Simple informations on physiotherapy
Original Editors-Alberto Bertaggia
Top Contributors-Alberto Bertaggia,Rosie Swift,127.0.0.1,Evan ThomasandKim Jackson
Introduction[edit|edit source]
This page is meant to be a resource for those people who are not physiotherapists and would like to understand more about what physiotherapy is.
If you are a healthcare provider (i.e. physician, nurse, etc.) you may find it more useful to proceed directly to the articlenavigation pages.
Different names, same profession[edit|edit source]
You may have heard words likephysical therapy or physiotherapy, and the same is for the person who provide it: physical therapist or physiotherapist. And maybe you asked yourself "What's the difference?"... well the answer is: none. Those names vary based on the country of origin, i.e. in the US physical therapy is provided by a physical therapist, whereas in the UK or Australia it is physiotherapy provided by a physiotherapist.
Physiotherapists even have a世界物理治疗组织which represents them worldwide and sets the pathway to move the profession forward, in order to improve health and wellbeing globally.
What is physiotherapy?[edit|edit source]
Physiotherapy helpsrestore movement and functionwhen someone is affected by injury, illness or disability. Moreover, physiotherapy is ahealthcare professionthat assesses, diagnoses, treats, andworks to preventdisease and disability.
If you would like to start understanding what really could do physiotherapy even in small things, take a look at this short video fromAustralian Physiotherapy Association (APA).
As you may have understood from the video, physiotherapy is suitable for a variety of conditions at all stages of life.
Who are those physiotherapists?[edit|edit source]
As WCPT says
"Physical therapists provide services that develop, maintain and restore people’s maximum movement and functional ability. They can help people at any stage of life, when movement and function are threatened by ageing, injury, diseases, disorders, conditions or environmental factors.[1]"
物理治疗师在运动和功能专家ion who workin partnership with their patients, a physiotherapist can also help prevent further injury by listening to patients needs and expectations, working together to plan the most appropriate treatment for any individual condition, including setting goals and treatment outcomes.
What do they do?[edit|edit source]
In the picture below, you can see many different ways in which a physiotherapist can help a patient.
Physiotherapist is a degree-based profession, so physiotherapists can use their knowledge and skills to assess, diagnose and treat a wide range of conditions, such as:
- Neuromusculoskeletal -low back pain,subacromial impingement, sports injuries i.e.ACLrupture,osteoarthritis,tennis' elbow
- Neurological -stroke,spinal cord injuries,Parkinson's,multiple sclerosis
- Cardiovascular - chronic heart disease,rehabilitation after heart attack
- Respiratory -asthma,chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,cystic fibrosis
Evidence-based practice[edit|edit source]
Evidence-based medicine is the integration of best research evidence with clinical expertise and patient values[2]. Physical therapists are evidence-based health care professionals, which means they will always try to provide the best treatment available from research, tailored on the individual.
Why is physiotherapy useful?[edit|edit source]
As you may have already understand, a physiotherapist can get you on track to havepain-free movement, which is essential to be able to do your favourites physical activities, sopreventing a lot of chronic diseases[3][4][5], and have a good time too. You can recover well from a large variety of conditions with physiotherpists' help.
Moreover, even if surgery and drugs are considered the best course of treatment for certain diagnoses, there are conditions in which physiotherapy can be equally effective.
Takelow back painas an example. There is evidence this condition is over-treated[6]with imaging, drugs prescription and surgeries, while early physical therapy can be a really cost-effective treatment[7]. It is the same if we talk about moderatemeniscal tearsor knee ostheoarthritis, again physiotherapy can be a first choice treatment[8]. And what about non-traumaticrotator cuff tear? Guess what? There is no differences between surgery and physiotherapy treatment in terms of outcomes[9]. So why choose surgery?
Anyway, any individual is unique, thereforephysiotherapists work in team with other healthcare professionals, to try to give you always the best treatment you need.
Resources[edit|edit source]
- Physiotherapy / Physical Therapypage on Physiopedia, with a deeper description of the profession.
- World Confederation for Physical Therapy (WCPT)
- MoveForwardPTis a site to provide information to patients powered by theAmerican Physical Therapy Association (APTA).
- Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP)
- Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA)
- Canadian Physiotherapy Association (CPA)
References
[edit|edit source]
- ↑WCPT. What is physical therapy.http://www.wcpt.org/what-is-physical-therapy
- ↑Sackett DL. Evidence‐based medicine. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2000.
- ↑Durstine JL, Gordon B, Wang Z, Luo X. Chronic disease and the link to physical activity. Journal of Sport and Health Science. 2013 Mar;2(1):3–11.
- ↑Kruk J. Physical activity in the prevention of the most frequent chronic diseases: an analysis of the recent evidence. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2007 Sep;8(3):325–38.
- ↑CDC - Healthy Places - Physical Activity [Internet]. [cited 2016 Feb 11]. Available from:http://www.cdc.gov/healthyplaces/healthtopics/physactivity.htm
- ↑Mafi JN, McCarthy EP, Davis RB, Landon BE. WOrsening trends in the management and treatment of back pain. JAMA Intern Med. 2013 Sep 23;173(17):1573–81.
- ↑Fritz JM, Brennan GP, Hunter SJ, Magel JS. Initial management decisions after a new consultation for low back pain: implications of the usage of physical therapy for subsequent health care costs and utilization. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2013 May;94(5):808–16.
- ↑Katz JN, Brophy RH, Chaisson CE, de Chaves L, Cole BJ, Dahm DL, et al. Surgery versus Physical Therapy for a Meniscal Tear and Osteoarthritis. New England Journal of Medicine. 2013 May 2;368(18):1675–84.
- ↑Kukkonen J, Joukainen A, Lehtinen J, Mattila KT, Tuominen EKJ, Kauko T, et al. Treatment of non-traumatic rotator cuff tears: A randomised controlled trial with one-year clinical results. Bone Joint J. 2014 Jan;96-B(1):75–81.
