An active lifestyle is a healthy lifestyle. This is a very true statement and many people around the world live by it in order to stay in shape. While the pros of an active lifestyle far outweigh the cons, occasionally active people will end up getting injured while doing the things that they love. When this happens a doctor will usually refer them to a physical therapist in Seattle to help them overcome their injury and get back out the door and on their feet. Here are some of the major advantages of seeing a physical therapist in Seattle.
The first major benefit of going with a professional physical therapist is that they are well-trained and have gone through years of schooling to be able to help you out with your ailments. These medical professionals will have had experience with dealing with patients that have gone through joint injuries or replacements, surgeries, and also broken bones. They will usually have experience with smaller issues that have to do with sprains, muscles that have been torn, nerve problems, and even carpal tunnel. Read more…
The best benefit to taking on travel OT assignments is…the travel! You’ll have the opportunity to live in different towns and regions and experience different rehabilitation therapy settings — rehab centers, hospitals, out-patient clinics, etc.
However, if you have considerable family obligations, or if you don’t feel comfortable leaving your family for an extended length of time (most OT travel positions last about 13 weeks, some longer, some shorter), occupational therapy travel jobs may not be for you. (That said, it is possible to bring your family with you; many OT travel services can help make arrangements for your family to come along on your adventure.) Read more…
There are many equipments and tools that have been created to enable living comfortably for a patient with rheumatoid arthritis, they enable mobility and function, as well as protect joints from additional trauma or damage by positioning the joints in optimal biomechanical position.
We must understand that with a new rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis, the patient with be given and taught a lot of information with regards to the management of joints, pain, energy conservation, joint protection, equipment and tools etc – there is a limit of how much a patient can understand and retain, so it’d be a good idea for continuity of care and protection information by creating an information sheet or booklet. This booklet should be informative in terms of definition, exercises, what activities to avoid, what equipments to purchase and how to use them. Read more…
It is a common occurrence during the earlier stages of the rheumatoid arthritis disease that the patient with the new diagnoses will try to resume their previous tasks, roles and habits as much as possible, in a bid to return to normal. Often they end up trying too hard and injures or aggravates their affected joints.
Energy conservation, at all stages of rheumatoid arthritis is important, and when combined with the joint protection program, will result in better preserved and protected joints for the patient with rheumatoid arthritis. Read more…
Rheumatoid arthritis affects the joints, causing biomechanical changes, pain even, thus, biomechanical forces that are externally driven such as low but repetitive trauma or stress, or even trauma can exacerbate a joint riddled with arthritis. For this reason, the joint protection program was conceptualised and further developed for our patients. The main goals of this program is to first and foremost prevent aggravation and secondly, to relieve pain and minimise deformity from occurring.
Principles for the joint protection are:
1. using adequate and correct body biomechanics to perform tasks eg using larger or stronger joints to perform activities, using the hips and knees for lifting objects rather than using the back, pushing objects instead of pulling, using a trolley instead of carrying heavy items etc Read more…
Usually by the time the patient with rheumatoid arthritis requires or opts for surgery, there would have been quite a bit of joint damage and some degrees of subluxation or deformity of the joints. Comprehensive occupational therapy assessment would include physical, physiological, psychological, social and environmental perspectives of the patient with rheumatoid arthritis. It is often at this stage also that many of the patients would probably have stopped any form of paid employment, except for housewives who would still be doing household chores.
The things that the hand occupational therapist will be looking out for includes power, presence of deformity, any signs of subluxation, skin temperature, pain and range of motions will be assessed. Given the fact that rheumatoid arthritis has its cycles of exarcebations and remissions, it’d be good to keep an assessment mindset over at least 3 sessions to ascertain the hand and its function. It’d be good also to breakdown the assessment over 2-4 sessions depending on patient’s ability to tolerate each session, as not all patients would like to keep travelling to the clinic. Read more…
Pain management centers adopt active and passive therapeutic techniques for providing immediate relief from pain. Physical therapy is effective in treating back pain; it can prevent the condition from worsening and help in restoring lost mobility.
Active and Passive Treatment in Physical Therapy
Active treatment involves certain therapeutic exercises. These help to stretch and strengthen the back muscles. The therapists show the proper way of doing these exercises and constantly monitor the improvements. Read more…
Patients newly diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis needs to be treated with respect, and we as health care professionals need to recognize and be able to identify and recognize that they (the patients) have emotions, ideas, values, feelings, hopes – by doing this we affirm him or her, their identities, their beings, creating a positive effect on their self image and self esteem.
For this to happen smoothly, we may have to setup the environment in such a way that it facilitates such an encounter, or we facilitate the patient using guided questions, or getting them to participate in “open” activities that will help them to express. Many times, a simple listening ear is more than enough. From here, we can identify and check if they have any wrong understandings, or had apostrophized their rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis, and correct them. Read more…
A person newly diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (or any medical conditions for that matter) usually gets shocked, before becoming anxious then settling into a saddened and depressed mood. There is a grief cycle that he or she will go through, as grief for losing a part of themselves, their health and fitness. By the time the person suffering from the disease’s progression to reach a stage where operation is required, they would have gotten over the initial shock, but will still be vulnerable to bouts of moodiness, depression and helplessness.
These are common and usual response of people towards having to live with pain and deforming disease. Sometimes, antidepressants are required to manage sleep, loss of weight etc. Read more…
Teeth grinding, or bruxism, occurs when a person unknowingly grinds or clenches their teeth. Mild cases may not present any symptoms, but more severe cases can lead to damaged teeth, facial pain, disorders of the jaw, TMJ and other issues.
Teeth grinding causes may be physical or psychological. Doctors suspect that stress is particularly to blame because it disrupts a person’s sleep. People may subconsciously grind their teeth in an effort to vent anger, anxiety and stress. Dislocated jaw joints or misaligned teeth are physical issues that can cause excessive grinding. Vitamin deficiencies can also lead to bruxism. Low levels of calcium in the body can cause involuntary movements and muscle contractions. A deficiency of magnesium can also cause muscle spasms leading to clenching and grinding. Read more…
