Amputee

Amputee Rehabilitation Amputees include persons who have lost limbs as well as muscular skeleton tissue that results in a patient needing to relearn normal functions. Amputee rehabilitation programs are designed to restore maximum mobility, muscle strength and function of the affected limb. Programs are available to help amputee patients adjust emotionally and psychologically to their loss of body parts and altered body image. All treatments are designed to assure that patients realize their maximum recovery potential. Therapy may also include employment counseling and daily living skills. For more information, consult a physician in your area.

Head Injury Rehabilitation

A traumatic head injury affects every aspect of a person's life. It changes the way a person communicates, reasons and functions. Assessment and treatment of head injury patients involves the patient, therapist and family in a customized treatment program. Patients may receive all or any combination of therapy treatment including speech, physical, occupational or respiratory therapy, neuropsychology, social services, therapeutic recreation and vocational counseling. Most head injury rehabilitation programs offer three levels of support. Coma intervention, behavior management and community re-entry to provide therapy across the entire spectrum of head injury care. For more information on head injury rehabilitation, please consult a physician in your area.

Orthopedic Rehabilitation

Rehabilitation helps to improve circulation, restor motion, relive pain, prevent injury, strengthen muscles, correct deformities and promote healing. These benefits are achieved by using a variety of therapies such as exercise, light, cold, heat, water, sound and electrical stimulation. Rehabilitation is very beneficial after operations, injuries and illnesses to restore the use of muscles and overcome pain and disability. Occupational rehabilitation helps individuals who are temporarily or permanently disabled by illness or injury, care for themselves and relearn job skills necessary to return to the work force. This type of therapy focuses on specific daily task such as dressing, hair brushing, shaving and eating. And job skills such as regaining typing and writing skills.

Pain Management Rehabilitation

Pain may be caused by several factors including trauma, infection, cancer and degenerative changes. Pain is not always easy to relieve. Many remedies may be tried. Analgesic drugs, more commonly known as pain killers are the most frequently used treatment for acute and chronic pain. Mild drugs such as aspirin are taken for headaches, menstrual pain, flu like symptoms and other common discomforts. Narcotic agonists such as morphine and codeine are very effective in the treatment of sever pain, but they are addictive. Nerve blocks can be effective short term solutions when the infected area can be identified clearly and the relative nerve blocked with drugs. TENS or transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation may be used in chronic pain situations. TENS uses a small battery operated unit worn on the hip which sends a general current of electricity to an electrode place over the spine on the skin. Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese method of pain relief which involved placing needles in strategic places on the body.

Stroke/Neurological Rehabilitation

The result of a stroke or other neurological injury affects every aspect of a person's life. It changes the way a person communicates, reasons and functions. Each person is unique, therefore the healing process and rehabilitation program must be tailored to each patient. Most stroke and neurological rehabilitation programs include patient and family education, motion and condition exercises, emulation and mobility training, speech and language retraining, bowel and bladder training, cognitive and perceptual retraining, and psychology support. Rehabilitation is an active process involving patient and family in goal planning, therapy and educational programs aimed to teach, support and encourage patients through the recovery process. For more information about stroke rehabilitation, please consult a physician in your area.

Pysical Therapy

Physical Therapy Services

Physical Therapy is a treatment and profession which focuses on the muscular, joint, skeletal, and neurological systems. All of the units are the basis of all our body movements. Sometimes, these units are affected, whether by trauma, infection, disease, and/or surgery. Physical therapy can be a significant treatment helping the patient towards recovery. Therapists utilize many different forms of treatment including various types of exercise and modalities, including heat, cold packs, ultrasound, electrical stimulation, etc. Physical Therapists are trained professionals and finding the right one is essential. Just as you would not go to a dermatologist for a broken leg, or a surgeon for a skin rash, so being treated by the right type of physical therapy is important. Also, if a certain medication is not working or causing you problems, it makes no sense to continue it, so you inform your doctor. Likewise, if therapy treatments are causing problems or not helping, something needs to be changed. As a patient, you have the right and responsibility to have your condition diagnosed and treated properly. Education with one trained in the musculoskeletal and neurological systems is an important first step in obtaining the right treatment.

Who Benefits from Physical Therapy

Physical Therapists are trained professionals who treat patients suffering from a disabling injury or disease. Some examples include multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, accident or stroke victims, heart disease, amputation, fractures, arthritis, and other diseases. Physical Therapists work closely with your doctor to outline a rehabilitation plan for each individual situation. The treatment program will help restore functional mobility, relieve pain, as well as limit and prevent any further debilitating injury. A variety of different therapeutic equipment and procedures may be used during treatment. Other specialists may also be consulted. The ultimate goal of all involved is to administer the proper treatment to a patient so they can move forward.

What a Physical Therapist Does

Physical therapists are trained professionals who treat patients suffering from a disability or disease. Physical therapists work with your doctor to develop a treatment program which will best help disabled patients. The goal of treatment is to maximize basic independence by increasing muscle strength and mobility through a variety of exercises. Before treatment begins, the physical therapist will determine strengths and weaknesses by performing a number of tests. These tests focus on mobility of the joints, coordination, strength, and cardiovascular condition. The treatment designed for the patient will include exercises necessary to build strength where there is weakness. Depending on the necessity, a physical therapist will call in a specialist for alternate treatments needed to improve the situation.

Treatments

Used in Physical Therapy Many different treatments are used in physical therapy. Generally, physical therapists employ exercise to achieve the results they have set. Patients will be taught specific exercises which they can do by themselves. However, some exercises require the assistance of the therapist. Some exercises will use equipment such as stationery bicycles, stairs or ramps, treadmills, weights, and parallel bars. This equipment is generally used when the patient must re-learn a specific movement or function or build up muscle weakness. Massages, whirlpool baths, heat treatments, and ice packs are often supplemented during exercise to decrease pain from muscle spasm and swelling. Low electrical currents are used to help simulate a paralyzed or weakened muscle. The physical therapist will determine the best treatment for the patient.

Accreditation

All physical therapists are professionals and must be licensed in order to practice therapy in any state. To become licensed, an individual must complete an accredited physical therapy program and obtain a degree or certificate. One route to becoming licensed would be to obtain a bachelor's degree in physical therapy and then sit for the state licensing exam. Another way would be to obtain a bachelor's degree in another field such as biology and then complete the certificate requirement for physical therapy. After that you may sit for the state licensing exam. While still others will complete a masters degree in physical therapy. A student in this field will study human growth and anatomy as well as the procedures needed to practice physical therapy. Clinical training is also required to obtain the experience and practical knowledge needed to become a physical therapist in a hospital or rehabilitation center.