Tag: physical therapy

What Is Physiotherapy?

If you have a musculo-skeletal problem or injury, you might be given a referral to a physiotherapy clinic. If you have gone to one before, you know what to expect. If you are new to this service, you might ask, what is physiotherapy?

Physiotherapy is also known as physical therapy. That answers the question of what is physiotherapy for many people. However, if you have not had any dealings with this form of treatment, you need to know more.

A type of health care, physiotherapy concerns itself with providing physical healing methods for many different kinds of injuries and illnesses. Some of these techniques are done in a hands-on manner, by using massage or manipulation of the musculo-skeletal system. Knowing what is physiotherapy is crucial to getting this kind of help.

Education is a part of what is physiotherapy. A physiotherapist will teach a patient how to care for their injuries. He will teach exercises to do at home so that therapy can continue beyond the walls of the clinic or hospital. He will teach ways to overcome difficulties that cannot be cured.

Another part of what is physiotherapy is rehabilitation. Patients have injuries from sports, car accidents, or assault. These injuries can be treated through physiotherapy. Given the right treatments and an injury that will respond to treatment, much progress can be made. Full functioning may be regained. It may even be possible for them to go back to work rather than being laid up at home.

An answer to what is physiotherapy is what kinds of treatments physiotherapists use. Heat, ice, and ultrasound are used to relieve pain and stiffness. Massage, chiropractic, and other hands-on methods are important. All these methods tend to promote better health, both physical and psychological.

Equipment for helping patients regain their strength and mobility are a part of what is physiotherapy. This equipment may allow a person who is partially paralyzed to get the most exercise possible. This is crucial in maintaining the integrity of their spines and muscles.

What is physiotherapy? It is a carefully planned and executed treatment strategy. It is based upon assessments of the conditions that patients suffer. If all goes well, the patient will return to their original condition. If this is not possible, the goal is for the patient to reach a goal that is the best movement and lack of pain that is possible.

People who are referred to a clinic may ask, what is physiotherapy? However, they will be given quick answers to this question. After an initial evaluation, they will be scheduled for treatments like ultrasound or acupuncture. They will be assigned exercises to do at home. A good physiotherapist will begin treatment right away.

People, who ask what is physiotherapy, often do not consider the preventative side of the field. It is a part of the work of practitioners of physiotherapy to encourage exercises and postures that will help patients avoid physical injuries and conditions requiring their services. An excellent physiotherapist will have fewer return patients, but the flow of people needing physiotherapy continues.

The Busy Field of Geriatric Physiotherapy

Clinics that specialize in geriatric physiotherapy never run low on work. The elderly have diseases and disorders in greater numbers than any other age group. Their care is difficult, but rewarding.

Geriatric physiotherapy became a specialty of physical therapy study in 1989. Since then, physiotherapists have worked to understand the problems of the aging. There is a long list of problems dealt with in geriatric physiotherapy.

Alzheimer’s, arthritis, balance disorders, cancer, cardiovascular disease, incontinence, joint replacement, pulmonary disease, stroke, and osteoporosis are only a few of the problems covered by geriatric physiotherapy. Physiotherapists have a whole range of therapies for these ailments.

The types of problems faced in geriatric physiotherapy are grouped into three different categories. One category is the problems that happen because the patient simply does not use their limbs or does not exercise. These problems can be addressed by reconditioning through range-of-motion exercises and other exercises.

Another category geriatric physiotherapy deals with is cardiovascular disease, like heart disease and stroke. The physiotherapy professional has an array of tools at her disposal to work with these conditions. Exercise, aqua therapy, electrical stimulation, and more can be used.

The third category is skeletal problems. Geriatric physiotherapy helps people who have these disorders, such as osteoporosis and osteoarthritis. These problems require special attention as osteoporosis makes patients frailer, and osteoarthritis is very painful.

Because falls are such a problem, the osteoporosis therapy is crucial. Along with that, geriatric physiotherapy is responsible for preventing many falls because of work with balance and gait. Some clinics focus entirely on balance issues for the elderly.

Much of the work of geriatric physiotherapy is not aimed at returning patients to their earlier states of health. The most important goals are to be able to function at their best abilities. Doing everyday tasks and living an unconfined life are valuable assets.

At the same time, geriatric physiotherapy can have a profound affect on a person’s ability to enjoy physical activities. Golf is an activity that many seniors enjoy. It can be a very hazardous sport for the elderly if they are not in condition to play. It does have many health benefits, too.

Geriatric physiotherapy can focus on physical training to get an older adult in shape to play sports like golf. This strengthens them in many ways. The fact that it allows them to play golf will make them even healthier, both physically and psychologically. Since depression is a growing problem among the elderly, any help they can get in this area is needed.

Another role of geriatric physiotherapy is to help with rehabilitation after knee or hip replacement surgeries. People who have these operations are likely to walk differently. It affects their abilities to do daily chores, and their quality of life. Physiotherapists can help.

Some people turn to physiotherapy as a means of better functioning. Others are referred to physiotherapy clinics by their doctors for specific problems. Still others end up in geriatric physiotherapy care in hospitals or nursing homes after accidents or illnesses. All of these people can be helped.

How Physiotherapy Can Help With Sports Injuries

When players have sports injuries, they turn to physiotherapy for rehabilitation. Physiotherapy, also called physical therapy, offers help whether the player is having surgery to correct the damage or not.

One example of the many sports injuries is an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. This is an injury to the knee. It is one of the common sports injuries in people who play sports that challenge their knees, such as hockey, skating, skiing, basketball, and of course, football. It can limit the range of a player’s motion in that leg, and make the leg weak.

Surgery is sometimes done for these sports injuries, but physiotherapy is always a part of the treatment. The three major exercises done to start the healing process of ACL are heel slides, quad sets, and straight leg raises.

Heel slides are exercises for ACL sports injuries that are easy to understand, but may be painful to do at first. One simply lies on the bed or floor with the foot down. Then, one slides the foot slowly towards the buttocks until it hurts a little, and slides it back. This and the other exercises help prepare the knee for surgery or to heal without it.

Another of the sports injuries that physiotherapy is used for is tennis elbow. One might get tennis elbow from playing tennis, certainly, but it can also come about from any activity that involves twisting the wrist.

Sports injuries like tennis elbow are treated with a comprehensive plan of physiotherapy. Exercises are explained and assigned. Another common procedure for sports injuries is the use of ultrasound. Ultrasound is a way of applying heat deep into the muscle for pain relief.

Electrical stimulation can be used to keep pain from being felt through the nervous system. It is used for tennis elbow and many other sports injuries. Massage and manual therapy can also be used for physiotherapy.

Massage is one of the forms of soft tissue manipulation. However, soft tissue manipulation is to muscles what chiropractic is to bones. It deals not only with muscle, but with tendons and connective tissue as well. It is a specialized field of physiotherapy that has been used for people with sports injuries on many occasions.

As many children’s sports teams are becoming ever more competitive, sports injuries among youngsters is increasing. Often, a well-meaning parent will tell the child to shake it off and keep playing. It is even more important for children to get adequate physiotherapy than it is for adults. Children are just developing, and a problem in childhood can lead to lifelong pain.

Some sports injuries happen because something physically traumatic happens to your body. Someone runs into you as you run with the football towards the end zone, for example. Other times, it is simply a matter of the physical demands you put on your body.

Physiotherapy is instrumental in the healing of many sports injuries. Many professional sports teams have physiotherapists on their staffs. In fact, either ACL or tennis elbow can become permanent conditions without the use of physiotherapy procedures.

Acupressure more effective than physical therapy

When you’re learning about something new, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of relevant information available. This informative article should help you focus on the central points.
Acupressure more effective than physical therapy

Word Count:
489

Summary:
Those of us committed to the holistic approach have long been convinced of the benefits of alternative therapy. Recent studies suggest and confirm a bias towards this hands on approach.

Keywords:
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Article Body:
We all know Acupressure has been around for some 5, 000 years now and those of us involved in Holistic and wellness remain convinced that the procedures encompassed within this sphere are more efficacious than physical therapy. Every living being has a life force, or energy, called qi or chi ( pronounced ” chee ” ). When this energy, which runs along meridians, is in balance and flowing freely, the body is in a state of health. Acupoints tap relevance the the major rush pathways of the body

When this energy is blocked or decrepit, illness can result. These energy disruptions are often the result of stress or injury. It is believed that acupressure causes the brain to release endorphins. Endorphins play an important role in immune function, pain boost, stress reduction, besides slowing the aging process.

Lower back pain has long been the bain of the modern world not only in lost man hours but also since of the lousy with side effects, complications and nuances of lower back pain complaints. Supplementary studies now arrange the benefits of acupressure over physical therapy. Albeit that the studies failed to take into account functional status besides disability as recommended by

most low back rack researchers the results are still very meaningful and relevant. In February 2006 a randomized controlled trial took place at The National Taiwan University in Taipei.

129 patients with chronic low back pain published acupressure or physical therapy for 1 month. Primary endpoints were self – administered Chinese versions of standard outcome measures for low pack pain ( Roland and Morris disability questionnaire ) at baseline, after treatment, and at 6 – month follow – up. After treatment, the mean total Roland and Morris disability questionnaire score was significantly lower in the acupressure company than in the physical therapy group regardless of the difference in absolute score or mean change from baseline.

Compared dissemble physical therapy, acupressure was associated with an 89 % reduction in significant disability and that improvement was maintained at 6 – month follow – up. Study limitations include a confounding psychological effect of therapy; loss of 15. 5 % of patients to pursue – up at 6 months and effectiveness of any bridle therapy dependent on the therapist’s technique and experience.

Participants were aged 18 to 81 years. Exclusion criteria were pregnancy and contraindication to acupressure. 64 patients were randomized to acupressure and 65 to rightful therapy. Conclusive or inconclusive the results still point towards the undeniable and positive aspects of acupressure and holistic healing.

On a more lighter hobby Acupressure has also been cited for a unaccustomed aid for bum students. 39 student volunteers inaugurate that those who were taught to self – administer acupressure to stimulation points on their legs, feet, hands and heads were less likely to drowse during class. The acupressure consisted of light tapping of fingers or using thumbs or forefingers to lightly massage the stimulation points. It was conceded that more study is needed fame relation to acupressure and the effect on human alertness.

Looking further into the positives might this self administered acupressure also be a consideration for progeny cover ADHD contra Ritalin!

When word gets around about your command of alternative medicine facts, others who need to know about alternative medicine will start to actively seek you out.