Physiotherapy
Physiotherapy is a branch of modern professional healthcare.
Terapists use many methods for one main target. This is to improve the mobility and help to strenght the body power. Physiotherapy is used mainly after an injury and during a recovery from diseases. But is also good as a prevention.
Psychical aspect
People know that physiotherapy is aimed at musculosceletal systém of the body. Less common is that the procedures have also good impact (procedures also influences) on a psychical state of a patient.
As the current medicine knows, the psychical state is as important as the physical in a process of healing. So we can say that physiotherapy has a real future because it already respects the principles of psychosomatic medical view.
Methods
The methods based on a physical principles vary a lot. We can say that heat, electrical and water based applications aid to muscle and joint movements. The another methods are massage and all the procedures taking as a part of spa healing.
We also use the various types of mobilization techniques as well as special exercises to improve the condition of a patient. They are special methods for a children and for a range of diseases and injuries. Therefore physioterapist have to be well trained in anatomy and physiology. There is also another reason for it. Physioterapists must be real partners to doctors and understand their prescribings of a treatments.
History
But the physiotherapy is not a „hot novelty“ in a medical scene. On the contrary. As you probably know, the methods we are studying and we are training for are based maybe on the oldest knowledges that people discovered.
For example the word „massage“ has its roots in a greece word „massé“which means to touch and press. But already in a primeval ages (v pravěku) the people knew the basic principles of massage. They felt as we do now that various touching, pressing and rubbing (tření) is very pleasant.
Moreover, they also knew that massage has a healing effect and could help from a pain. As the ancient travellers and navigators (mořeplavci) saw, the primitive nations used the massage also when they were exhausting and needed a rest.
The oldest written records about massage are from Egypt about 5000 B.C. The similar practics as well as gymnastic were known also in China, Japan and India.
The old terapists from these countries were giving their patients following advices: to get up early, use perfumed oils on their body, then practise gymnastic and enjoy a massage. Everything for one reason – to be more healthy. They also recommended to be moderate in eating and drinking alcohol.
Probably the biggest deal in a propagation of massage have the old Romans gladiators. Their doctor Claudius Galenos used the massage as a part of preparation in a training. He knew that by these method the muscles could be more strong and his gladiators could win. You are right if you find that these principles are still working – in a sporting massage.
Ancient Rome and Greece was also the place where the effect of thermal bath were discovered. But the procedures were taken only by wealthy men as Gaius Julius Cesar and his soldiers.
Another very old method is acupuncture and acupressure which find out special points in our body and through them could heal a various types of diseases, not only musculosceletal. The old knowledge of herbalism is also still actual in a modern physiotherapy.
In a middle ages the interest in body culture were dicreasing because of very strict religion. For example the women which were doing massage, where considered to be a prostitutes.
So the medicine as well as the physiotherapy and body exercise in Europe began to improve not until the 16th century.
The interest in rehabilitation and physiotherapy were then increasing mainly after a war conflicts. Many war veterans needed a help. The main impuls to the modern physiotherapy were given after a first and second world war. The modern principles comes from U.S:, Britain and also from Czechoslovakia where a surgeon Mr. Jedlička was founded his sanatorium. It served to veterans, today it is a place for children with a handicap.
Individual care
The history of physiotherapy is very rich. But the main rule is simple. I mean, that all the time physiotherapy exist one thing is still important: individual care and close touch between a patient and a terapist.
The patient has to trust the terapist. And the terapist should be really proffesional, credible and should try to solve the problem with all methods he knows.
There is simly one good reason for a confidence between a patient and terapist. If somebody would not trust you he or she will never come back to your practice.