Learn the ins and outs of physical health

There have been many new advancements in spinal treatments over the last few years. Many of them offer great results, but are far less invasive than spinal treatments of the past. Patients today can get pain relief never before possible without having to endure the pain, recovery and dangers of back surgery. Here are 19 case studies about spinal health we think you’ll be interested in reading.

1. iFuse Case Study I: This case study discusses the use of iFuse for a 45 year old truck driver who took a serious fall off his truck.
2. iFuse Case Study II: This paper discusses the use of iFuse in a 36 year old who suffered low back pain for years, that was severely aggravated by pregnancy.
3. iFuse Case StudyIII: This use of iFuse was for a 64 year old woman who had Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction.
4. iFuse Case StudyIV: Another example of the use of iFuse; this patient was a 68 year old man with lower back pain.
5. Sciatica: This is a case study on sciatica from the perspective of a psychiatrist, along with perspectives from a surgeon and a chiropractor.
6. The Alexander Technique: This case study discusses the use of the Alexander Technique, an alternative therapy for back pain.
7. Mirella: This case study discusses the use of alternative therapies for lower back pain.
8. Simon: Another case discussing the use of alternative treatments for sciatica.
9. Luis: A case study on the treatment of back/buttock pain in an 18 year old professional ballet dancer. This case uses alternative therapies for treatment.
10. Back to Life: This case study from St. John Providence chronicles the improvement of a patient after receiving decompression and spinal fusion.
11. Chronic Back Pain: This case study covers treating patients with chronic back pain, particularly those who have suffered from it for long periods of time.
12. Low Back Pain and the MRI: This case discusses whether the use of MRI is always warranted when patients present with low back pain, since this is the most common back ailment.
13. Tek Scan: This case study discusses using pressure mapping to relieve back pain.
14. Spinal Cord Injury: This case study discusses the use of chiropractics in the treatment of traumatic injury to the cervical spine in a young patient.
15. Pain Modulation: This case study discusses the use of pain modulation in the treatment of lower back pain.
16. Chronic Neck and Back Pain: This study discusses the use of chiropractic medicine to relieve chronic lower back pain as well as allergies in a 45 year old male.
17. Low Back Pain: This case study discusses the use of chiropractics on a female patient, age 33, with chronic low back pain.
18. Mid Back Pain: This case study discusses the use of chiropractics on a 29 year old male with chronic back pain.
19. Chronic Low Back Pain Due to Poor Posture: This case study discusses the use of chiropractic medicine to treat a 40 year old, fit and active male suffering from low back pain.

As you can see, there are several types of back problems, but some are more common than others. Lower back pain plagues many people, as does sciatica.

Treating back pain is a complicated issue, since many forms of treatment require long recovery periods and are very invasive.

But recent years have given us many new medical therapies, chiropractic therapies and alternative medicine therapies that have alleviated many of the aches, pains and debilitation of back problems for many people.

Treating back pain is more complicated than treating some other disorders because there can be so many causes, and because each patient is completely different from any other.

Hopefully, these case studies will give you insight into the different treatment options that might be available for some of the most common types of back problems.

Spinal health is critical to your body’s overall health, and should be treated as such. But, many patients delay treatment for fear of the requirement of invasive procedures, or just because they think nothing can be done. Many of these new therapies should open the door for more patients to receive the pain relief they deserve without having to go under the knife.

Students of health and medicine know that there are a number of different paths to health. There are a number of natural health remedies for a variety of ailments, including those related to homeopathy.

While some may be slow to embrace the tenets of homeopathy, there are physical therapists and others who understand that complementary treatments can help in some situations. Homeopathy is one of the options. If you are interested in homeopathy, here are 50 great homeopathic medicine blogs: [click to continue…]

Physical therapy can be a demanding job. You may be an in-home therapist, visiting several patients a day, or may work in a busy PT office. Either way, you can likely use all the tools and gadgets you can get your hands on for keeping up to date in your field, and managing your patient load. These 18 web applications should be able to help you do all of that, and more.

For Your iPhone

1. Jobs: Creates timesheets with ease. This application is very simple to use. Create a job, track your hours and then bill your client quickly and easily from one simple iPhone application. This application will really come in handy for keeping track of time to bill clients without having to always go back to the office to catch up.
2. OmniFocus: This task management application allows you to create to do lists, as well as sync with documents on your desktop. This application can really help you stay organized, which is especially important if you bounce between your office and visiting clients in their homes.
3. Google Calendar: Check your Google calendar from anywhere. You never have to worry about being out of touch just because you don’t go into the office.
4. Full Screen Web Browser: Does just what it says: lets you browse in full screen.
5. Gym Buddy: This app keeps track of the stats you need to know, like how many reps and how much weight is used on an exercise. It’s a great app for keeping track of your clients’ routines.
6. iBooks: Download books to read and keep track of all your online books in this great app for the iPhone and iPad.
7. Evernote: You’ll never take notes on paper again. It’s so easy to take notes on your phone and save them or file them.
8. Remember the Milk: This is a great app for making electronic lists and keeping track of the things you have to do.
9. Apimac Timer: This is a great little stopwatch for your iPhone. Keep track of your clients’ time on each physical therapy exercise right on your phone. It functions as an alarm, countdown timer, and clock as well as a stopwatch.
10. White Noise: This app gives you a choice of ocean waves, crickets, the sound of rain or even music. Use it to help clients relax.
11. Physical Therapy Exam Track: Are you ready for your Physical Therapy exam? Use this great iPhone app to help you track your progress, and determine which areas you still need study in.
12. Physical Therapy Content Master: Review physical therapy related content at your leisure, right on your phone with this app designed to help you prepare for the Physical Therapy Exam. You’re certain to find it useful as a reference guide long after you’ve passed the exam, too. This app is available for your Android, too.
13. Pocket Therapy: This app is like carrying a physical therapist around with you. It offers specific physical therapy routines designed for the fifteen most common sports injuries. This might be a great app for you to recommend to your patients to help them keep up with the routines you prescribe for them.

For Your Android

14. Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation: This is a flashcard app that helps you study for your exam. It contains over 400 commonly used physical therapy abbreviations.
15. Drug Facts: This app contains information on more than 4000 different drugs, including why they are routinely prescribed and their interactions with food and other drugs.
16. Taber’s Medical Dictionary: This is a medical dictionary for your phone. Taber’s contains entries for over 60,000 medical terms.

For your Computer

17. PTCAS: PTCAS is a web application for people who are applying to physical therapy schools. With PTCAS, you can complete your application information just once, and apply to multiple programs.
18. Web PT: This is a great web application for the physical therapist running his own practice. You can use this application to streamline all aspects of your practice, including digital medical records, patient documentation, progress notes, Medicare alerts, and evaluation templates. And, the system is completely web based.

These applications should provide a lot of help to Physical Therapists, whether you’re still studying for your exam, you’re out and about visiting patients, or you’re going into practice on your own. Web apps for your phone and home computer make life more organized so that you can focus on patient care.

The internet has more dot-org websites than any one person can read on physical therapy, but the harder-to-find dot-gov, U.S. government, websites shouldn’t be overlooked. Here are five websites from our government that are actually very helpful for physical therapy students, and therapists who are already working.

1. What is the job outlook for Physical Therapy? The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook for 2010-2011 has a page on Physical Therapy just for you. Important information such as the potential and directions for job growth within the industry are clearly stated. The good news is: Employment of physical therapists is predicted to grow by 30% due to the aging baby-boomer generation, and changes to reimbursement policies will increase patients’ access to physical therapy services, thereby increasing demand.

2. Now that you know your job is secure, find out how much money you could be making with this government website.

Here you will find the average wages for Physical Therapists nationally, by state, and by metropolitan area. They also have a nice top five list of the best-paying states for physical therapists, so check it out. You might be moving to Nevada.

3. If you do decide that Nevada or California, or the other places on the top paying list are for you, check out their websites to find out what state tests, licenses and qualifications you’ll need: Nevada’s Physical Therapy Examiner’s Board website.

California’s website has user-friendly tabs to help you find information fast.

4. How will the new healthcare bill affect Physical Therapy? The government has a surprisingly easy to navigate website all about Healthcare Reform. Find out how Healthcare Reform will affect you at the source.

5. For those who are self-employed Physical Therapists or independent contractors, it’s worth the time and effort to know exactly how that status affects your taxes. The IRS website is a good place to start, but talk to a professional to find out what costs qualify as deductions – you might be pleasantly surprised by how much you can write off.

What are the most appropriate adjectives to describe a massage. Let’s see…relaxing, sensuous, soporific (it does make you sleepy), energizing, and what else? Why is that when we have a pair of hands, legs, and assorted stuff like hot stones, warm unguents, smelly sulfurous mud and such things all over our body we feel like we are in heaven? Our ligaments, muscles, tendons, sinews relax and we can almost hear them sigh in pleasure as the pressure applied by trained fingers upon joints and points we scarcely knew existed releases tensions leaving us feeling light and our minds free to wander. That is, till the session is over and it’s time to trudge to the counter where you pay the tab.

Masseurs and massage parlors know that they have their finger on one of humanity’s collective weak spots – a desire for a good massage and they charge us heartily for it. If only there were some ways to get a massage for cheap or even free, wouldn’t that be great?

Here are some tips and pointers to get a massage for cheap or even free of cost.

Company health benefits cover a lot of things such as free medical checkups, hospital expenses and even massage. If your doctor prescribes a massage for you, then you’re in for a treat and your company or the insurance provider picks up the tab. If you can, you should try and get free massages every year because very often the benefit may not roll over on to the next year.

If you’re one of those experienced deal hunters then you probably know that one of the best resources for information on such stuff is the Internet. A simple search for news on free massage could yield a choice close to your area. For example, here’s a press release offering one full year’s worth of massages free in LA. This one’s for Augusta residents that can get a free massage every Tuesday and Friday at Casa Blanca Cafe, 936 Broad St. One gentle word of caution though, be careful and check whether the services are actually going to match up to what’s mentioned in the ad. It shouldn’t be that 20 seconds into the massage, when you’re nicely oiled and almost naked, you are offered a package for massage services and the future of your free massage depends upon your signing for the deal. Be careful, or you might end up getting lathered in snake oil.

One nice way to get a free massage is to do it yourself; yup – massage your own back. I know it sounds like it will take the fun out of the experience. But these are hard times; check out this new low in frugality. It might work for you. Or there’s always the old barter. You rub your pal’s back and he kneads yours. This is probably the best and most underrated way to get a free massage. If there is a product launch by a health and wellness company somewhere in your area, there’s a good chance that they may be offering complimentary massages, either cheap or free.

There actually exists a body of good Samaritans of truly biblical proportions, these sweet guys operate under the banner of Massage for Good Health Foundation and travel all over the country giving free massages to educate people and make them feel good.

Massage schools are a great place to go to for cheap massages where you will probably pay half of what you would in a spa. The phonebook can be your true friend in searching for this cheap chirapsia bliss in shiatsu heaven. Another way is to stoke those old bargaining skills that you absorbed from mama but have since become dormant. Bargain with spas on giving you a better deal and a cheaper rates; see if purchasing multiple Tui Na massage sessions works out to your advantage.