Physical rehabilitation is a physical medicine discipline often offered to those recovering from accident or illness, but its exact definition can be hard to understand. That’s because physical rehabilitation is a pretty broad topic to try to define succinctly. Covering a large number of conditions, physical rehabilitation practices are helpful to a large number of patients.
To try and sum up physical rehabilitation, we’ll say that it’s the process of assisting patients in regaining function and independence, learning to address limitations they might face, after a major life change like illness or accident For further clarification, it’s possible to divide physical rehabilitation into five broad categories: orthopedic, cardiopulmonary, neurological, pediatric, and geriatric. One thing that is very significant about physical rehabilitation, setting it apart from other medical practices, is that it involves methods of addressing a patient’s problems, and helping them rise to the challenges, without surgery or extraneous medication.
Physical rehabilitation involves a team of healthcare professionals, including the patient’s primary care doctor, a specialist called a physiatrist, one or more physical therapists, and sometimes occupational therapists as well. A physiatrist is a highly educated physician who has had training in physical medicine and rehabilitation, including the treatment of musculoskeletal injuries and acute and chronic pain syndromes, electro-diagnostic medicine, (used to diagnose neurological disorders), and rehabilitation for functional impairment and disability. It’s likely that a physiatrist will make the diagnoses and prescribe the therapies necessary for a patient’s physical rehabilitation, while physical therapists will serve as the practitioners who work with the patients to put these therapies into practice.
Typically out-patient services, often performed at a physical rehabilitation center, physical rehabilitation services are often recommended for people who have suffered a major trauma, like an amputation or another mobility- impairing condition. Some patients, however, may not encounter such extreme physical challenges, but may be facing other difficulties that are just as traumatic. Physical rehabilitation addresses these challenges as well, with applications that apply to a wide range of medical conditions, including arthritis, cancer, fibromyalgia, sports injuries, work-related injuries, back pain, osteoporosis, and more. Practices utilized in physical rehabilitation include:
- Heat and cold therapy
- Electrotherapies
- Massage
- Biofeedback
- Therapeutic exercise
- And many other techniques meant to assist patients in dealing with a variety of challenges.
Advanta Total Health offers a revolutionary approach to wellness, and part of that approach involves physical rehabilitation. Treating each patient as a whole person, not just a collection of parts, the medical experts at Advanta Total Health designed to enhance health and wellness in order to improve quality of life. Along with physical rehabilitation and physical therapy, Advanta offers chronic pain management, allergy testing, spinal correction, and much more. To learn about how Advanta Total Health can help you improve your quality of life and achieve optimum wellness, visit the website at AdvantaTotalHealth.com
