Various Reasons Why Physical Therapy is Beneficial

Basically, man though stands erect, his structure isn't meant for standing straight for long. But, sadly, as the technologies have improved, our lifestyle has changed so much, that at some point in our lives, we all have been suffering from back pain, may be in the neck, lower back. The back pain seems more common among the younger generation these days, due to long hours of desk jobs. If the lower back pain persists for 3-6 weeks, physiotherapy is recommended.

A customized physical therapy program can help individuals return to their prior level of functioning, and encourage activities and lifestyle changes that can help prevent further injury and improve overall health and well being. Primary care doctors often refer patients to physical therapy at the first sign of a problem, since it is considered a conservative approach to managing problems. Wondering what makes physical therapy so important? In honor of Physical Therapy month in October.
 
How does physiotherapy help?
The main purpose behind physiotherapy is reducing lower back pain and increasing muscle and bone function, so that such instances are avoided in the future. Physiotherapy is the first line of defence against lower back pain. More drastic measures such as surgery are undertaken once physiotherapy fails to do is job.

Physiotherapy is often recommended when the back pain is caused due to lifestyle factors, a minor injury like a fall or other moderate factors. For more severe back injuries, doctors recommend surgery straight away when there is no scope of performing physiotherapy.

Low-intensity back pain can be cured using a combination of heat packs, ultrasound wave therapy and Iontophoresis  (using a localized current source to introduce medical ionic compounds to the body).

A physical therapy program for back pain usually has two components:

1. Passive physical therapy to help reduce the patient's pain to a more manageable level
   
2. Active exercises
   

Passive Physical Therapy - Modalities
The physical therapist may focus on decreasing pain with passive physical therapy (modalities). These therapies are considered passive because they are done to the patient. Examples include:

1. Heat/ice packs
   
2. TENS units
   
3. Iontophoresis
   
4. Ultrasound
   

Active Physical Therapy - Back Pain Exercises
In addition to passive therapies, active physical therapy (exercise) is also necessary to rehabilitate the spine. Here are some of the common exercises for back pain:

1. Back Stretch: Put your hands underneath your head while lying back. Bend your knees but put your feet on the ground. Roll your legs to one side and hold them there for 10 seconds. Repeat three times for each side.
   
2. Deep Lunge: For this, you need to kneel on one knee with the other foot pointed towards the front. Lift the back knee up and hold it there for five seconds and then bring it down. Repeat this exercise three times for each side.
   
3. One Leg Stand: This is the simplest of exercises. Hold on to a wall for support while standing and face towards it. Then slowly hold one leg and bend it behind you. Hold in the same position for five seconds before bringing it down. Repeat the process three times for each leg in five second gaps.
   
   How all does physiotherapy helps-
   

1. Reduce or eliminate pain. Therapeutic exercises and manual therapy techniques such as joint and soft tissue mobilization or treatments such as ultrasound, taping or electrical stimulation can help relieve pain and restore muscle and joint function to reduce pain. Such therapies can also prevent pain from returning.
    
2. Avoid surgery. If physical therapy helps you eliminate pain or heal from an injury, surgery may not be needed. And even if surgery is required, you may benefit from pre-surgery physical therapy. If you are going into a surgery stronger and in better shape, you will recover faster afterwards in many cases. Also, by avoiding surgery, health care costs are reduced.
    
3. Improve mobility. If you’re having trouble standing, walking or moving—no matter your age—physical therapy can help. Stretching and strengthening exercises help restore your ability to move. Physical therapists can properly fit individuals with a cane, crutches or any other assistive device, or assess for orthotic prescription. By customizing an individual care plan, whatever activity that is important to an individual’s life can be practiced and adapted to ensure maximal performance and safety.
    
4. Recover from a stroke. It’s common to lose some degree of function and movement after stroke. Physical therapy helps strengthen weakened parts of the body and improve gait and balance. Physical therapists can also improve stroke patients’ ability to transfer and move around in bed so that they can be more independent around the home, and reduce their burden of care for toileting, bathing, dressing and other activities of daily living.
    
5. Recover from or prevent a sports injury. Physical therapists understand how different sports can increase your risk for specific types of injuries (such as stress fractures for distance runners). They can design appropriate recovery or prevention exercise programs for you to ensure a safe return to your sport.
    
6. Improve your balance and prevent falls . When you begin physical therapy, you will get screened for fall risk. If you’re at high risk for falls, therapists will provide exercises that safely and carefully challenge your balance as a way to mimic real-life situations. Therapists also help you with exercises to improve coordination and assistive devices to help with safer walking. When the balance problem is caused by a problem in one’s vestibular system, Physical therapists can perform specific maneuvers that can quickly restore proper vestibular functioning, and reduce and eliminate symptoms of dizziness or vertigo.
    
7. Manage diabetes and vascular conditions. As part of an overall diabetes management plan, exercise can help effectively control blood sugar.  Additionally, people with diabetes may have problems with sensation in their feet and legs. Physical therapists can help provide and educate these patients on proper foot care to prevent further problems down the road.
    
8. Manage age-related issues . As individuals age, they may develop arthritis or osteoporosis or need a joint replacement. Physical therapists are experts in helping patients recover from joint replacement, and manage arthritic or osteoporotic conditions conservatively.
    
9. Manage heart and lung disease. While patients may complete cardiac rehabilitation after a heart attack or procedure, you also may receive physical therapy if your daily functioning is affected. For pulmonary problems, physical therapy can improve quality of life through strengthening, conditioning and breathing exercises, and help patients clear fluid in the lungs.
    
10. Manage Women’s Health and other conditions. Women have specific health concerns, such as with pregnancy and post-partum care. Physical therapists can offer specialized management of issues related to women’s health. Additionally, PT can provide specialized treatment for:  Bowel incontinence, breast cancer, constipation, fibromyalgia, lymphedema, male pelvic health, pelvic pain, and urinary incontinence.

 

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/   

 
FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                                                                https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/                              

FOR CROCHET DESIGNS                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com

 

Brain Scan Can Tell PTSD Apart from Traumatic Brain Injury

In 2008, a marine Capt. was deployed in Afghanistan.

The combat engineer’s goal was to detect and remove mines, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and other hazards from roads, clearing the way for troops and supplies to move through.

By the time he left Afghanistan, he had survived three explosive blasts that caused concussions.
These weren’t the first concussions in his life. He’d already had five or six such head injuries from playing sports and from other incidents.

Still, when he first got home, he felt fine. Not just fine, but fortunate that he’d survived Afghanistan unscathed. Or so he thought.

Over the weeks and months following his return, he began to deteriorate. He began experiencing headaches and difficulty sleeping, as well as problems concentrating, focusing, and remembering. He had frequent angry outbursts, which he’d never experienced before.

“I was rude and nasty to people, and the worst part was that I didn't really know just how much I had changed,” he said.

But when he sought medical help, his diagnosis was unclear. A history of surviving explosive attacks, coupled with his symptoms, pointed to two different possible conditions: traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). So which was it?

A Look Into the Brain

A new study published  has found a way to tell TBI and PTSD apart by using brain scans.

The researchers gathered more than 20,000 people with TBI, PTSD, both conditions, or neither. They scanned participants using single-photon emission computer tomography (SPECT), an imaging technique that can measure blood flow to highly specific regions of the brain.

In a smaller group with about 100 patients of each type, they also strictly controlled for demographics and co-occurring conditions.

Although PTSD and TBI can have similar symptoms, in a brain scan, they look nothing alike, the researchers found.

Patients with TBI showed decreased activity in the prefrontal cortex, temporal lobes, and cerebellum. These brain regions govern self-control of mood and behavior, memory formation, and coordinated movement.

Meanwhile, patients with PTSD showed increased activity in the limbic system, basal ganglia, prefrontal cortex, cerebellum, and temporal, occipital, and parietal lobes. Brain regions that are involved in fear processing and emotional regulation, sensory processing, and integration of information are also affected.

Using a computer-driven analysis, in the smaller controlled group, the scientists were able to determine who had PTSD or TBI with 100 percent accuracy. Visual readings performed by humans were only 89 percent accurate, stressing the need to have such analysis performed by computers. In the larger group, accuracy did not exceed 82 percent, even with computer analysis.

“Diagnosis and treatment for PTSD and TBI [are] often based on symptom clusters, and difficulties in differentiating between these brain disorders often arise due to the symptom overlap,” said a primary investigator on the study. “Functional neuroimaging with SPECT may hold the key to differentiating these disorders effectively, eliminating the reliance on self-report data, diagnosis based on symptom clusters, and challenges to diagnosis.”

Tricky Treatment

The Capt. eventually found his way to the clinic, where a brain scan revealed that he was living with both PTSD and TBI. 

“Boy, did I underestimate the value of actually looking at the brain when you have a brain problem,” he said.

With the problem uncovered, his doctors were able to tailor his treatment.

“I felt a dramatic difference right away,” he added. “I felt more mentally sharp and focused than ever.”

When it comes to treating TBI and PTSD, it’s important to be able to tell the two apart. The treatments for one can be harmful for people with the other.

For example, the tranquilizers (benzodiazepines) that people with PTSD use to soothe an overactive brain could pack a dangerous double-punch to the already-underactive TBI brain.

Meanwhile, the regular therapies required to treat TBI could be triggering for someone with PTSD.

Not a Small Problem

Since 2000, more than 300,000 veterans have been diagnosed with TBI and more than 125,000 with PTSD — with no small amount of overlap among them. One study found that 73%  of veterans with TBI also had PTSD.

Among U.S. civilians, about 3.5% of adults experience PTSD — that’s about 8.5 million people. In 2010 alone, there were about 2.3 million emergency department visits for suspected TBI.

The author cautioned in his paper that seemingly mild head impacts that happen during sports can cumulate over a lifetime into repetitive TBI with long-term symptoms.

Amen hopes his work will lead to diagnosis of PTSD and TBI based off biomarkers like the SPECT analysis, rather than symptom-based diagnosis.

“The results of this work offers help to vulnerable populations who suffer from PTSD and TBI — such as veterans — demonstrating that functional neuroimaging offers targeted care and the potential for improved outcomes,” he said.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                                                                                                                                                                                        PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/  

FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                                                              https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/                              
FOR CROCHET DESIGNS                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 https://my crochet creations.blogspot.com  

Brain Damage - Types, Causes and Symptoms

Regardless of whether the cause is a tumor, trauma, stroke or any other illness, any injury which inflicts damage on your brain cells is considered to be a brain damage. 
There are two types of brain damage, both of which interfere with the standard functioning of the brain.
They are:

1. Acquired brain injury (ABI): Either resulting from a tumor or a neurological illness, for instance a stroke, this type of brain injury originates from the cellular level and is commonly linked with brain pressure.
2. Traumatic brain injury (TBI): It results from any damage imparted to the skull usually from an external and physical force like a blow to the head or a head accident, which in turn damages the brain.

How severe the brain damage is depends largely on the type of brain injury. Mild brain injuries are temporary, causing headaches, memory lapses, nausea and confusion. On the other hand, severe brain injuries cause cognitive, physical and behavioral impairments which are often life-changing and permanent.
Causes:
Acquired brain injuries may be caused by:

1. Poisoning
2. Being exposed to toxic substances
3. Choking, strangulation or drowning
4. Heart attacks
5. Infections
6. Stroke
7. Tumours
8. Neurological illnesses
9. Aneurysms
10. Illegal drug abuse

Traumatic brain injuries are usually caused by:

1. Car accidents
2. Sports Injuries
3. Physical violence
4. Head blows
5. Falls and other mishaps

Symptoms:
Whether acquired or traumatic, symptoms of brain damage can be classified under four major groups:
1.  Cognitive symptoms generally include

• Having a hard time processing information or expressing thoughts
• Difficulty in understanding others or abstract concepts
• Indecisiveness
• Memory Loss
• Short attention spans

2.  Physical symptoms generally include

• Excessive physical fatigue
• Extreme mental fatigue
• Persistent and frequent migraines or headaches
• Paralysis
• Seizures
• Tremors
• Sleep disorders
• Light sensitivity
• Loss of consciousness
• Slurred speech

3.  Perceptual symptoms generally include

• Spatial disorientation
• Smell and taste disorders
• Heightened pain sensitivity
• Changes in hearing, seeing, or touch sensations
• Unable to perceive time
• Balance problems

4.  Emotional or behavioral symptoms generally include

• Decreased stress tolerance
• Heightened or flattened reactions or emotions
• Aggressiveness
• Sluggishness
• Impatience and irritability
• Self-denial If you have any specific problem, you please consult a neurosurgeon.
  
  
   this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   
  https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations 
  https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
  https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement