Physiotherapy

Modern physiotherapy is available at Ortopeedia Arstid hospital to patients suffering from orthopaedic conditions. All the surgical patients will be referred to physiotherapy; this form of treatment is also recommended for patients with problems that do not require operative treatment and who could benefit considerably from physiotherapy.

Physiotherapy is a component of rehabilitation therapy, based on physical exercise, manual therapy, positional therapy and physical methods (heat and cold treatment, ultrasound, magnet, laser and electrical therapy), which is aimed at restoring the functioning of the supporting and movement apparatus or organ system as close to the ideal as possible. The goal of the therapy is the rehabilitation of patients and to ensure their fast and efficient return to a normal living and working environment.

PHYSIOTHERAPIST

A physiotherapist is a specialist with a college degree who has obtained the required theoretical and practical training that is involved in assessing and restoring movement functions.

The physiotherapist:

• will assess the condition of the supporting and movement apparatus;
• develop a special treatment programme that meets the requirements of the patient and his/her abilities;
• observes the treatment process and will adjust the previously developed programme, where appropriate;
• will help the patient’s family to understand his/her problems and to realise if and when assistance should be offered;
• consults the patient in the process of choosing the appropriate support tools;
• gives recommendations about other specialists to be contacted for improved resolution of the problem (manual therapist, activity therapist, etc.);
• will check whether the patient leaving the hospital is independent enough and has been given the instructions for further activities.

PHYSIOTHERAPY OF THE SUPPORT-MOVEMENT APPARATUS

Support-movement apparatus therapists have received the training required to work with people with orthopaedic issues. People suffering from muscle, bone, ligament and/or tendon ailments, resulting from injuries or infection, can be helped.

The need for surgical intervention may be eliminated in the case of some malaises by following an action programme, drawn up in a properly structured plan to suit the individual. Should it be impossible to avoid a surgery, it will be necessary to prepare the patient’s organism, making it as strong as possible, in order to ensure fast recovery following the surgical procedure. The first guidelines for quicker rehabilitation will be given to the patents while still at the hospital, post-surgery, followed by a programme for domestic exercise and, where appropriate, recommendations to return for ambulatory physiotherapy after a number of weeks.

Patients are also taught to use various aids that are usually unavoidable after a surgery and tutored on applying and removing orthoses.

AMBULATORY PHYSIOTHERAPY

Ambulatory physiotherapy will be beneficial for patients:

• who do not require surgical intervention, but who suffer from support-movement problems;
• before surgery to ensure faster post-surgery healing;
• after surgery – to restore functioning and painless mobility as soon as possible.

Ambulatory physiotherapy will involve the patients paying visits to therapists at an institution that offers the required services.

As part of the therapy, the physiotherapist will identify the nature of the problem, the circumstances that caused it, accompanying disturbances or restrictions to activities. The physiotherapist will assess the condition of the patient as a package, paying attention not just to the painful area but to the organism in general. The mobility of joints, muscle power and flexibility, body posture, walking patterns, etc. will be assessed. An individual treatment plan will then be developed, which will be implemented and monitored, critically, according to the nature of the healing process.

One can get rid of some of the malaises with lots of commitment and dedicated exercising that, when accompanied by a lack of physical exercise and lack of attention, would result in surgical intervention. The therapy programme that is developed and implemented with the physiotherapist will lay the foundation for a fast and efficient recovery.

STATIONARY PHYSIOTHERAPY

Stationary physiotherapy is beneficial for patients who are to be admitted to the hospital for surgical procedures. In the case of stationary therapy, the patients will be kept at the hospital overnight to ensure the required medical attention.

When a patient is admitted to the hospital, he/she will first be told of his/her assumed condition after the surgery, the nature of the surgical procedure he/she is about to receive and what should be done after the surgery. The physiotherapist will teach the patient the very first exercises that need to be performed for faster recovery.

Easier exercising – like sitting and standing up in bed – will commence after the surgery, followed by more complicated exercises. The physiotherapist will teach how to use the affected body parts safely and how to move around with various aids. For the purposes of post-surgery recovery, it is important for the patient dismissed to be in satisfactory general condition and have the guidelines and recommendations for further activities.