How Physical Therapy Rewires Your Muscle Memory

Physical therapy is a widely known tool that helps people recover from injuries, chronic musculoskeletal conditions, and even strokes. The goal of treatment is to improve functionality by increasing strength, balance, and flexibility through exercises and rehabilitation.

But the true secret behind physical therapy lies in how it reprograms muscle memory. It allows you to regain function through neuroplasticity.

If you need physical therapy, our team at Integrated Body and Medicine in the greater Hammond, Indiana, area offers physical medicine and rehabilitation services. We specialize in holistic, minimally invasive treatments to help you feel your best.

Understanding neuroplasticity

Neuroplasticity is a term that describes how the brain evolves and learns through experience or training. Essentially, the brain forms new neural pathways through past experiences and specific training to improve itself.

Neuroplasticity can involve both functional and structural changes. Functional changes typically result from brain damage, while structural changes occur as a result of learning something new.

If you break down the word neuroplasticity, you get neuro and plasticity. Neuro refers to the neurons in the brain that make up the nervous system. Plasticity refers to the brain's ability to change through learning.

Neuroplasticity plays a crucial role in many circumstances, including after an injury. When you're living with a musculoskeletal issue, physical therapy is one of the ways we retrain your brain to improve muscle memory and functionality.

Ways physical therapy rewires your muscles

Physical therapy is an excellent way to rewire the musculoskeletal system after living with a chronic condition or injury. It rewires your muscle memory, which allows you to heal effectively through neuroplasticity.

But how exactly does physical therapy rewire the brain? There are several ways it works to create neuroplasticity for the muscles, including:

Repetitive exercises

Physical therapy involves repetitive exercises to enhance neuroplasticity. Consistently practicing specific exercises is the driving force behind neuroplasticity and muscle memory. These exercises can reactivate dormant or damaged neural pathways to improve functionality.

Neuromuscular re-education

Physical therapy also involves neuromuscular re-education to retrain the nervous system. It focuses on muscle coordination and control to promote effective healing. We also utilize specific exercises to allow the muscles and brain to learn to work together again.

Activity-specific exercises

We focus on the area of concern to force the brain to rewire itself for neuromuscular improvement. We offer activity-specific exercises and goals to reinforce the neurons that aid in the motor control of the limbs and muscles.

Sensory integration

Sensory integration techniques are a vital aspect of physical therapy. These techniques enable you to process sensory information more effectively following an injury or health condition. We offer various techniques to stimulate the senses, allowing the brain to develop and refine sensory and motor skills.

The result is an improvement in movement with repetition of these exercises through neuroplasticity.

Proprioceptive training

Balance and coordination are essential aspects of physical therapy. Proprioceptive training helps your body relearn its position in any space. Our physical therapy program incorporates specific balancing and coordination exercises to retrain your brain in proprioceptive awareness.

Physical therapy rewires muscle memory through repetition and neuroplasticity. The activities we provide also strengthen existing neural connections that control motor skills. And it provides feedback to help the brain relearn motor and sensory skills.

Anyone with a musculoskeletal or neuro condition can benefit from physical therapy to improve motor, sensory, and overall functionality of the musculoskeletal system.

To schedule a physical medicine appointment, please call our office in the greater Highland and Hammond, Indiana, area today or use our convenient scheduling tool.