Suppose your loved one has undergone severe medical treatment for a chronic disease or an injury. In that case, the next crucial step is to regain their functionality and continue their normal daily activities. You can achieve that through rehabilitation. Medical intervention helps individuals restore their functional ability and independence after a severe injury, surgery, or chronic disease. In other words, it helps reduce the impact of such conditions on a person's life and complements other forms of medical treatment.

Furthermore, it's a cost-effective measure as it helps individuals recover quickly, reducing the costs of extended hospital stays and readmissions. There are three main types of medical rehabilitation processes, i.e., speech, physical and occupational therapy.

This article describes how these processes can help your loved one improve their functionality. 

Speech Therapy 

Also known as speech pathology, it is a type of medical rehabilitation program that focuses on helping people regain the capacity to drink or swallow food and perform cognitive functions effectively. Regarding swallowing ability, therapists conduct exercises to ensure food follows the right channel in a person's digestive system, i.e., the stomach and not the lungs. That may include electronic stimulation procedures that help strengthen throat muscles.

On the other hand, regaining cognitive functions entails improving your loved one's ability to process and comprehend information, make decisions and communicate properly. Therapists take different approaches to improve cognitive functions depending on the person's condition. For instance, if the loss of cognitive skills results from dementia, they may use orientation and compensatory tactics for memory loss to help their loved one understand the situation and remember words they had forgotten.  

Physical Therapy 

The primary goal of rehabilitation through physical therapy is to help your loved one improve mobility and functionality and minimize pain. Therapists conduct exercises to enable a person to have balance while walking, sitting, or standing, among many others. They also help athletes quickly recover from an injury and return to their sport. This therapy involves a holistic assessment of a patient's ability to perform physical functions beyond medication.

Besides exercises, therapists may recommend equipment such as wheelchairs, braces, and canes to enhance mobility and functional autonomy. 

Occupational Therapy

At times injuries and chronic medical conditions can traumatize an individual affecting their ability to perform functions that are crucial to maintaining the quality of life. Such functions include bathing, dressing, personal hygiene, and cooking. Therapists will conduct assessments to enable a loved one to perform the functions independently and suggest assistance to those they can't handle alone. They also offer counseling services to parents to help them adapt to a child's condition and help deal with emotional stress and trauma.

For more information, contact a company like Dominion Physical Therapy.