Physical therapy can be painful. But is it really a form of torture? To discuss this issue in greater detail, we have two special guests joining us in this week’s PT Talker podcast. Adam Mendenhall, PT, of Southern Utah Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation and his patient Jennifer Weaver, Bureau Chief for Spectrum and Daily News. Jennifer is undergoing physical therapy and recently wrote about the pain associated with recovery and therapy.
Her physical therapist, Adam Mendenhall believes many patients have a preconceived notion that physical therapy will be torture. To minimize a patient’s fears, Adam believes physical therapists need to be frank with patients about the recovery process to help them understand that some pain is common with post-op recovery and rehabilitation. Jennifer agrees that patients need to educate themselves about the healing and recovery process. She also strongly recommends following a physical therapist’s directions for exercises to do at home.
Find out if physical therapists are really torturers in disguise and gain a greater patient’s perspective on physical therapy by listening to the full podcast now.
Poor patient compliance is one of the leading factors behind unsatisfactory patient outcomes. To help improve patient outcomes and compliance tracking, this week’s expert developed an online solution for physical therapists. Brownwyn Spira, PT is a practicing physical therapist and owner of FORCE Physical Therapy. She’s also the president of FORCE Therapeutics which provides digital health applications for the physical therapy industry.
The inspiration behind FORCE Therapeutics was Spira’s frustration with the way physical therapists deliver exercise instruction to patients. Instead of handing a paper with written instructions on ways to do a specific exercise, she turned to technology to provide patients with videos that provide clear visual and verbal instructions to patients. The collection of videos and patient management tools are combined together in a subscription based online application, FORCE TherEx. This intuitive online solution allows physical therapists to provide professional home exercise video programs to their patients from their own website. The videos are easily accessed online from any computer or mobile device.
After years of testing, FORCE TherEx is slated to launch on September 12, 2011. Physical therapists can give the program a try for free by signing up for their free 14-day trial. To learn more about the costs and benefits of FORCE TherEx, listen to the full podcast now.
Ever wonder what it’s like to work as a physical therapist in another country? To give you a glimpse, our special guest today joins us from Saint Petersburg, Russia. Yury Moostafaev is a neurologist and physical therapist . He works in the field of neurological rehabilitation at a cash-based Rehab Center called Kinesis.
One of the reasons Yury pursued physical therapy after working for years as neurologist is physical therapy in Russia is more financially rewarding than working as a doctor. He believes the physical point of view is more valuable to the people of Russia. Russians want to learn how to move right and stay active. They recognize that medication and receiving a perfect diagnosis is not everything in life.
Discover the techniques he uses to help his patients and the type of equipment he relies on by listening to the full podcast now.
Pain, fatigue, swelling and loss of function are common symptoms associated with the inflammatory disease, rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The disease impacts nearly 1.3 million Americans according to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Disorders. To discuss the role of physical therapy in treating RA, recipient of the American College of Rheumatology 2011 Distinguished Scholar Award, Maura Daly Iversen, PT, DPT, SD Professor and chair of the department of physical therapy in the Bouvé College of Health Sciences at Northeastern University joins PT Talker in this week’s podcast.
Recent medical advancements have modified the progression of rheumatoid arthritis. These advancements may account for the decrease of physical therapists receiving referrals for RA patients. Yet, despite the decline, Dr. Iversen sees plenty of opportunity for physical therapists interested in working with RA patients. She states a growing number of studies demonstrate the importance of RA patients staying physically active and believes physical therapists are uniquely qualified to teach RA patients how to maintain physical activity and prevent deleterious effects of the disease. To learn more about making a difference in the lives of individuals with RA, listen to the full podcast now.
