Physical therapy’s technology

When physical therapy started, the most of the treatments was based in just mechanical procedures, like passive mobilizations or active mobilizations, for example to gain strength or gain flexibility. But, in the actual years, the technology is very important in all areas of health, and physiotherapy isn’t excluding.
Physical therapist use: shortwave, ultra sound, TENS, infra red, UV rays, etc. But, also use indirectly other devices to find problems and, consequently, solutions in patients. Examples of this are: echotomography, X-Rays, even scanners. But, these exams are doing by medical technologists.

Then, I going to describe some objects used by physical therapist.

The shortwave is an equipment for the constant emission or pulsed radio frequency inducing thermal or athermal effects, the last ones indicated in acute conditions. The objectives of this therapy is elevate the temperature in a determinate part of the body increasing metabolism, increasing blood circulation, increasing of tissue oxygenation, decreasing of nerve stimulation, muscle relaxant effects and analgesic and antiinflamatory effects. The increasing of metabolism is used to repair injuries tissues, like muscles.

The Tens system is comprised of an electrical waveform generator circuit of low voltage and low current, applied on the painful area with conductive rubber electrodes. The electrical impulses penetrate through the skin by acting on the nervous system by amending the threshold and thus achieving the reduction or elimination of perceived pain.
This cash machine has 2 output channels with fully independent intensities and a central dual-purpose control to select the optimal frequency for each specific case, electrostmulation and analgesia.

The last second machine (Tens) is used in different pathologies, like denervated muscle, atrophied muscle, or in a weakness muscle, etc. The effects in the muscle tissue is increasing the muscle performance, but this treatment have no effect in the neuromuscular union, this just have effect in the muscle.

To conclude, I must say, even though I only have explained two methods in where technology is used in physical therapy, is interesting know more about others machines, like infra red, or UV rays.
Is very important to know this topic, because with the pass of years is more used the technology in all areas, and we must to know about all this, in the near future we maybe need use this things.

Take care, bye!

The brain myths…

The Dr. Pedro Maldonado talked to us about myths related with the brain, like: “the brain works like a computer, and have determinate areas responsible for certain tasks”; or “we just use 10% of our cerebral capacity”; or “with more size, more capacity and more functions”; or “the true reality isn’t what we see”.

I would dig a little deeper about the two first points.

It doesn’t know how brain works exactly, yet. We know today, some areas are predominantly related with specific tasks, but we can’t say with certainty that one part in particular is charged of one function, but we can say: to do any task is necessary an interaction between different parts of the brain. And that is the principal difference with a computer, we can see like one piece do one specific task, but if that part failure the computer runs out of that function and maybe “die”. When we talk about brain is not like that in all cases. If we have an injury in a part of the brain, maybe another part take that function or part of that function, not totally.

We don’t use just the 10% of our brain capacity, we use more than that. Even when we sleep or when we try put our mind in blank, our brain still works. To do any task, like talk, move or think, is necessary the interaction between different areas, like I said in the previous paragraph. And is for that what we can’t use only the 10% of our brain.

At least, with those tow points I can say that topic is very important to my and my career, physical therapy, because understanding how brain works we can understand the pathologies and how we can fix it.
To finish, I must say it was interesting the presentation made for the Dr. Maldonado, and I hope this area will continue to develop much more in the coming years.

Bye!

Chile / Sweden things

Hi!

I think, many points that teacher said, like roll of woman and man in house and in the society, are very important to us, like society.

About this first thing, I think we should evolve like community. Because in this days, women has the role of take care of their children, principally. The man of house have role of monetary contribution in house. Generally the person responsible of clearing and most of the rest tasks in house is the woman, or mother. But there are exceptions. And I think this is every day more common see father sharing house tasks with mother.

In addition, another important thing is that women increasingly are doing things that were done only by men, for example, in relation to the workplace. This is very different in more developed societies, like sweden. The role of women in this country is not as in Chile, because they share the tasks between men and women, may well share more with their children.

Another interesting thing that the teachers says was about the after morning pill. There was in this theme an important difference between Chile and Sweden, because here it’s punishable by law and condemned by the church.
In Sweden, the pill is publicly distributed, including women under 18 years old, but for the first 18 weeks (if I remember well).

To finish I think, Chile in comparison with Sweden, have to learn a lot of things yet. And be more tolerant like society in every aspect.

Bye!

Stress... friend or enemy

Stress is a syndrome or set of nonspecific physiological reactions of the organism to various environmental noxious agents of physical or chemical nature (Hans Selye, 1935).
The stress is caused by the instinct of the body to protect himself (Jean Benjamin Stora). This can be favorable or unfavorable, it depend of the situation. Stress is a “good thing” when we need run or fight, but is a “bad thing” in normal conditions (when we don’t need run or fight).
What things produce stress? Many things, and can be positive or negative situations. And a situation stressful to one person can be insignificant to another.

The stress affects organs and function of the entire organism. The most common symptoms are:
• Depression or anxiety
• Headaches
• Insomnia
• Indigestion
• Rashes
• Sexual dysfunctions
• Rapid heartbeat
• Nervousness
The consequences of stress can be varied, and it depend if is acute or chronic stress.
Complications of acute stress are: Stress ulcer, state of shock, post traumatic neurosis, obstetric neurosis and state postsurgical. And in chronic stress we find: Dyspepsia, gastritis, anxiety, accidents, frustration, insomnia, nerve, colitis, migraine, depression, aggressiveness, family dysfunction.

It’s doesn’t exist any method simple and infallible to cure the stress, but we can do some things to relearn how do everyday tasks to do it well and be better with oneself. For example: Establish clear priorities, delegate responsibility, learn to say no to commitments that can not be enforced, do well and soon we can do and forget all about what can not, take on challenges such as sequences of small steps.

And an important help to counteracts the stress is do sports!

Bye!

The Doctor Valenzuela, think the contraception pill is effective in determinates cases, depending of days take the pill before the ovulation. If the women took the LNG EC between 0-24 h postcoitus, the maximal effectiveness should be 56.1%. But, if this pill is used like an anovulatory drug, the effectiveness should be 100%.

The Doctor Croxato have several objections about this study, because didn’t have a description of the mechanism of action about the LNG EC. Also, he says the probabilities of pregnancy wasn’t calculated clinically, but based on detection of hCG. And the real probabilities are lower. Another objection of this doctor is about the erroneous assumption of which day of the six fertile days sexual intercourse took place. In another hand, the effects of LNG upon cervical mucus and sperm migration aren’t well-documented.

The debate about levonorgestrel is the strictly preovulatory vs. preovulatory and postovulatory effects in emergency contraception of this pill.

I think, like a lot of pills, the effect of this pill isn’t strictly preovulatory. Because, is a medicine, with different substances composing it. And these components, maybe, can affect in every period of life to the organism. And I think also in the postovulatory.

Finally, respect of government, in the law says: The constitution guarantee to all people: the right of life, and physical and psychological integrity of each person. The law protects the life of newborn. But, actually isn’t work because this pill is defined like “antiimplantatoria”, not like abortion pill (despite being this last). Is just a semantic recourse that permits undermine law.

A little history about trigger points...

Hi!

This time I’m going to talk about trigger points. A trigger point is a little muscle spasm, and produce pain in different degrees, depending of how long you have it, and the localization, and also how it extends. If you had a trigger point, you would do a massage in the affected area. If that trigger point have a long data (months or years), it will be difficult resolve it, but with patience and effort you can do it in less than a week. To treat the trigger points, you must do 6 times during a day massage pressing that point and move your finger only in one direction, and that’s what causes pain that you must withstand.

Trigger points are one of the most common causes of acute and chronic pain. For example, a man who I knew had pain in the shin. When he did sports the pain rise up, and I thought: “I could practice the technique in him, and if these don’t result, it doesn’t matter… ja!” I teach to him the method of this massage, and in less than a week he was totally healed.

In another situation I helped to my grandmother with a shoulder pain. She went to the doctor for this and he said: “This pain is because your age” … ajajaj. But I said: “Mmmm, and if I try apply the technique with my grandmother? ... and I did, and resulted!.

That’s my history today… I hope everyone knows this method.

Siddartha, a good book...

This time I am going to talk about Siddartha, a book of Herman Hesse.

This is a story about a man (Siddartha) who left from his family accompanied by a friend (Govinda). They wanted to found their real ways in life. They walk long distances, for long time. They learn to fast, meditate and wait. These skills will serve to them in the future. They met Buda, and Govinda unlike Siddartha stay with him. After that, Siddartha met Kamala, and she teaches him the art of love. But, the search of protagonist for find the truth about his life, leads him to leave his partner. Time after that reunited with Govinda Siddartha. And Govinda finally realizes about perfection of his old friend.

I liked this book, because the protagonist present the best way of thinking, he thinks assertively.

I read it the last year, and this book came to me through a friend who gave it to me.

I read it because my friend told me that this book would help me in the future. And I believed in him. Now I think he was right.

I found interesting the internal force of Siddartha related with search of perfection. And the best thing

And most salvageable, as a lesson, this book preaches that you should not follow the master to find answers in your life, but yourself with your own experience. And with the help of the rest you should get your own answers. And each one will serve their own experience and not the rest.