Showing posts with label PhysioTherapy. Show all posts

Tuesday, 20 March 2012

Exercises for neurological conditions

Good practice resource. This website will enable you to:

Search for exercises appropriate for people with spinal cord injuries and other neurological conditions
Select exercises and compile them into booklets for your clients
If you create a logon (this is free), you can:

save your clients` exercise booklets
edit the text of exercises
format exercise booklets in any way

Link:
http://www.physiotherapyexercises.com/
http://www.physiotherapyexercises.com/downloads/ADHC_2009_2010.pdf

Monday, 26 December 2011

Physical Function Following Hip Replacement Surgery Improved By Walking Skills Program

Researchers in Norway report that patients who receive walking skills training following total hip arthroplasty for osteoarthritis show improved physical function. The physical therapy program displayed a positive effect on walking distance and stair climbing which continued 12 months following hip replacement surgery. Results of the study appear in Arthritis Care & Research, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR).

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a joint disease where loss of cartilage in affected joints such as the knees, hips, fingers or spine causes pain and stiffness that can be disabling. In some cases, the only treatment option for OA is total replacement of the joint, known as arthroplasty. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 10% of men and 18% of women 60 years of age and older suffer from OA. In the U.S., the National Hospital Discharge Survey reported that 230,000 Americans had hip replacement surgery in 2007.

Source:http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/239268.php

Tuesday, 15 November 2011

Attention runners: Increase speed and power while preventing injury

By John R. Mishock, Owner of Mishock Physical Therapy & Associates

Whether your sport is soccer, basketball, lacrosse, tennis, football, baseball or track and field improving your speed, power and agility will make you a better player. Recent studies have shown that plyometric exercises can help to improve all of these elements. Beyond this, this type of exercise can also help to prevent an injury of the lower extremity.

Plyometric exercise involves a rapid muscle lengthening movement (eccentric phase), followed by a short resting phase (amortization phase), and then an explosive muscle shortening movement (concentric phase). Overall, plyometric movements help to train our fast twitch muscles (muscle fibers involved in short bursts of speed), which are responsible for quickness, agility, and power.

Plyometric exercise also improves the reaction time of muscles around a given joint. This increased reaction time of muscle contraction helps to prevent injury of the ankle, knee, and hip.

read full story:http://pottsmerc.com/articles/2011/11/14/life/srv0000015197047.txt

Sunday, 30 October 2011

Palpation: Is It Necessary?

Palpation is the act of examining by touch to help diagnose illness or disease in people. Physical therapists often use palpation to help decide on the best treatment strategy for their patients.

Palpation can be used to feel muscles, tendons, bones or ligaments to test for trigger points, hypermobility, or hypomobility. Sometimes palpating tissue can detect warmth, indicating possible inflammation or infection. In the evaluation and treatment of low back pain, palpation is often used to assess spinal segmental motion and pain over various structures in the back.

But is the information gathered by palpating a body part reliable?

Most published studies indicate that the answer is "no."

A study in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics investigated the inter-rater reliability of spinal palpation for lumbar segmental mobility and pain provocation. Two clinicians palpated spinal segments and sacroiliac joints of 39 patients and independently assessed pain provocation, segmental mobility, and instability.

The findings: there was poor inter-rater agreement for spinal segmental motion testing. In fact, the statistical results indicated negative kappa coefficients. Here's the skinny on kappa: When two people are rating something, a kappa value equal to 1 means they are in agreement and very little chance is involved. A kappa value equal to 0 means that there is no agreement between the raters other than what is expected by chance.

A negative kappa value pretty much means that you could flip a coin to assess spinal segmental motion and do better than palpation as an assessment.

For those of you keeping score: in the study, pain provocation kappa values ranged from .21 to .73 and instability testing was .54. Not great reliability, but not too bad either.

What does this all mean? It means that if you have low back pain and your physical therapist palpates your back and finds hypermobility, another therapist may find hypomobility. Palpation is just not a great tool to assess the condition of your back and make clinical decisions. Any information gathered from palpation should be considered, but considered lightly. Other tests and measures, like range of motion, repeated motion testing, and strength are more reliable.

Source:http://physicaltherapy.about.com/b/2011/10/27/palpation-is-it-necessary.htm

Thursday, 18 August 2011

'Dead' Facial Nerves Brought Back To Life By Physiotherapist

A physiotherapist based at Southampton's teaching hospitals has discovered movement in the faces of patients with 'dead' nerves - by stretching the inside of their mouths with her finger.

The finding, made by specialist neurological physiotherapist Lorraine Clapham at Southampton General Hospital, gives hope to patients who suffer from facial palsy, where damage to nerves from injury, surgery or unexplained syndromes causes muscles to weaken and droop....
Source:http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/229300.php

Thursday, 4 August 2011

Back to Basics

The other day in the clinic, I overheard a physical therapist instructing a patient in a home exercise program to help his neck pain. The therapist was very clear and concise, and she had the patient perform the exercise to ensure that it was done properly. She instructed the patient to perform ten repetitions for two sets.

After her instruction, she asked the patient if he had any questions.

"Just one," he answered. "What's a set?"

So often we forget that the language we use in the clinic may sound foreign to others who are not familiar with physical therapy or exercise. We occasionally use terms that are quite familiar to ourselves, but are completely novel to someone else.

Wednesday, 27 July 2011

Another site for physiotherapist-Physiopedia(wiki)

Physiopedia is a wiki, think Wikipedia for physiotherapists! A wiki is a collection of web pages that can be collaboratively edited with no specialist tools and very little technical know-how. As such, Physiopedia offers a place for physiotherapists throughout the world to contribute, share, and gain knowledge. The content of Physiopedia is being driven by experts and represents an evidence-based approach to patient care therfore offering opportunities for all physiotherapists to develop as professionals. Through this professional devleopment we aspire to improve patient care and make a positive contribution to global health. As a collaborative and international site, Physiopedia also works to unite physiotherapists globally to develop and promote our profession.
Link: http://www.physio-pedia.com/index.php5?title=Main_Page

useful Physiotherapy and Performance Science Resources on the Web

Contents

Recommended Health-Related Databases
General Medical & Physiotherapy Gateways
Internet Information Skills for Medics
Irish Sites
International Sites
Evidence-Based Medicine
Medical Publications
Sites for Medical Students

Link: http://www.ucd.ie/library/electronic_resources/guides_to_web_resources/physio.html

Tuesday, 26 July 2011

Make a Reusable Ice Bag

Many of my patients have acute injuries or swelling after surgery and frequently follow the R.I.C.E. principle to control inflammation. This involves using rest, ice, compression, and elevation to decrease swelling. When applying ice,most often people simply put ice in a plastic bag, seal it up and put it on their body. After a few minutes the ice melts and the bag is put back in the freezer, only to come out later as a giant ice cube. This makes it very difficult to comfortably apply the ice bag to the body again.

Here is a recipe for a homemade reusable ice pack:

Put ice cubes or chopped ice in a bag and add about two to three tablespoons of rubbing alcohol. Seal the bag, wrap it in a towel and apply it to the inflamed body part. Apply the ice for 15-20 minutes, but be sure your body doesn't get too cold. When you put the bag in the freezer, the alcohol prevents the ice from fully freezing and clumping. The ice pack can then be used over and over again.

By Brett Sears, About.com Guide July 16, 2011

Link: http://physicaltherapy.about.com/b/2011/07/16/make-a-reusable-ice-bag.htm

Wednesday, 20 July 2011

Measuring Quality in therapy-Are we critically thinking?

What is quality? How do we really know we provide quality care?

Let me ask you this– If you were looking to choose a Physical Therapist for your mom, and you could decide by comparing their initial assessment of your mother’s ability, which would you pick?

Link:

http://blog.foxrehab.org/therapist-insider/measuring-quality-in-therapy-are-we-critically-thinking

Tuesday, 31 May 2011

Research Grant for Physical Therapist in USA

From Foundation for Physical Therapy

Now Accepting Applications!

Application Deadline: August 17, 2011; 12:00pm, Noon, ET
Award Notification: December 2011

Applicant Eligibility Proposals may be submitted by an individual or a group of investigators through a U.S. Sponsoring Organization/Institution with which they are affiliated. Groups must designate one (1) member as the Principal Investigator responsible for directing the project. Other members of the group may be physical therapists, physical therapist assistants, or persons from other disciplines that are relevant to the proposed study.

GENERAL INFORMATION
Grant Amount The maximum grant amount is $40,000. Funds are available for research done in U.S. institutions only. The grant funds may be used in support of salary, fringe benefits and direct expenses.

A proposed project may have a period of performance of one or two years. At the
time of application, the investigator must request either a one or two year grant
period. The amount of the grant will be the same, $40,000, for a one or a two
year award. A grant year will begin January 1 and end December 31 unless
another period has been requested in the application and approved by the
Foundation in writing.

Use of Funds: Funds may be requested to meet any type of expense reasonably associated with the research project, including salaries and fringe benefits, purchase or rental of equipment, supplies, travel, publication costs, printing or postage, and special services such as computer time, photographic services, and secretarial or
research assistant support.
Areas of Study: Up to two grants can be awarded for research projects to evaluate the effectiveness of physical therapist interventions, within any discipline relevant to
physical therapy.

Source: http://foundation4pt.org/
http://foundation4pt.org/apply-for-funding/research-grants/

Monday, 23 May 2011

Physical Therapy Exercise Software and Cloud Computing Myths

Physical Therapy Exercise Software and Cloud Computing Myths

There are several myths about cloud computing as it relates to physical therapy assessment software that deserve to be busted. Some physiotherapists have busted five of those myths.

Link:http://ezinearticles.com/?Physical-Therapy-Exercise-Software-and-Cloud-Computing-Myths&id=5866970-rel=nofollow

Do Physical Therapists Like Their Jobs

While you can find a person who likes just about every kind of job out there, not all careers enjoy very high levels of job satisfaction as a whole. It's important to know how people end up feeling about their careers as they are in the midst of them, because it can give you a clue as to how you might feel too, and whether or not a particular line of work is the right path for you. This article presents the latest job satisfaction statistics for physical therapists.

Link: http://ezinearticles.com/?Physical-Therapists---Do-Physical-Therapists-Like-Their-Jobs-(You-May-Be-Surprised)&id=6279235

Saturday, 21 May 2011

Free Online Physiotherapy course( CPD)

Today in PT provides FREE Sponsored CE courses(Physiotherapy Continuing Education Courses)
All The Best.....Amit
http://www.todayinpt.com/ce/

Thursday, 19 May 2011

Backing for physio self-referral

Patients in England should soon be able to bypass GPs and self-refer to physios and a host of other health staff, after ministers gave the plan their backing.