Parallel Bars in Physical Therapy

A piece of equipment physical therapist may use in a rehabilitation clinic is a set of parallel bars it is a tool used in many physical therapy clinics to offer a safe way to work on exercise gait training and balance

If you suffer from any injury or disability that limits the ability to walk properly or impacts your function ability of lower extremities you can get benefit from the services of a physical therapist and your physical therapist will use parallel to help you recover

What Are Parallel Bars?

These are wooden or steel bars placed about three feet apart from each other; they are parallel to each other and are supported with the aid of metal adjustable legs; these legs allow the bars to raise or lowered to accommodate people of different heights. The two most common uses of parallel bars are

Gait Training

After any lower extremity injury when you will learn to walk again physical therapists may use parallel bars to give you some extra support. This can also be used for learning the use of assistive devices like a cane or crutches so if you lose your balance on one side parallel bars are there to support you

If you are in a wheelchair and learning to stand and sit by yourself parallel bars are used as a push-up tool.

In addition to that, they also help with lower extremity amputation. You can give your upper extremity extra support when learning to walk with your new assisted device

Some clinics have weight-supporting devices attached to the ceiling to help move along tracks while wearing harnesses. This device takes off some body weight and helps to walk properly with aid of parallel bars

Lower Extremity Exercise

Parallel bars are also used to deal with lower extremity exercises. These allow you to maintain balance while performing exercises such as

• Mini squats
• Standing hip flexion
• Standing leg raises
• Heel raises
• Toe raises

These bars are used during balance exercises as well. When your physical therapist puts a cushion under your feet for an added challenge in exercises such as single-leg standing exercise then these bars are there to protect you from any imbalance.

You may perform heel to toe stance to challenge your balance with help of parallel bars

If you are injured or suffer from lower extremity surgery then for sure you need to work with a physical therapist to gain strength and regain functional mobility. Your physical therapist will use parallel bars during your rehabilitation process to provide you with extra safety so that you can comfortably work on your strength and gait training
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