Overview: Physical therapists use a variety of modalities to help treat their patients. There are a variety of treatment modalities that can help strengthen, relax, and heal muscles. Below are a few of the treatment modalities physical therapists used daily in their practice.
Hot Packs: Physical therapists wrap moist hot packs in several layers of towels and place them on the area that needs treatment. The heat provided by the hot packs has several important benefits. It relaxes tight muscles causing tissues to relax. This decreases pain caused by muscle tension or spasms. It also causes vasodilatation of the blood vessels which increases circulation to the area. Patients with muscle strains, spasms, or arthritis often benefit from treatment with moist hot packs.
Cold Packs: Cold packs are a frozen gel substance used by physical therapists to treat areas of pain and inflammation. The cold packs are wrapped in wet towel and applied directly to the area in need of treatment. The cold transferred to the patient’s skin, muscle, and tissue has several beneficial effects. The cold temperature causes vasoconstriction of the blood vessels in the area. This decreases the inflammation in the area. By decreasing inflammation, pain and swelling are decreased.
Ultrasound: Ultrasound machines are a treatment modality used by physical therapists that utilize high or low frequency sound waves. These sound waves are transmitted to the surrounding tissue and vasculature. They penetrate the muscles to cause deep tissue/muscle warming. This promotes tissue relaxation and therefore is useful in treating muscle tightness and spasms. The warming effect of the
sound waves also cause vessel vasodilatation and increase circulation to the area that assists in healing. The physical therapist can also adjust the frequency on the machine to use waves that will decrease inflammation.
TENS: A TENS unit stands for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation. It is a small battery operated machine that uses electrical transmission to decrease pain. Electrodes are applied to the affected area. The machine is turned on and an electrical current is sent through the electrodes. A tingling sensation is felt in the underlying skin and muscle. This signal disrupts the pain signal
that is being sent from the affected area to the surrounding nerves. By breaking this signal, the patient experiences less pain.
Electrical Stimulation: Electrical stimulation uses an electrical current to cause a single muscle or a group of muscles to contract. By placing electrodes on the skin in various locations the physical therapist can recruit the appropriate muscle fibers. Contracting the muscle via electrical stimulation helps strengthen the affected muscle. The physical therapist can change the current setting to allow for a forceful or
gentle muscle contraction. Along with increasing muscle strength, the contraction of the muscle also promotes blood supply to the area that assists in healing.
"Electrical Stimulation "
Definition:Electrical stimulation uses an electrical current to cause a single muscle or a group of muscles to contract. By placing electrodes on the skin in various locations the physical therapist can recruit the appropriate muscle fibers. Contracting the muscle via electrical stimulation helps strengthen the affected muscle. The physical therapist can change the current setting to allow for a forceful or gentle muscle contraction. Along with increasing muscle strength, the contraction of the muscle also promotes blood supply to the area that assists in healing.
Also Known As: E Stim
"TENS"
Definition: A TENS unit stands for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation. It is a small battery operated machine that uses electrical transmission to decrease pain. Electrodes are applied to the affected area. The machine is turned on and an electrical current is sent through the electrodes. A tingling sensation is felt in the underlying skin and muscle. This signal disrupts the pain signal that is being sent from the affected area to the surrounding nerves. By breaking this signal, the patient experiences less pain
Also Known As: transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation
Definition: Ultrasound machines are a treatment modality used by physical therapists that utilize high or low frequency sound waves. These sound waves are transmitted to the surrounding tissue and vasculature. They penetrate the muscles to cause deep tissue/muscle warming. This promotes tissue relaxation and therefore is useful in treating muscle tightness and spasms. The warming effect of the sound waves also cause vessel vasodilatation and increase circulation to the area that assists in healing. The physical therapist can also adjust the frequency on the machine to use waves that will decrease inflammation.
"Cold Packs"
Definition:
Cold packs are a frozen gel substance used by physical therapists to treat areas of pain and inflammation. The cold packs are wrapped in wet towel and applied directly to the area in need of treatment. The cold transferred to the patient’s skin, muscle, and tissue has several beneficial effects. The cold temperature causes vasoconstriction of the blood vessels in the area. This decreases the inflammation in the area. By decreasing inflammation, pain and swelling are decreased. This in turn decreases pain. Management with ice is the first line of treatment in acute injury.
"Hot Packs"
Definition: Physical therapists wrap moist hot packs in several layers of towels. They are then applied directly on the exposed area that needs treatment. The heat provided by the hot packs has several important benefits. It relaxes tight muscles causing tissues to relax. This decreases pain caused by muscle tension or spasms. It also causes vasodilatation of the blood vessels which increases circulation to the area. Patients with muscle strains, spasms, or arthritis often benefit from treatment with moist hot packs.
Definition: Pain experienced along the dermatome (or sensory distribution) of a nerve due to pressure on the nerve root.
Also Known As: sciatica
Definition: Gait is the manner or style of walking. There are many types of gait.
Examples include:
Antalgic Gait: painful gait, a limp is adopted to avoid pain on weight bearing structures (hip, knee, ankle)
Ataxic Gait: an unsteady, uncoordinated walk, a wide base of support is seen. normally due to cerebellar disease
Festinating Gait: short, accelerating steps are used to move forward, often seen in people with Parkinson's disease
Four Point Gait: utilized by crutch users, first on crutch, then the opposite leg followed by the other crutch and then the other leg
Hemiplegic Gait: involves flexion of the hip because of inability to clear the toes from the floor at the ankle and cirumduction at the hip
Spastic Gait: walk in which the legs are held close together and move in a stiff manner. often due to central nervous system injuries
Also Known As: walking, ambulation
Definition: Deep vein thrombosis refers to a blood clot in a vein of the upper or lower extremity. These clots are much more commonly located in the veins of the legs. Significant complication can occur if this blood clot breaks free and travels to the lung resulting in a condition called a pulmonary embolism.
Also Known As: DVT, deep vein thrombosis
Definition: An orthopedic appliance or apparatus used to support, align, prevent, or correct deformities or to improve the function of movable parts of the body.
Also Known As: braces, splints
Examples: AFO - Ankle Foot Orthosis; Orthotic device for the lower limb that encloses the ankle and foot and does not extend above the knee. Cervical - a rigid plastic orthosis that encircles the neck and supports the chin and the back of the head. KAFO - Knee Ankle Foot Orthosis; orthotic device for the lower limb that extends from above the knee to the ankle and foot. LSO - Lumbosacral Orthosis; spinal orthosis that encircles the body in the lumbosacral region.
Definition: RICE is the acronym used for Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. It is used as the best initial treatment of soft tissue injuries such as sprains, strains, and contusions. The combination of RICE helps reduce inflammation that occurs after acute injury. It is important to remember that the earlier this treatment is put into place, the more effective it is.
Also Known As: Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation
"Incontinence"
Definition: Incontinence is the inability to control urination. It affects people of all ages and gender, but woman are twice as likely as men to develop incontinence.
Four Types of Incontinence
Stress Incontinence: Incontinence that occurs during coughing, sneezing, laughing, lifting heavy objects or making other movements that put pressure, or stress, on the bladder. This results from weak pelvic muscles or a weakening of the wall between the bladder and vagina. The weakness is due to pregnancy and childbirth or from lower levels of the hormone estrogen during menstrual periods or after menopause.
Urge Incontinence: Incontinence after feeling a sudden urge to urinate with inability to control the bladder, such as while sleeping, drinking water or listening to water running.
Overflow Incontinence: Incontinence that occurs when the bladder is constantly full, and reaches a point where it overflows and leaks urine. This condition can occur when the urethra is blocked due to causes such as kidney or urinary stones, tumors or, an enlarged prostate. It may also be the result of weak bladder muscles, due to nerve damage from diabetes or other diseases.
Functional Incontinence: Incontinence that occurs when physical disabilities, external obstacles, or problems in thinking or communicating prevent a person from getting to a bathroom before they urinate.
Also Known As: Urinary Incontinence, Over Active Bladder
Definition: Ergonomics is defined as the science related to man and his work, embodying the anatomic, physiologic, and mechanical principles affecting the efficient use of human energy.
Examples: Safe lifting techniques, proper posture, appropriate seating position, and adaptive equipment are only a few of the many examples of ergonomics in the workplace.
Definition: A condition existing at, and usually before, birth; referring to conditions that are present at birth, regardless of their causation.
Also Known As: Hereditary
Temporomandibular joints — TMJs — are located on both sides of the face in front of the ears, connecting the jawbone (mandible) to the skull (temporal bone). They're the most complicated joints in the human body, providing rotation (pivoting) movement like all joints, as well as sliding movement, called translation. That's what allows us to open our mouths wide and move our jaws from left to right. Between the top end of the jaw (condyle) and the socket in the skull is a disc of cartilage, which — like the discs in the neck and back — serve as shock absorbers, protecting the bones from hitting each other.
TMD/TMJ describes a group of diseases that can involve the jaw joints, the muscles that control jaw movement and the dental occlusion. TMJ / TMDs are physical disorders arising from an imbalance in the delicate working relationship of the jaw and skull with the muscles that move the jaw, as well as the nervous system associated with these systems. This imbalance results in muscle fatigue, spasm and/or joint dysfunction, and even changes in the teeth, which in turn cause a variety of symptoms, unique for each person.
Ask your doctor about the benefits of Physical, Occupational, Speech and Massage Therapy available at Rehab Resource, Inc.
We are located at:
1239 Woodland Drive Ste. 103
Elizabethtown, KY 42701
Tel: 270-763-0703
Fax: 270-763-0709
|
