keeping the peace during a nursing home transition

Many nursing homes offer their residents access to physical therapy. This is usually included as part of their routine medical care, and there will be multiple physical therapists and assistants there to offer therapy for patients each day. This can be very beneficial to the elder residents for a variety of reasons. This article will discuss three reasons why elderly people in nursing homes should take advantage of physical therapy. 

It Can Provide Several Health Benefits

While physical therapy is great for young people in sports, or those who are trying to recover from surgery, it is also great for all elderly people. As people get older, their muscles weaken and atrophy due to lack of use. However, physical therapy can help to stop this process and allow the elderly person to feel somewhat more youthful in terms of their mobility. Physical therapy can also help to reduce some pain that elderly people may be feeling because it can strengthen the areas of the body that are usually in pain due to the load that they have to carry. The elderly person may also feel that they are stronger overall, as well as more flexible, simply due to the fact that they are working these muscles on a regular basis and building them up. 

It Is a Good Alternative to Surgery

Sometimes an elderly person either may not want to go through surgery, or they may not be a good candidate for it. If this is the case, then physical therapy may be the next best thing. In a nursing home, the elderly person is going to be able to sit down with a physical therapist and have them create a therapy plan that is fitted just to them and their specific needs. For example, if they need surgery on their knees, but this just isn't in the cards, the physical therapist can create different therapeutic exercises to help strengthen the knees and surrounding areas without causing any more pain or damage to them. 

They Can Receive Help as Often as Needed 

A simple benefit to living in a nursing home is the fact that the elderly person is going to be able to get physical therapy sessions as often as they need, without having to travel anywhere. The physical therapist and/or the physical therapy assistant will come to the elderly person, or the nurse will take the elderly person to the location where the physical therapy will take place. This makes it easy for the elderly person to complete all of the different therapy exercises that they need to, as often as they need to.