Physical Medicine :: Health Treatment Psychiatry Rehab Essays

Physical MedicinePHYSICAL medical specialtyPHYSICAL MEDICINE also called PHYSIATRY, PHYSICAL THERAPY, OR REHABILITATION MEDICINE, medical specialty come to with the treatment of chronic disabilities and with the restoration of normal functioning to the disabled by somatic modes of treatment, much(prenominal) as exercise. This specialized medical service is primarily aimed at rehabilitating somebodys disabled by torture or ailments affecting the labor functions of the body. Physical medication is one means employed to assist these patients to contribute to a comfortable and productive life, often despite the persistence of a medical problem. For centuries man used such natural physical agents as hot springs and sunlight to treat his ailments, but the development of physical medicate as a specialized medical service took place by and large after World War I. Two factors influenced its growth in the twentieth century--epidemic poliomyelitis and the two world wars--both of wh ich created large numbers of young, seriously incapacitate persons. Physical medicine was definitively established through the American physician Howard A. Rusks efforts to rehabilitate wounded soldiers during and after World War II. Physical medicine past became available for the treatment of patients with such diverse problems as fractures, burns, tuberculosis, painful backs, strokes, affection and spinal cord injuries, diabetes, birth defects, arthritis, and vision and speech impairments. Physical medicine is closely associated with orthopaedic surgery, but it is also prescribed by physicians and surgeons in all branches of medicine. Physicians who specialize in physical medicine are called physiatrists. The objectives of physical medicine are relief of pain, improvement or maintenance of functions such as strength and mobility, training in the most effective mode of performing essential activities, and testing of function in various landing fields. Tests spoil such fields as muscle strength, degree of joint mobility, cellular respiration capacity, and muscular coordination. The therapeutic means most commonly employed accept heat, massage, exercise, galvanising currents, and functional training. Since the 1970s these basic means have been supplemented and heighten by psychological counselling, occupational therapy, and a variety of other treatments which whitethorn be used in concert to help the disabled person achieve the fullest possible life despite the persistence of his medical problem. warmth is used generally to stimulate circulation and to relieve pain in the area treated. It may be applied by infrared lamps, shortwave radiation, or high-frequency electrical currents (diathermy) by hot, moist compresses or immersion in hot pissing (hydrotherapy) or by ultrasound. Massage primarily aids circulation and relieves local pain or muscle spasm.