Rehabilitation Services and Treatments
Rehabilitation is a commonly used term, but how many of us actually understand what it means?
The information you will read through on the Rehab Direct website will help you understand rehabilitation, the treatments available and if you suffer an injury or disability, how a guided rehabilitation programme could help lessen discomfort and initiate a return to health.
What is rehabilitation?
Rehabilitation refers to the treatment used to help a person that has suffered an injury, attained a disability or who are sick, return to maximum function and usual activities that they enjoyed such as gardening, going to the gym and returning to work.
Although Rehabilitation as a term is used for both physical and psychological problems, Rehab Direct deals purely with physical therapy and the recovery of musculoskeletal function, particularly aiding the body’s recovery from an injury to a joint, tendon, ligament or to soft tissue.
How is Rehabilitation applied?
Rehabilitation is provided by a multidisciplinary team of doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, chiropractors and other associated professionals as appropriate to the condition.
Many people in the UK suffer from physical disabilities but many more of these people could benefit from treatment as part of a coordinated programme. This is perhaps due to a lack of knowledge and of understanding the importance of embarking on a programme of rehabilitation in order to assist recovery in the best way possible.
Each individual rehabilitation programme is strictly tailor-made to individual circumstances. It is important for you to seek and receive an accurate assessment and prognosis from a medical professional in order set out on the correct path of rehabilitation for your particular condition.
By working with your rehabilitation case manager and/or the health professionals treating you, the aim is to achieve maximum function and a fulfilling life.
Definitions
Physiotherapy is the most common form of treatment and is provided by either the NHS or private practice. As part of a physio rehabilitation programme, it refers to the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of an injury through physical means.
Musculoskeletal physiotherapy treatments can include:
Exercise prescription: Often physiotherapists encourage you to continually mobilise the affected area and therefore provide/prescribe various home exercises to help speed up your recovery. Recent research suggests that better outcomes are achieved if you retain a level of normal activity rather than apply complete rest, but you should not participate in any activities that may exacerbate the pain.
Manual techniques
Soft tissue massage
Cold Therapy is the use of cold packs (typically an ice pack applied for 20 minutes) for the treatment of injury
Heat Therapy is the application of heat (typically in the form of heated pads, warms packs, lamps, through hot water bottles or hot baths) to areas of the body causing pain. Often Cold Therapy and Thermotherapy are alternated, with the cold application happening first.
Electrotherapy is the use of electric currents to stimulate the healing of tissue, for example Ultrasound.
Iontophoresis is a non-evasive method of getting medication or other charged substances through the skin and into the blood stream