Health and Advanced Physiotherapy

Healthy living is a combination of many things, including good nutrition, regular exercise and a positive attitude. Taking care of your body and feeling pride in your accomplishments can improve both your physical and mental health. There are many things you can do to improve your quality of life. No matter how small you start, you can make a big change and an improvement in your life.

In accordance to the present time and needs, a health care giver is an individual or an institution that provides preventive, curative, promotional or rehabilitative health care services in a systematic way to individuals, families or communities. To forsee, Allied Health Professions are clinical health care professions distinct from medicine, dentistry, and nursing which are making up 60 percent of the total health workforce. They work in health care teams to make the health care system function by providing a range of diagnostic, technical, therapeutic and direct patient care and support services that are critical to the other health professionals they work with and the patients they serve.

Physiotherapy alias physical therapy is considered as one of the fastest growing allied areas of present generation medicine. Being an important rehabilitative service needed in a community and a vital therapeutic supplement of the medical profession, it's the treatment of diseases and disabilities using physical exercises, heat radiations, cold therapy, hydrotherapy, acupuncture and therapeutic massage. It is a health care specialty concerned with evaluating, diagnosing and treating disorders of the body to restore maximal functional independence for the patient by enhancing their ability to move, reduce pain, restore function, and prevent any or further disability.

As doctors, physiotherapists or physical therapists are essential in helping the patient to recover and rehabilitate from a state of incapacity, due to genetic defect or the result of an accident or an illness. They must have a thorough knowledge of the human anatomy and the way the bones, muscles and nerves move and function. Physiotherapists treat a wide range of ailments, so specialization is possible in areas such as pediatrics, geriatrics, integumentary, orthopedics, sports physical therapy, neurology, vestibular, women's health, clinical electrophysiology and, cardio-vascular and pulmonary therapy. Functional movement is central to what it means to be healthy. They can practice in outpatient clinics, inpatient rehabilitation trainings, private homes, education and research centers, schools, hospitals, industrial workplaces, occupational environments, fitness centers, sports training facilities, health policy, health care administration and as health care executives and medical-legal field experts.

This therapy is the interaction between physical therapist, patients/clients, other health professionals, families, care givers, and communities using knowledge and skills unique to physical therapists. Physical therapy or PT management includes prescription of or assistance with specific exercises, manual therapy, education, manipulation and other mentioned interventions.

In order to work as a physical therapist, one must first graduate from a physical therapy educational program with a Master or Doctorate degree. Coursework includes biology, chemistry, and physics, biomechanics, anatomy, neurology, human growth and development, manifestations of disease, examination techniques, therapeutic procedures and clinical sciences (e.g., content about the cardiovascular, pulmonary, endocrine, metabolic, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, integumentary, musculoskeletal, and neuromuscular systems and the medical and surgical conditions frequently seen by physical therapists). In order to practice, graduates from physical therapy programs must pass international, national and state licensing exams. In order to retain their licenses, many states require PTs to take continuing education classes and workshops. A good physiotherapist should be familiar with the standard concepts, practices, and procedures within a particular field and should rely on experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals. Capability to perform a variety of tasks and certain degree of creativity and latitude is also required. The median expected salary for a typical physical therapist holding a masters degree in the United States is $74,336.

On a typical day a physical therapist -examines patients' medical histories, tests and measures the patients' strength, range of motion, balance and coordination, posture, performance, respiration, sensory and motor function, determine patients' ability to be independent and reintegrate into the community or workplace after injury or illness and develop treatment plans describing a treatment strategy, its purpose, and its anticipated outcome.

Historically, Hippocrates and later Galenus are believed to have been the first practitioners of physical therapy, advocating massage, manual therapy techniques and hydrotherapy to treat people in 460 B.C. The earliest documented origins of actual physical therapy as a profession date back to Per Henrik Ling, "Father of Swedish Gymnastics," who founded the Royal Central Institute of Gymnastics (RCIG) in 1813.In 1887, PTs were given official registration by Sweden's National Board of Health and Welfare. Modern physical therapy was established in Britain towards the end of the 19th century. The first school of physical therapy was established at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington D.C. following the outbreak of World War I. In 1974, the International Federation of Orthopedic Manipulative Physical Therapists was formed,which plays an important role in advancing manual therapy worldwide.

The speciality and common treatments of the profession include, Cardiovascular & Pulmonary (cystic fibrosis, heart attacks, post coronary bypass surgery, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary fibrosis), Clinical Electrophysiology(EMG/NCV), Geriatric (arthritis, osteoporosis, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, hip and joint replacement, balance disorders, incontinence), Integumentary (conditions involving the skin and related organs), Neurological (Alzheimer's disease, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, brain injury, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury, and stroke and common impairments including impairments of vision, balance, ambulation, activities of daily living, movement, muscle strength and loss of functional independence), Orthopedic (post-operative orthopedic procedures, fractures, acute sports injuries, arthritis, sprains, strains, back and neck pain, spinal conditions and amputations), Vestibular (vertigo, disequilibrium, mobility and balance disturbances),Pediatric (developmental delays, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, torticollis may be treated), Sports (athletic injury management, including acute care, treatment and rehabilitation, prevention, and education), Women's health (issues related to child birth, post partum, lymph edema, osteoporosis, pelvic pain, prenatal and post partum periods and urinary incontinence).

It is a vast field of exploration and gradually, physiotherapy is achieving a non conservative approach as an important human health and rehabilitative resource and holds a tremendous scope for quality. What all it lacks is the awareness.