As physical therapists, we are always on the lookout for new and innovative rehab tools to help our patients recover faster and more effectively. With so many new products on the market, it can be hard to know which ones are worth your time and money. That's why we've put together a list of the top 9 physical therapy rehab tools of 2023! These products are sure to help you get back to your old self in no time!
Theragun - By Therabody
The Therabody is revolutionizing physical therapy and rehabilitation from injury. With its fast-acting deep muscle massage technology, this device is a great way to reduce tension, reduce pain, and increase motion at any point in the rehab process. By using specific and powerful bursts of pressure to the affected areas while stimulating circulation throughout the body, it makes recovery easier and more efficient than ever. The Theragun is more of a percussion based massage device. We use the Theragun in our clinic to help reduce pain and general muscle stiffness prior to corrective exercise and performing our mobility programs. The Theragun can even be used on a daily basis for rehab, prehab, maintenance, and overall well being — allowing athletes the chance to achieve peak performance levels and limit risk of injury.
The Blazepod is the perfect device for anyone looking to improve their agility, proprioception, and reaction training. The Blazepods use lights of different colors to create reaction drills. These reaction drills can be done independently or while doing sports specific exercises. Whether you're hoping to improve your athletic performance, recover from an injury quickly, or just stay ahead of the game, you'll find the Blazepod is an ideal companion. Best of all, it's designed for portability and convenience so it's easy to take with you anywhere you go. So grab your Blazepod and let's get started on that training!
Hypervolt - By Hyperice
The Hypervolt device is making waves in the physical therapy and rehab world. This state-of-the-art technology provides massage-like vibration that penetrates deep into muscles, loosening them and providing real relief for those recovering from injury. What sets hypervolt apart from other recovery tools? It's intense yet controllable vibrations help you stay in control as your therapy progresses, allowing you to aim precisely at areas of discomfort that need extra attention. We use the Hypervolt to reduce muscle stiffness and we often use it on our patients while performing dynamic stretching. With Hypervolt in your corner, you can make sure nothing slows down your recovery from injury or sets back your progress toward a healthy lifestyle.
HECOstix are the perfect device for hand eye coordination and balance training! HECOstix are designed to challenge and excite users with a range of activities that work on improving hand and eye coordination. The HECOstix are made from top quality materials for improved safety and reliability and durability. We use the HECOstix in the clinic while doing balance and proprioceptive exercises. These devices create external focus and simulate a more realistic environment with distraction from the balance task.
Airbands blood flow restriction (BFR) training cuffs, can be a powerful tool in improving muscle hypertrophy and strength when properly utilized. Airbands training involves targeting specific muscle groups while restricting blood flow. These bands include a built in doppler and will auto calibrate to the blood pressure of the arm or leg you are using it on. Airbands have great utility in physical therapy due to the fact that we can get similar results in hypertrophy under ~30% of the load in early strengthening. We tend to use Airbands with post surgical patients and those who have highly irritated tendinopathy or long standing neural weakness. Airbands are an effective way to improve muscle size and strength much quicker than traditional strength training methods alone, making it a valuable addition to any physical therapy training program.
Theracentric - By Ventrk
Theracentric has been a crucial part of our patient experience in our clinic. Theracentric is a new age physical therapy home exercise program app. This app allows therapists to quickly shoot custom videos that can even feature the patient themself. The app allows our therapists to track progress with exercises and receive feedback from patients in real time. The app features videos that will walk to you through each exercise, time your rests, and help you track your reps and sets right from your phone.
Tindeq Progressor - By Tindeq
The Tindeq has been a key tool in our clinics for the last year. We have used the Tindeq as tool to help measure progress with muscle strength. With traditional physical therapy we tend to use a system called manual muscle testing. While this type of testing gives us a general idea of strength, it is unreliable between therapists and tends to under estimate strength loss. The Tindeq is an affordable option for dynamometers. These dynamometers are used to measure exact force production so that we can compare symmetry side to side and determine gains in strength over time.
Shuttle Press - By Shuttle Systems
The shuttle press is a leg press system that we use in our clinic for almost every lower extremity injury. This is different from a traditional leg press in that you are no inverted. This simulates a more natural squat pattern. We can use the Shuttle Press early on in the rehab process since we can take the weight very low and eliminate gravity. This is great for knee and hip injuries and especially great for post surgical rehab.
Soft Weight Balls- By Theraband
The soft weight balls have been a great addition to our clinics this past year. These balls range from 1.1 lbs up to 6.6 lbs. We use these for a variety of different shoulder and core exercises. These can he thrown, dropped, and held as resistance. The most common injuries we rehab with this tool are rotator cuff strains and shoulder labrum tears. It is a great way to build proprioception and ability to perform more rapid functional movements.