Rehabilitation therapy

Author: Ji Shurong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2011-03-06
Features: This book covers a wide range of topics, including both fundamental theories and practical applications, as well as recent advancements. It is suitable for undergraduate and graduate students in clinical medicine and rehabilitation medicine programs (both five-year and seven-year tracks), as well as for those who have chosen rehabilitation medicine as an elective course. It can also serve as a reference for professionals in the field of rehabilitation medicine.
Physical therapy (physical therapy, PT) is a method of treating patients' conditions by applying physical factors such as force, electricity, light, sound, magnetism, and temperature. Among these, manual therapy and the use of equipment and instruments to perform movement training for the purpose of treating injured, sick, or disabled patients to restore or improve functional impairments (primarily utilizing mechanical factors in physics) is known as kinesiotherapy (therapeutic exercise or movement therapy), which is a major component of physical therapy.
Kinesiotherapy is a method in which patients use various movements to treat limb dysfunction and correct abnormal motor postures. It is an important form of rehabilitation treatment. With the deepening of basic theoretical research in rehabilitation medicine and the introduction of neurophysiology, kinesiotherapy has been greatly enriched and developed, forming a unique treatment system tailored to various motor dysfunction disorders (such as hemiplegia, cerebral palsy, paraplegia, etc.).
In physical therapy, the use of light, electricity, sound, temperature, water, and other physical factors to treat diseases and promote patient recovery is known as physical factor therapy, which is often referred to as therapeutic physical modalities. Both kinesiotherapy and physical factor therapy are part of physical therapy, but they have different focuses. Kinesiotherapy is primarily an active form of rehabilitation treatment, where patients actively engage in therapeutic activities such as various exercises, gait training, and wheelchair use, under the guidance and supervision of a therapist. In contrast, physical factor therapy is considered a passive form of rehabilitation, where therapists apply treatments such as electricity, light, sound, magnetism, cold, and heat without requiring active participation from the patient.
There was once a view that passive physical therapy should be abandoned, but this perspective is incomplete. Passive physical therapy has been proven to be a highly effective clinical treatment. For example, applying warmth or electrotherapy to relieve localized pain is appropriate; passive movement and massage are necessary when limbs are paralyzed and cannot move; and the use of ultraviolet or shortwave therapy is effective for localized infections or wounds.
Therefore, we believe that the correct approach is to adopt both active and passive treatment methods as needed, as long as they are beneficial to the patient's recovery.