Defining Future Scope of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation


To identify the 'physiatry' in a single word is tough. This may be due that physiatry originated from two different fields, physical medicine and rehabilitation and emphases on assisting the general improvement of functional recovery in disabled patients. In addition, physiatry has new fields to develop; health and welfare. Therefore, the individuality of physiatry will change depending on how physiatrists act in these fields.

To endorse the progress of physiatry, physiatrists should apply their efforts in several directions. First, physiatrists must make efforts to treat the impairment itself in addition to use classical compensatory methods. Earlier, it was thought that the adult central nervous system was fixed and could not be repaired. Recently, growth of functional imaging techniques revealed that the adult central nervous system can get well from injury through neuroplasticity, and that this recovery can bring functional improvement. Because this recovery through neuroplasticity requires more period than compensatory techniques including one hand activity daily living, this method is difficult to adjust in clinical situations due to economic issues such as early discharge. Moreover, inadequate scientific evidence due to the difficulty in recruiting control groups is another reason for not regularly using this technique in the clinics. But, seeing the high prevalence of central nervous system injuries and developments in medical technologies, methods based on neuroplasticity will increase.

physiatrists must join in the development of future technologies. Recent trends toward the fusion of medicine and technology is related with many innovative therapies in rehabilitation fields. These include robotic therapies for hemiplegia, intelligent prosthesis for amputees, and stem cell therapies for treating cerebral palsies.


The individuality of physiatry is not easy to define. As mentioned in the introduction, physiatry originated from two different fields, physical medicine and rehabilitation and now these are musculoskeletal pain medicine and neurorehabilitation. Now, musculoskeletal pain medicine attracts physiatrists' attention, but this area also opens to orthopedic surgeons, anesthesiologists, and family medicine physicians. So, physiatrists must strengthen their competitive power as having a deep knowledge of this area. In addition, physiatry has new markets to grow; health and welfare. These innovative areas will give physiatrists new chances in the future. Therefore, the individuality of physiatry will change depending on how physiatrists act in these fields.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Secretion Removal Techniques in People with Spinal Cord Injury through Physiotherapy

Image
Respiratory complications are a leading cause of injury and mortality in people with spinal cord injury (SCI) and are more pronounced in individuals with higher level and complete injuries. A major contributor to respiratory illness in individuals with SCI is secretion retention, particularly among individuals with cervical lesions. Higher levels of SCI result in greater denervation of the ventilatory muscles thereby decreasing both inspiratory capacity and expiratory muscle force and resulting in an impaired cough. The figure shows the innervation of the respiratory muscles. Cervical SCI also denervates sympathetic pathways leading to a state of parasympathetic dominance that may increase mucus production and contribute to airway hyper responsiveness. A diminishing cough combined with mucus hyper secretion can overwhelm mucociliary clearance in people with SCI. The impact of SCI on normal airway clearance can be exemplified by examining the sequence of a cough. After f...
Read more

Postural orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS): Needs Rehabilitation Therapy

Image
Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is the most common of several kinds of dysautonomia, characterized by dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system showing with signs of orthostatic intolerance with or without related orthostatic hypotension and extreme autonomic excitation. Along with musculoskeletal signs of POTS and its known associations with other clinical entities like Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, POTS constitute an unusual treatment challenge of which the orthopaedic surgeon, Physiatrist and other associated healthcare providers should be aware. Symptoms: Cardiac symptoms: ·          rapid palpitations ·          lightheadedness ·          chest discomfort ·          dyspnea Non-cardiac symptoms: ·          brain fog ·     ...
Read more

Why Cancer Rehabilitation is an integral part of the treatment?

Image
Cancer treatment may disturb physical, social, psychological, and work-related abilities. Rehabilitation helps persons to recover these abilities and maintain independence. Many people than ever are suffering with cancer, but the disease and its life-saving treatments often leave survivors with physical, cognitive, and emotional sequelae that need rehabilitation services. Cancer rehabilitation is developing to meet the complex needs of an increasing number of survivors: rehabilitation professionals are working to design interventions that restore the integrity of organ structure and function, remediate functional loss, and allow full involvement in personal roles and activities. Cancer Rehabilitation help in reaching the following goals: ·          Recover physical strength. ·           Increase the ability to care for yourself which reduces the amount of support needed from caregivers. ·   ...
Read more