Physical Medicine :: Health Treatment Psychiatry Rehab Essays

somatogenic Medicine physiologic MEDICINEPHYSICAL MEDICINE also called PHYSIATRY, PHYSICAL THERAPY, OR REHABILITATION MEDICINE, medical checkup specialism concerned with the treatment of chronic disabilities and with the restoration of normal functioning to the handicapped through physiological modes of treatment, such as exercise. This specialized medical helping is generally aimed at rehabilitating persons alter by pain or ailments bear on the motor functions of the body. Physical music is one means apply to help oneself these patients to return to a comfortable and productive life, often despite the assiduity of a medical problem. For centuries man used such natural somatogenic agents as acrid springs and sunlight to treat his ailments, but the development of physical medicine as a specialized medical service took fructify largely after World War I. Two factors influenced its growth in the 20th century--epidemic poliomyelitis and the two world wars--both of which cr eated large numbers of young, bad handicapped persons. Physical medicine was definitively established through the American medico Howard A. Rusks efforts to rehabilitate wounded soldiers during and after World War II. Physical medicine then became available for the treatment of patients with such diverse problems as fractures, burns, tuberculosis, traumatic backs, strokes, nerve 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 precaution of functions such as strength and mobility, training in the most in force(p) method of performing essential activities, and testing of function in conglomerate areas. Tests cover such fields as muscle strength , degree of interchangeable mobility, breathing capacity, and muscular coordination. The therapeutic means most commonly employed include heat, massage, exercise, electrical currents, and functional training. Since the 1970s these basic means establish been supplemented and enhanced by psychological counselling, occupational therapy, and a variety of other(a) treatments which may be used in concert to help the disabled person achieve the fullest possible life despite the persistence of his medical problem. Heat 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 water (hydrotherapy) or by ultrasound. Massage primarily aids circulation and relieves topical anesthetic pain or muscle spasm.