Phys­i­cal Ther­a­py is a dy­nam­ic ev­i­dence-based health care pro­fes­sion with many clin­i­cal ap­pli­ca­tions. Phys­i­cal Ther­a­pists are of­ten con­fused with mas­sage ther­a­pists, chi­ro­prac­tors, per­son­al train­ers etc. how­ev­er, phys­i­cal Ther­a­py cov­ers a broad­er scope and is a more reg­u­lat­ed pro­fes­sion.

Phys­i­cal Ther­a­py and Phys­io­ther­a­py (PT) refers to the same pro­fes­sion, hence why at times the ti­tles phys­io­ther­a­pists and phys­i­cal ther­a­pists (PT) are used in­ter­change­ably. It is al­so im­por­tant to know these are le­gal terms and are re­served for per­sons who are reg­is­tered pro­fes­sion­als. “Physio” is usu­al­ly a slang or name used for phys­io­ther­a­py or phys­io­ther­a­pists.

What is phys­i­cal ther­a­py?

Phys­i­cal ther­a­py is ser­vices pro­vid­ed to in­di­vid­u­als and ul­ti­mate­ly pop­u­la­tions to de­vel­op, main­tain and re­store max­i­mum move­ment and func­tion­al abil­i­ty through­out the lifes­pan, as this is im­por­tant for good health. Hu­man move­ment and func­tion can be af­fect­ed by age­ing, in­jury, pain, dis­eases, dis­or­ders, con­di­tions, or en­vi­ron­men­tal fac­tors. Phys­i­cal ther­a­pists max­imise qual­i­ty of life and move­ment po­ten­tial with­in the spheres of pro­mo­tion, pre­ven­tion, treat­ment/in­ter­ven­tion and re­ha­bil­i­ta­tion.

Phys­i­cal ther­a­py ser­vices are pro­vid­ed in an at­mos­phere of trust and re­spect for hu­man dig­ni­ty and un­der­pinned by sound clin­i­cal rea­son­ing and sci­en­tif­ic ev­i­dence.

Who ben­e­fits from phys­i­cal ther­a­py?

Phys­i­cal ther­a­py is for every­one who wants to im­prove their abil­i­ty to move bet­ter, be more func­tion­al or live phys­i­cal­ly health­i­er lives. Any­one can ben­e­fit from phys­i­cal ther­a­py, de­spite age. It is im­por­tant to un­der­stand that phys­i­cal ther­a­py is not a cure for all dis­eases or con­di­tions, the aim is al­ways to im­prove move­ment, health and func­tion there­by aid­ing in re­cov­ery.

Phys­i­cal ther­a­pists al­ways work as a part of a team. This team in­cludes the pa­tient (Team leader) and oth­er pro­fes­sion­als who may be as­sist­ing the pa­tient.

The oth­er team mem­bers can be sur­geons, doc­tors, oc­cu­pa­tion­al ther­a­pists, mas­sage ther­a­pists, nurs­es, po­di­a­trists, nu­tri­tion­ists, psy­chol­o­gists, coach­es, train­ers, fam­i­ly, and friends etc.

Com­mon con­di­tions treat­ed with phys­io­ther­a­py:

Pain—is the most com­mon rea­son for any­one to seek med­ical at­ten­tion. Many per­sons with acute pain es­pe­cial­ly as a re­sult of in­jury or those with chron­ic (long last­ing) pain achieves im­prove­ment with phys­i­cal ther­a­py.

Neu­ro­mus­cu­loskele­tal and or­thopaedic con­di­tions—back pain, whiplash, cer­vico­genic headaches, arthri­tis/joint prob­lems, sports in­juries, strains/sprains, ten­dini­tis, work re­lat­ed in­juries, post frac­ture in­jury, post re­con­struc­tion surgery, post joint re­place­ment, shoul­der in­juries, heel/foot pain, nerve pain, wrist pain and overuse in­juries.

Geri­atrics/neu­rol­o­gy—os­teo­poro­sis, joint is­sues, bal­ance dis­or­ders/fall pre­ven­tion, mo­bil­i­ty is­sues, in­con­ti­nence, Alzheimer’s dis­ease, Parkin­sons, MS, brain/spinal cord in­juries, stroke etc.

Pae­di­atrics—is­sues af­fect­ing mo­bil­i­ty in chil­dren such as de­vel­op­men­tal de­lays, cere­bral pal­sy, down syn­drome, growth in­juries etc.

Car­diopul­monary—heart and lung dis­eases, car­diac re­ha­bil­i­ta­tion, asth­ma, bron­chi­tis/COPD, post heart and lung surg­eries. Phys­i­cal ther­a­py can help im­prove oxy­gen trans­port us­ing air­way clear­ance and breath­ing tech­niques and im­prove a pa­tient’s en­durance to par­tic­i­pate in ac­tiv­i­ties of dai­ly liv­ing.

Oth­er con­di­tions—the fol­low­ing al­so ben­e­fit from phys­i­cal ther­a­py in re­duc­ing pain and/or im­prov­ing move­ment and func­tion. Can­cer re­hab, lym­phede­ma, post-surgery (gen­er­al) re­hab, am­pu­ta­tion re­hab, fi­bromyal­gia, preg­nan­cy re­lat­ed con­di­tions and pelvic floor is­sues.

Phys­io­ther­a­py Pro­tects Economies The World Con­fed­er­a­tion for Phys­i­cal Ther­a­py (WCPT) states that re­search­es in­di­cate that lack of par­tic­i­pa­tion by peo­ple with dis­abil­i­ties (due to pain, in­jury etc.) cost some economies sev­en per cent of their gross do­mes­tic prod­uct (GDP).

Coun­tries need more pro­fes­sion­als like phys­io­ther­a­pists who will work to en­able the dis­abled to be­come pro­duc­tive and par­tic­i­pate in na­tion build­ing. The WHO said that re­ha­bil­i­ta­tion ser­vices such as phys­i­cal ther­a­py are good in­vest­ments be­cause they “build hu­man ca­pac­i­ty”. This will re­duce eco­nom­ic loss­es due to dis­abil­i­ty of peo­ple.

Phys­io­ther­a­pists al­so treat pa­tients with non-com­mu­ni­ca­ble dis­eases, such as can­cers, chron­ic lung dis­eases and car­dio­vas­cu­lar dis­eases, which are re­spon­si­ble for more than 70 per cent of deaths glob­al­ly. Peo­ple with chron­ic health prob­lems can im­prove their health by learn­ing how to in­crease phys­i­cal ac­tiv­i­ty lev­els and ex­er­cise safe­ly un­der the guid­ance and in­struc­tion of phys­io­ther­a­pists.

Phys­io­ther­a­pists are able to pre­scribe ex­er­cise and help these pa­tients make lifestyle ad­just­ments, so that they can im­prove their health and dai­ly func­tion. Phys­io­ther­a­pists play a ma­jor role in re­duc­ing the preva­lence and the sever­i­ty of dis­abil­i­ties and non-com­mu­ni­ca­ble dis­eases through health pro­mo­tion and ad­vo­ca­cy, dis­ease pre­ven­tion, treat­ment, and re­ha­bil­i­ta­tion. Phys­io­ther­a­py does not just mean more healthy peo­ple, but more pro­duc­tive peo­ple who can con­tribute to coun­tries’ economies.

Phys­i­cal ther­a­py can be of ben­e­fit to many peo­ple and even coun­tries. Phys­i­cal ther­a­pists are trained pro­fes­sion­als who are re­spon­si­ble for restor­ing move­ment and func­tion in our pop­u­la­tion. They can be found across T&T.

When seek­ing the ser­vices of a phys­io­ther­a­pist en­sure they are reg­is­tered with the Phys­io­ther­a­pists Board of the Coun­cil of Pro­fes­sions Re­lat­ed to Med­i­cine.

The Phys­io­ther­a­py As­so­ci­a­tion of T&T can be con­tact­ed to help find a phys­io­ther­a­pist near you.

Adri­an Palmer, PT, BScPT, PAPHS Clin­ic Di­rec­tor - Arukah Physio + Ltd. Reg­is­tered Phys­i­cal Ther­a­pist (RPT) AC­SM/NPAS Phys­i­cal Ac­tiv­i­ty in Pub­lic Health Spe­cial­ist Arukah.physio.plus@gmail.com Tel/What­sApp: 868-314-3639