Therapeutic power of the hands

• April 20, 2024

Massage is the resource par excellence of the physiotherapy , but that does not mean that it is always the best or the most appropriate. Everything will depend on the assessment and diagnosis of the physiotherapist. So says Fernando Ruíz, specialist in the subject and member of the medical center Bac de Roda of Barcelona (Spain), for whom the preparation professional and ethical of the physiotherapist is fundamental.

Today, physiotherapy is one of the youngest and most promising careers in many countries of the world, with little more than half a century of history.

The hands and their therapeutic power

The basic and main tool of all physiotherapist is the use of their hands but, by their training, is capable of to prevent , to diagnose and treat pathologies of the locomotor system without the need for drugs or surgeries. A serious and professional specialist, adds Fernando Ruíz, "with his hands as the only instrument of work, he can reposition vertebrae in place, solve hernia or disc protrusions, mobilize the upper limb to cure a carpal tunnel syndrome, get an affected child cerebral palsy can be autonomous, or that an old man with a hemiplegia can use his hand correctly, or that a knee prosthesis manages to move up to 100 degrees of flexion, or cure a headache or migraine of cervical origin, or solve the urinary incontinence of a woman with simple exercises ". For Ruíz, A physiotherapist is much more than the "boy of the massages" .

A little history

Most of the physical agents used in modern physiotherapy were already used in antiquity. The first writings of Greece and Rome refer to the effects beneficial Both exercise and massages, which were already used by the ancient Chinese, Persians, Egyptians and Greeks. In our time, the field of physiotherapy emerged in England at the end of the 19th century. Soon after, American orthopedic surgeons began to train young women with a degree in physical education to take care of patients in doctor's offices and in hospitals.

In 1916, when a serious polio epidemic struck New York and New England, these women treated thousands of patients through physiotherapeutic techniques. After the Second World War, physiotherapy was used a lot in the care of patients, due to the excellent results obtained in the treatment of the war wounded . The demand for physiotherapists grew to serve patients and injured as a result of the work accidents , the increase in chronic disabilities due to the growing number of elderly people in the population, and the rapid development of hospital and medical assistance programs.

Video Medicine: Hand/finger Strengthening Exercises with putty. (April 2024).