Active Physical Therapy
Pain Management
Rehabilitation and Fitness Program

The Rehabilitation and Fitness Program at Active Physical Therapy is a functional restoration program and includes:

1. Stretching - to restore joint and soft tissue mobility
   
2. Strengthening - to restore weakened musculature, correct strength imbalance and reestablish stability
   
3. Functional motion - to learn proper ways to move; including posture and biomechanics
   
4. Aerobic training - to improve endurance, stamina and physical work capacity
   
5. Proprioceptive coordination - to improve awareness of posture, movement, and changes in equilibrium and the knowledge of position, weight, and resistance of objects in relation to the body
   
6. Relaxation training - to improve the ability to inhibit tension and learn ways to better control physiologic response to stress

The Rehabilitation and Fitness Program is a method of improving the health of an individual recovering from injury or illness that has caused the kinematic chain to become dysfunctional. The kinematic chain is a term used to describe the complex inter-working of the various parts of our body necessary to accomplish motion. The whole kinematic chain suffers when one of its links is injured.

Recent research has shown that even in the presence of a recent injury, prolonged bed rest is potentially more detrimental than the original injury because of the muscular debilitation (wasting) that occurs. Motion, general activity and specific exercise has been shown to greatly enhance the return to normal after an injury. Furthermore, pain may be decreased and a sense of well being is often obtained.

Addressing the whole body, the Rehabilitation and Fitness Program can produce a complete recovery of the body after injury. Using sports medicine principles that have been successful with athletic injuries, the injured “athlete” can return to full function, often at a higher level than before the injury.

Current physical therapy evaluative methods have given us the capability to test and objectively evaluate function. Physical therapists are now able to better identify the specific physical and functional problems and design specific therapeutic exercise programs to address those problems, safely, effectively and be able to measure progress.