The purpose of physiotherapy treatment is to get you back to your full level of functioning. Physiotherapy management does involve passive treatment, stretches and modalities, however, the most important part of the treatment are the exercises that you are given. They are so important because it is the exercises that are going to train your body to work normally again so that you can meet all of your functional goals. This is especially true when it comes to core exercise training.
It is common to be scared to do too much after an injury. Exercise training can help re-teach your body that it is okay to do the movements that you found difficult or painful after your injury. When participating in an exercise program, there will be a gradual increase in difficulty throughout so that your body adapts but is not overstressed. Exercises will start off basic, and progress to being functional and more challenging. Functional exercises are important because they teach your body to adapt to many scenarios in any environment, which is the most practical for reaching your goals. If the exercises aren’t functional, your body will be taught that it is okay to move in a controlled environment, but the body will have difficulty adapting to uncontrolled environments. This may result in re-injury or prolonged symptoms. Exercise training can involve both one-on-one time with a therapist to teach and progress the exercises, and a home program to do daily. An exercise training program should be done daily so that the body has enough time and repetition to learn and heal.
Core exercise training is a very important component for rehabilitation. Core exercise training is directly helpful in decreasing low back pain, and it is also helpful for stabilizing your trunk for all movements that you do with your arms and legs. Strengthening your core can help improve the timing and strength of your core muscles when completing functional exercises. If you don’t have a strong enough core, the mechanics of many other exercises can be altered which may change the effectiveness of the exercises. So core exercise programs will often be added to many rehabilitation programs to keep your body coordinated and moving correctly.
The evidence behind using exercise therapy, include core exercise training, for injury rehabilitation is astonishing. For nearly any injury, if you look into the research for treatment, there is evidence to exercise. In the acute stages of an injury, exercising too intensely can worsen symptoms. Once the initial symptoms have subsided, there is evidence for many conditions that exercise is effective for helping achieve physiotherapy goals. By adding exercise to a rehabilitation program, you are able to become independent in your own rehab, taking control of your pain to get back to your normal self.