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!