I N SPITE of new discoveries and advances in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, the most important part of the management of patients with this disease today is the prevention or minimizing of deformity and the maintenance or improvement of function. The numerous remedies that have been promoted for use in arthritis tend to detract from the appreciation of the value of physical treatment in...

IntroductIon Among the various diseases that cause neuromotor deficits in children, the chronic nonprogressive encephalopathy [cerebral palsy (CP)] is one of the most frequent. Children affected by PC may present: sensory disorders, cognitive disorders, abnormal patterns of posture, and postural tone change (1). The literature has signaled some protocols which seem to enhance the neuromotor reh...

Ataxia, the incoordination and balance dysfunction in movements without muscle weakness, causes gait and postural disturbance in patients with stroke, multiple sclerosis, and degeneration in the cerebellum. The aim of this article was to provide a narrative review of the previous reports on physical therapy for mainly cerebellar ataxia offering various opinions. Some systematic reviews and rand...

Note: This paper on electrical stimulation for wound healing has been excerpted from: Chapter 16, Sussman, C and Byl, N, Electrical Stimulation for Wound Healing, Wound Care Collaborative Practice Manual for Physical Therapists and Nurses, Sussman, C. And Bates-Jensen, BM, Aspen Publishers 1998. DEFINITIONS: Electrical stimulation is defined as the use of an electrical current to transfer energ...

Study Design. Retrospective cohort study. Objective. To evaluate the relationship between early physical therapy (PT) for acute low back pain and subsequent use of lumbosacral injections, lumbar surgery, and frequent physician office visits for low back pain. Summary of Background Data. Wide practice variations exist in the treatment of acute low back pain. PT has been advocated as an effective...

Management of chronic wounds remains unsatisfactory in terms of treatment cost and time required for complete wound closure (CWC).This study aimed to calculate the healing rates, estimated cost, and time required for CWC in wounds; compare estimated wound care costs between healing and nonhealing wounds; and compare cost effectiveness between venous leg ulcer (VLU) and non-VLU.This was a retros...

Background: Poor balance performance and impaired postural control have been frequently reported in patients with low back pain. However, postural control is rarely monitored during the course of treatment even though poor postural control may contribute to chronicity and recurrence of symptoms. Therefore, the present study aimed at investigating the effect of a nonextensible lumbosacral orth...