Position of Postural Drainage

To drain the middle and lower portions of your lungs.

You should be positioned with your chest above your head. Possible techniques to achieve this position are:

• If a hospital bed is available, put in Trendelenburg position (head lower than feet)
  
• Place 3-5 wood blocks, which are 2 inches by 4 inches, in a stack that is 5 inches high, under the foot of a regular bed. Blocks should have indentations or a 1 inch rim on top so that the bed does not slip
  
• Stack 18-20 inches of pillow under hips.
  
• Place on a tilt table, with head lower than feet.
  
• Lower head and chest over the side of the bed.
  

To drain the upper portions of your lungs.

You should be in a sitting position at about a 45 degree angle.

When you are in the proper postural drainage position, change your position per the following sequence:

• Turn side to side
• Lay on stomach
• Lay on back
  

Remain in each position approximately five to ten minutes. Use suction or assisted cough before changing position to insure removal of any secretions drained while in that position. Postural draining is usually taught by your physical therapist.

Inspiratory Muscle Trainer is a device to assist in building inspiratory muscle strength. The device should be used daily as part of your daily routine to keep lungs healthy.

What is postural drainage ?

Uses gravity to help remove lung secretions, e.g., mucus. The person is tilted by lowering the top of the bed by about 45cm and then placed in different positions for short periods.

What is Chest physiotherapy?

Chest Physiotherapy is the removal of excess secretions (also called mucus, phlegm, sputum) from inside the lungs, by physical means. It is used to assist a cough, re-educate breathing muscles and to try to improve ventilation of the lungs.

Why is it important to remove the secretions?

It is important to remove the secretions to allow more effective breathing and increase the amount of oxygen getting into the body.

What is Therapy ?

Manual Therapy encompasses the treatment of health ailments of various etiologies through 'hands-on', physical intervention.

Physical treatments includes massage, soft tissue mobilization, various connective tissue techniques, myofascial release, craniosacral techniques, mobilization of joints, joint manipulation, mobilization of neural tissue, visceral mobilization, and strain and counterstrain.

What is hydrotherapy?

Hydrotherapy is a therapeutic whole-body treatment that involves moving and exercising in water - physiotherapy in a pool.

 Hydrotherapy pools are usually different from ordinary pools - the temperature, pressure and movement of water is controlled and changed according to who's using the pool, and why. However you could have hydrotherapy in any water or pool as it is a lot to do with movement.

What is Exercise Therapy

Motion of the body or its parts to relieve symptoms or to improve function, leading to physical fitness, but notphysical education and training.

History of Electrotherapy

In 1855 Guillaume Duchenne, the father of electrotherapy, announced that alternating was superior to direct current for electrotherapeutic triggering of muscle contractions. What he called the 'warming affect' of direct currents irritated the skin, since, at voltage strengths needed for muscle contractions, they cause the skin to blister (at the anode) and pit (at the cathode). Furthermore, with DC each contraction requiring the current to be stopped and restarted. Moreover alternating current could produce strong muscle contractions regardless of the condition of the muscle, whereas DC-induced contractions were strong if the muscle was strong, and weak if the muscle was weak.

Since that time almost all rehabilitation involving muscle contraction has been done with a symmetrical twin-phase wave. In the 1940s, however, the US War Department, investigating the application of electrical stimulation not just to retard and prevent atrophy but to restore muscle mass and strength, employed what was termed galvanic exercise on the atrophied hands of patients who had an ulnar nerve lesion from surgery upon a wound. These Galvanic exercises employed a monophasic wave form, direct current - electrochemistry. The clinical findings were favorable, which made electrochemical therapy (ECT or EChT) an important subset of electrotherapy.

What is Electrotherapy ?

Electrotherapy is the use of electrical energy in the treatment of impairments of health and a conditions of abnormal functioning. In medicine, the term electrotherapy can apply to a variety of treatments, including the use of electrical devices such as deep brain stimulators for neurological disease. The term has also been applied specifically to the use of electrical current to speed wound healing. Additionally, the term "electrotherapy" has also been applied to a range of alternative medical devices and treatments.

Introduction to Physiotherapy

Physiotherapy is as old a medicine itself, dating back to Ancient Greece in the era of Hippocrates. Since then, physiotherapy has evolved from simple massage to a complex portfolio of therapies with many specialized applications.

In Ancient Greece circa 460 BC, Hector practiced a physiotherapy technique called "hydrotherapy" - which is Greek for water treatment. Physiotherapists today still employ hydrotherapy, now evolved and adapted specifically to various patient conditions.

In 1894, the UK recognized physiotherapy as a specialized branch of nursing regulated by a Chartered Society. In the succeeding two decades, formal physiotherapy programs were established in other countries including New Zealand (1913) and the USA (1914).

The first record of American physiotherapy was at Walter Reed College and Hospital of Portland, Oregon where nurses with physical education experience worked as "reconstruction aides". These "reconstruction aides" contributed vitally to the recovery and rehabilitation of many WWI vets.

In 1921, Mary McMillan formed the Physical Therapy Association in the USA. Subsequently renamed the APTA, this organization profoundly influenced development of physiotherapy in America.

The polio epidemic of the 1920's was a landmark turning point for the physiotherapy profession. Sister Kinney, of the Mayo Clinic achieved national reknown for work with polio victims. The Georgia Warm Springs Foundation was established in 1924 in response to the polio epidemic and provided physiotherapy for these polio patients.

After the polio epidemic subsided, physiotherapy treatments comprised mainly exercise, massage and traction. From 1950, chiropractic manipulations were also introduced, most commonly in Great Britain initially. The Orthopedics specialty within physiotherapy also emerged at about the same time.From that date, physiotherapy expanded from hospitals out to other areas of medical care. Physiotherapists now work also in clinics, nursing homes, private practice and schools.

Research has long been a feature of modern physiotherapy, dating from the first USA research study publication in 1921. Research continues actively today in a wide range of specialties.

A significant force in the recent evolution of physiotherapy has been the International Federation of Orthopedic Manipulative Therapy. Notable individuals driving change in technique and training have included Mariano Rocabado (Chile); Freddy Kaltenborn (Norway/USA); and Geoffrey Maitland (Australia).

During the 1980's, technology became the focus of change in physiotherapy. Novel procedures featured computers, electrical stimulation, ultrasound and other new equipment. However, led by Freddy Kaltenborn, interest reverted to manual therapy in the following decade.

Throughout development of the Physiotherapy profession, training and technique have continued to change and improve. Gifted pioneers have contributed richly to the profession's literature and field organizations. In consequence, Physiotherapy now commands wide recognition and well-earned respect, with many young people expressing interest in making their career in the profession.

What is Physiotherapy?

Physiotherapy, or Physical Therapy, is a Health Care profession concerned with the assessment, maintenance, and restoration of the physical function and performance of the body. It is a distinct form of care which can be performed both in isolation or in conjunction with other types of medical management. Used in conjunction with certain medical or surgical techniques, physiotherapy can complement these techniques to help provide a speedy and complication-free return to normal activity.

Physiotherapy can be useful in the diagnosis and management of a wide range of injuries, disease processes, and other conditions, including:

back and neck pain postural problems occupational injuries arthritis amputee rehabilitation spinal cord injuries chronic airways disease rehabilitation following cardiac surgery stroke rehabilitation

asthma management developmental and paediatric problems neurological conditions impaired mobility women's health incontinence geriatric problems specific children's conditions sports injuries