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PT FOR ME?
What is Physical Therapy
and when is it necessary to see a Physical Therapist?
Physical Therapy is the use of scientific physical
procedures used in the treatment of patients with a
disability, disease, illness or injury to achieve and
maintain functional rehabilitation and to prevent malfunction
or deformity. Treatments are designed to minimize residual
physical disability, to hasten convalescence, and to
contribute to the patient's comfort and well-being.
Physical Therapy is prescribed by physicians for patients
with varied orthopedic, neurological, vascular, and
respiratory conditions, which may be the result of congenital
malfunction, disability acquired through disease or
trauma/injury, or inherited dysfunction.
What does a Physical
Therapist do?
Among the diagnostic tests used by the Physical Therapist
are manual muscle testing, electrical testing, perceptual
and sensory testing, and measurement of the range of
motion of joints. Functional activity testing is important
in ascertaining patients' capabilities for performing
the necessary tasks of caring for themselves. In treating
a patient, the Physical Therapist may employ one or
more of the following procedures: heat treatments involving
the use of water at various temperatures, melted paraffin
wax, infrared and ultraviolet lamps, ultrasonic waves
that produce heat internally, and the application of
electric current to generate heat in body tissues. One
of the most important tasks of the Physical Therapist
is therapeutic exercise in various forms. It is used
to increase strength and endurance, to improve coordination,
to improve functional movement for activities of daily
living, and to increase and maintain range of motion.
Gait training is practiced with the assistance of canes,
crutches, walkers, braces, and artificial limbs. Physical
Therapy also uses massage, bandaging, strapping, and
application and removal of splints and casts. Physical
Therapists also instruct patients and their relatives
in techniques of exercise and the use of prosthetic
devices, such as artificial limbs, and orthotic, or
bracing devices.
What is Occupational
Therapy?
Occupational Therapy is rehabilitative therapy that
uses the activities of everyday living to help people
with physical and/or mental disabilities achieve maximum
functioning and independence at home and in the workplace.
Occupational Therapy benefits people of all ages, from
infants to the elderly, and can improve functioning
whether the disability results from a birth defect,
accident, disease, aging, or drug or alcohol abuse.
Occupational Therapy is geared to the particular functional
level and interests of the individual.
Occupational Therapy differs from Physical Therapy
in that Physical Therapy deals chiefly with restoration
of physical strength, endurance, coordination, and range
of motion through such means as exercise, heat or cold
therapy, and massage. Occupational Therapy focuses on
personal and work activities, both in helping people
with disabilities to find ways to master these activities
and in using these activities to continue the goals
of physical therapy. Occupational Therapy can range
from teaching someone with swallowing difficulty how
to eat and drink safely to showing someone how to use
special tools to put on shoes and socks, close zippers,
and button shirts and blouses; from showing someone
in a wheelchair how to do cooking and housekeeping from
a seated position to advising on how to make structural
alterations in a home that will help accommodate a disability;
and from teaching someone who has lost an arm or leg
how to drive a specially equipped automobile to helping
someone with Cerebral Palsy-a disorder affecting muscle
control-learn to use a computer to communicate and operate
household equipment. Occupational Therapists work with
people with mental and emotional problems-such as anxiety,
or schizophrenia---to help them plan their activities
in order to function more effectively in everyday life.
Occupational Therapy is also widely used with children
with physical and mental disabilities. As efforts grow
to integrate people with disabilities into all areas
of society, the profession of Occupational Therapy has
been expanding. The Occupational Therapist consults
with public and private agencies to help make their
work environment more accessible to the disabled and
the workplace accident-free.
What is Hand Therapy
and who provides it?
Innovative
Physical Therapy and Sports
Medicine Centers maintains a staff of
experienced, specially trained Occupational/Hand Therapists
who specialize in the treatment of injuries to the hands
and upper body, including arms, shoulders and the neck.
Our Occupational Therapists take an integrated approach
to treatment, taking into account the entire picture
of the patient's medical complaint and related history.
We recognize that an injury is often not isolated to
one area, but may stem from another related source.
A problem with the hand or wrist, for example, may originate
in the neck and be the result of repetitive stress,
work posture, or Thoracic Outlet Syndrome.
At Innovative
Physical Therapy and Sports
Medicine Centers, we work one-on-one
with patients to develop individual treatment plans
to best address each patient's medical situation, we
provide the best possible therapeutic treatment choosing
from a full range of treatment approaches including
custom splinting, heat, cold, electrical stimulation,
ultrasound, and exercise. We also work to help educate
patients about ways to improve and maintain their capacity
to function and to prevent future injury. Our primary
aim is to work with our patients to evaluate their injury
and to provide them with quality treatment and education
to return them to maximal functioning and productive
living as quickly as possible.
If you think you, or someone you know, may benefit
from our Physical, Occupational, Aquatic or Hand Therapy
Programs, contact our office at 1 (866) 47-REHAB. We
offer free advice and/or assessments for any type of
musculoskeletal injury or disorder. Remember, whether
injured on the job, at home, during a sporting event
or in an auto accident...get treated "the
Innovative way!"
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