Mike Said:

Medical Tourist - Looking for scenic warm physical rehab facility?

We Answered:

You probably won't need intensive in house therapy unless you have factors that would make it unlikely to return home 4 days after the surgery. Usually, the factors for this are: A. living alone B. Having many stairs (and living alone) B. Being over the age of 70 C. having complex medical complications D. having both knees done at once, etc. The most typical person to require inhouse therapy are elderly females who live alone with multiple medical problems. Even when people DO need in house therapy, it's usually not more than a week to 10 days...a 3 week in house stay would be VERY unusual and would likely be resevered for someone who had some post operative complications (such as pnemonia) and various other medical problems.

Younger patients (65 and under) a likely to be discharged home with home health therapy for the first couple weeks (where they come to your home 3x a week) and then transition to an outpatient setting. Believe me...no need to go waste your money having inpatient rehab in another location because the outcomes of home health and outpatient are the same as the outcomes as someone who goes to inpatient and then to outpatient.

...I'd look into what your insurance covers for home health PT...even if they don't cover inpatient intensive rehab, they nearly all cover home health and outpatient...which is just fine for most people.

Best wishes

Lester Said:

Can those with a Bachelor's in Physical Therapy still come to America and be physical therapists?

We Answered:

Today’s entrants to this profession need a post-baccalaureate degree from an accredited physical therapy program. All States regulate the practice of physical therapy, which usually requires passing scores on national and State examinations.

Education and training. The American Physical Therapy Association’s accrediting body, called the Commission on Accreditation of Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE), accredits entry-level academic programs in physical therapy. In 2009, there were 212 physical therapist education programs. Of these accredited programs, 12 awarded master's degrees; and 200 awarded doctoral degrees. Currently, only graduate degree physical therapist programs are accredited. Master's degree programs typically are 2 to 2.5 years in length, while doctoral degree programs last 3 years.

Physical therapist education programs include foundational science courses, such as biology, anatomy, physiology, cellular histology, exercise physiology, neuroscience, biomechanics, pharmacology, pathology, and radiology/imaging, as well as behavioral science courses, such as evidence-based practice and clinical reasoning. Some of the clinically-based courses include medical screening, examination tests and measures, diagnostic process, therapeutic interventions, outcomes assessment, and practice management. In addition to classroom and laboratory instruction, students receive supervised clinical experience.

Among the undergraduate courses that are useful when one applies to a physical therapist education program are anatomy, biology, chemistry, physics, social science, mathematics, and statistics. Before granting admission, many programs require volunteer experience in the physical therapy department of a hospital or clinic.

Licensure. All States regulate the practice of physical therapy. Eligibility requirements vary by State. Typical requirements for physical therapists include graduation from an accredited physical therapy education program; passing the National Physical Therapy Examination; and fulfilling State requirements such as jurisprudence exams. A number of States require continuing education as a condition of maintaining licensure.

Other qualifications. Physical therapists should have strong interpersonal and communication skills, so they can educate patients about their condition and physical therapy treatments and communicate with patients' families. Physical therapists also should be compassionate and possess a desire to help patients.

Mike Said:

What is the price to put on a body that has been injured in a car accident?

We Answered:

Most people are covered for about $100,000 - $300,000 for loss of life in an auto accident.

Julia Said:

Pain in lower back, shoulders and butt cheek?

We Answered:

i had the same thing in my lower back and glutes... it is your physatica (sigh - at - ee- ka) (don't knwo how to spell the word but know how to pronounce) playing up..

if you are doing weights i would stop them until you get better or try a different weight, i don;t know howmuch your lifting but if it is a large amount then your probably not used to doing that and your muscles are reacting by hurting, you should try and stregthen the muscles up a bit more through lunges and exercviese of the type.

streching as well will help a great deal find some streches for your lower back and your glutes..

your shoulder may be the result of you over compensating for your lower back or it could also be that the weights are to heavy and your muscles are not 'ready' for that.

try and do lots of streching and work yourself up to a certasin weght try not to start big an get bigger start small.

hope this helps

Tina Said:

Physical Therapy vs. Acupuncture?

We Answered:

There was a recent study about accupuncture and low back pain. They performed accupuncture as indicated in one group of people and performed "sham" (fake) accupuncture on the other group of people. About half got better in each group. At first glance, one would assume that "hey that's better than the results of PT"...but don't be fooled. First, the rest of this study discovered that there was ONE commonality between all the patients who got better with accupuncture...it had nothing to do with age, extent of injury, etc, but that simply the people BELIEVED they would get better. This is an interesting commentary on how our beliefs affect how well we can do in recovery...as well as the "placebo" effect.

Second, the comment that this study results in better outcome than PT is misleading...their claim that it works better than PT is a misnomer...much of the research that quotes these types of numbers did not classify why types of back pain problems these people had, nor what types of physical therapy they have had. There are many different types of neck and back problems and many different types of PT...to lump them all into one catergory is, of course, going to give skewed results. This is especially true when you examine "traditional" PT which includes heat, massage, ultrasound and electrical stimulation. It is now being proven over and over again that this type of physical therapy is highly ineffective. There are now much more appropriate treatments.

The most conclusive research about neck and back pain comes from those who study the effects of mechanical diagnosis and therapy (MDT) which is a very specific field of PT. Patients who can be classified as having a mechanical problem can very easily be treated in most cases...to say the very least, those who will not respond well are easily identified within the first few visits...

I would highly recommend you see a PT with MDT credentialing. At the very least, it you are deemed to not be a good candidate for this approach, it will be easily recognized and you can always try accupuncture after that.

You can find an MDT credentialed PT by going to http://www.mckenziemdt.org