WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF CARDIAC PHYSIOTHERAPY?

Image 1: Physiotherapy for elderly, Source : easterncollege.ca

Cardiac physiotherapy is proven to be very effective in improving your heart’s health. Many researchers have found that people who have undertaken cardiac physiotherapy sessions after surgeries have reduced their chance of rehospitalization or death.
Early enrollment in cardiac physiotherapy programs have shown a reduction in risk of postoperative complications like blood clot formation, Deep vein thrombosis, muscular strength loss and respiratory complications.
The cardiac physiotherapy program can last for about 3-4 months to achieve complete recovery, however depending on the age and condition of the patient it can be extended accordingly. Attending the cardiac physiotherapy sessions provides long term health benefits by improving medical, physical and psychological health.

MEDICAL BENEFITS

Image 2: Benefits of cardiac physiotherapy, Source: mobilephysiotherapyclinic.in

Cardiac physiotherapy exercises are the easiest and the safest way of reducing the chances of heart related diseases. Long term physical activity lowers your resting heart rate and blood pressure, this helps in reducing risk of heart and circulatory diseases. You will experience a hike in heart rate values while exercising or performing certain activities. This is because the heart has to beat faster to provide more oxygen and nutrients to different parts of the body. Factors like age, intensity of exercise, medications and temperature can affect the heart’s immediate exercise heart rates.

We cannot conclude what blood pressure values are to be considered normal after exercise, as this varies from person to person. Regular activity helps in maintaining and improving blood pressure values, this is done by release of certain chemicals in our body like nitric oxide, this chemical broadens the blood vessels and helps in easy flow of the blood thereby reducing extra pressure on the walls of vessels and hence maintaining a normal blood pressure values. Systolic blood pressure value ranging from 160-200 mmHg after exercising is considered normal, stop your exercise and consult your cardiac physiotherapist if your bp surpasses 200mmHg, this can increase your risk of sudden heart problems. People with hypertension can have bp values up to 250mmHg during exercise this is called exercise hypertension, A state of increased blood pressure only during physical activity.

Oxygen saturation (SpO2) can be simply understood as the total percentage of total oxygen present in your blood. A value ranging between 95-100% is considered normal.
A lower saturation values are suggestive of poor oxygenation to the body. During exercise the oxygen level falls, and your body reacts to this by increasing the breathing rate. If still your body could not receive enough oxygen, your breathing becomes labored and you may discontinue exercising. Cardiac physiotherapy exercises help you to improve the oxygen uptake by your body by increasing the lungs and heart activity. Rapid breathing during exercise will increase the inflow of oxygenated air to the body. Regular cardiac physiotherapy exercises result in an increase in your oxygen saturation values.
You can measure your oxygen saturation using a pulse oximeter, it shines the infrared light into your blood vessels in your finger and measures the available hemoglobin containing oxygen.

If you are a type-2 diabetic person, cardiac physiotherapy is beneficial to you, as you have too much glucose within your blood because you don’t have enough insulin, these cardiac physio exercises will help you utilize the insulin you have in your body, also it help the body cells to use glucose even when there is no insulin. Sometimes when the body starts to function effectively medicinal dosage is reduced by your doctors after investigating all aspects of your health. Cardiac physiotherapy exercises also improve blood pressure values which in turn help your doctor in reducing the dosage of your BP medicines.

PHYSICAL BENEFITS

Image 3: Quality of living, Source: healthyhappyimpactful.com

Cardiac physiotherapy exercises result in improved physical benefits, these benefits are hard to ignore. If you want to feel energetic, improved and happy you must enroll in a cardiac physiotherapy program.

Regular physiotherapy exercise improves your quality of living and promotes early return to work by helping you manage your ideal weight through a weight reduction and diet plan, it helps to cut short your calories and maintain body fat ratio. These exercises help to combat various health conditions and diseases, it promotes emotional upliftment and confidence.

A better self esteem and improved confidence adds on to the quality of living. It Promotes better sleep and boosts energy, with this you will be able to perform more difficult and strenuous tasks easily. A weaker body will be a restriction to your happy life whereas a stronger body will allow you to perform maximum functions without getting tired easily. All these benefits help in improving the quality of your living.
You would be able to return back to your healthier self with regular cardio exercises. Early return to work post cardiac surgery is the main goal of cardiac physiotherapy exercises.

PSYCHOSOCIAL BENEFITS

Image 4: Mental health benefits of exercise, Source: priorygroup.com

Cardiac physiotherapy exercises can improve your memory and attention span. Over time the area of the brain involved with memory and learning gets bigger. Many people use exercise as a method of distraction and stress removal. This is because exercise makes you smile, as during exercise the brain produces certain chemicals called endorphins and dopamine, which when released in your blood, reduces the feeling of pain and makes you feel better and more positive. This helps in cutting down the hormones that cause stress and anxiety. Regular exercise will improve your sleeping patterns and help reduce your stress levels. No matter how hard your journey to recovery be, regular exercises will push you to achieve your realistic goals. You will be able to focus more on things as exercise helps release dopamine, which acts as a messenger between your brain and different body parts, your ability to focus and concentrate on things will boost up eventually.