Diabetes can affect anyone at any age, and can be related to physical problems such as weakness, loss of endurance, obesity, balance problems, and sedentary lifestyle. Physical activity and exercise are important and effective ways to lower high blood glucose levels. Physical therapists help people with diabetes improve or avoid related problems, and can teach sedentary people how to add physical activity to their daily lives in safe, effective, and enjoyable ways.
Our goal is your goal–to help improve your quality of life.
Treatment and Control of Diabetes
Diabetes mellitus is a worldwide health problem characterized by the body’s inability to break down sugar due to an inefficiency of the hormone insulin.
According to the American Diabetes Association, the toll of diabetes is significant if left unchecked.
- Two out of three people with diabetes die from heart disease or stroke.
- Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure.
- Diabetes is the leading cause of new cases of blindness among adults.
- The rate of amputation for people with diabetes is 10 times higher than for people without diabetes. About 60-70 percent of people with diabetes have mild to severe forms of nerve damage that could result in pain in the feet or hands, slowed digestion, sexual dysfunction and other nerve problems.
Role of the Physical Therapist in Diabetes
Physical activity, healthy nutrition and stress management are important factors in the prevention and treatment of diabetes. Your physician may prescribe medication to assist with the treatment of diabetes.
Your physical therapist can create a safe, progressive exercise program that enables your body to become more sensitive to insulin and effectively remove extra glucose from your bloodstream. The goal is to normalize your blood glucose levels and improve your hemoglobin A1C readings.
Here are just some of the benefits of regular physical activity:
- Decrease in blood pressure and cholesterol levels
- Reduces the risk for heart disease and stroke
- Increase in calorie expenditure to enable weight loss
- Strengthening of the heart and better blood circulation
- Strengthening of muscles and bones.
You can experience all these benefits after you consult with your physical therapist.
Five Tips for Safe Exercise
Your treatment program can help improve your:
Motion. Your physical therapist will choose specific activities and treatments to help restore normal movement. These might begin with “passive” motions that the physical therapist performs for you to gently move your joints, and progress to “active” exercises and stretches that you do yourself.
Strength. Your physical therapist will choose and teach you the correct exercises and equipment to use to steadily and safely restore your strength.
Flexibility. Your physical therapist will determine if any muscles are tight, begin to help you gently stretch them, and teach you stretches that you can do yourself.
Endurance. Regaining your endurance is important. If you are suffering from weakness due to inactivity, your physical therapist ill teach you exercises to improve endurance, so you can return to normal activities.
Balance and coordination. Regaining your sense of balance is important in order to prevent falling. Your physical therapist will teach you exercises to improve your balance ability. Coordination is also essential for daily and work activities. Your physical therapist can teach you exercises and movements that restore your coordination.
Pain levels. Physical therapy treatment is a safe way to treat chronic pain. Your physical therapist may use different types of treatments and technologies, and choose the most effective and safe exercises for you to perform to control and reduce pain. If you have diabetic nerve pain (neuropathy), your physical therapist can teach you how to protect painful areas and make them less sensitive.
Home exercise. Your physical therapist will teach you strengthening, stretching, and aerobic exercises to perform on your own at home. These exercises will be specific for your needs; if you do them as prescribed by your physical therapist, you can speed your recovery.
If Surgery Is Required
If a part of your body, such as your foot or lower leg, becomes too damaged by high blood glucose levels and the effects of diabetes requires amputation, your physical therapist can help you prepare for surgery and recover from it afterward. Your physical therapist can help you manage pain, heal faster, learn how to use any needed prosthetics, regain your walking ability, and get back to being physically active as soon as possible.
