful for the joint mobility and flexibility of the muscles which in turn reduces joint Stiffness and increase range of motion so that person can perform overhead shoulder activities and also bends forward and lifts weight from ground. 

3. Bridging exercises on the bed is helpful in core strengthening and trunk control which helps the aged person to get up from bed in a sitting position and from a sitting position to a standing position.

4. Deep breathing exercises helps to gain maximum oxygen in lungs and in turn increases lung volume capacity. It also facilitates blood circulation in our body in a normal pattern which is good for a healthy heart to function, and also reduces the chances of lung infection.

5. Physical Therapy modalities such as LASER, ultrasound, TENS help to reduce muscular and joint pain for the elderly person which encourages him/her to move freely and also doing more physical activity without any sort of pain.

6. Hands on manual technique performed by physical therapist in the form of stretching helps to reduce the tightness of muscle and gentle mobilization increases joint range of motion. All these techniques are performed by a licenced qualified Physical Therapist. 

7. Getting up from the bed to a upright standing position or climbing stairs is a big challenge for older adults which requires a lot of strength and balance in body to gain that position. So physical therapy will assist him/her in getting up to the required position to perform the daily activity task. Once it is mastered than there is no need for any external support and the elderly person can perform this movement independently. 

Conclusion: 

For an older adult to be independent and  live a good pain free lifestyle it is important for him/her to had a supervision of Physical Therapist by not getting bed ridden and dependent on others. 

I hope you like the above information helpful, so please let me know in the comment section