physical therapy Archives - Life in a day of a Physical Therapist

Pain is defined as a feeling or sensation that is not pleasant or comfortable. Pain can be mild, moderate or severe. It can bearable or unbearable. It may or may not disrupt one’s daily life or functional level. But the truth is, no one wants to live in pain. In addition, no one should put their health at risk in an effort to be pain-free. I will focus on some very effective and non-pharmacological pain management techniques in this post.

Since 1999, Americans have increasingly been prescribed opioids. This includes painkillers (like Vicodin, OxyContin, Opana, and methadone), and combination drugs (like Percocet). In some situations, prescription opioids are an appropriate part of medical treatment. However, opioid risks include depression, overdose, and addiction, plus withdrawal symptoms when stopping use. As a result, people addicted to prescription opioids are 40 times more likely to become addicted to heroin. Continue reading “Managing chronic pain without addiction – A guide to Pain Management without Opioids”

16th October 20174th September 2019

Effects of Exercise on Body – Importance of being Active

By Bijal Shah

I talk about what kind of exercise we should do with different pathology. I often discuss exercises as a prevention method. In this website, I also wrote a few articles on career development for physical therapists and student physical therapists. What I still have to do is, to talk about the effects of exercises!! Why do we need to work hard to do something called “exercise or work out” (unless you are like me who enjoys that sweaty hour followed by body ache!). What does exercise do to our body, bones, muscles, soft tissues, etc.. Important to know, isn’t it? So here is to the main effects of exercise.

Continue reading “Effects of Exercise on Body – Importance of being Active”

29th August 20173rd September 2019

A comprehensive guide to different types of transfer in Physical Therapy

By Bijal Shah

There are many types of transfer a clinician can guide a patient to perform. As physical therapists, we come across different people with different limitation and abilities. While providing a PT treatment or assessing the patient, our goal (along with patients and families) is to make our patients independent in the majority of functional tasks.

Continue reading “A comprehensive guide to different types of transfer in Physical Therapy”

24th June 201730th August 2019

Six Tips on performing Successful Wheelchair Evaluation

By Bijal Shah

As physical therapists, we prescribe a wheelchair based on our patient’s needs. We look for things like ambulatory status, weight-bearing precautions, arm or leg injuries, cardiopulmonary problems, etc while prescribing an appropriate wheelchair. Wheelchair evaluation can be very simple and straightforward when it is used for short-term use. Contradictorily, it can be tricky for patients with neurological disorders. It starts with getting information regarding past history, checking muscle strength and balance, finding the cognitive abilities and the usage of the chair. Yes, it is your full-fledged thorough physical or occupational therapy evaluation. And let me tell you, it does not end only an evaluation! A patient needs to be well trained to propel the manual chair or drive the power chair for the safety of himself and the safety of others. Continue reading “Six Tips on performing Successful Wheelchair Evaluation”