For the important help it can offer us in cases of musculoskeletal pain (in the neck, wrist, shoulder, waist, knee, etc.), after operations we underwent or why we had to follow conservative treatment instead for surgery, to heal a wound faster.
“And we’re doing very well,” he emphasizes Mrs. Eleni Kanellopoulou Physiotherapist MSc, Certified Lymphedema Therapist, Head of the Department of Physiotherapy Metropolitan Hospital, “because physical therapy collaborates with almost all medical specialties but also independently of them at times, always with the aim of relief, improvement of symptoms and the best possible treatment. However, its capabilities do not stop at the above fields nor are they only about rehabilitation or recovery. They also relate to prevention, such as physical therapy to prevent falls in the elderly, but also to the management of chronic conditions, such as to control incontinence or various neurological diseases (Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, craniocerebral injuries, hemiplegia). They are also related to the cardiorespiratory system during or after infections such as the flu or COVID-19, they are also related to the cardiovascular system such as physical therapy after heart operations or heart attacks, and of course they are also related to the lymphatic system for the management of lymphedema and others edema.

In short, they concern our whole body both remedial and preventive and must become a habit if we want to revive, relieve ourselves, heal as quickly and painlessly as possible, or help our loved ones to do the same.”

Physiotherapy & fall prevention

Physical therapy for fall prevention is primarily aimed at seniors with group and individual programs aimed at preventing falls, improving balance, reducing fear of falling, and increasing self-confidence in striving for a healthy way of living. It is particularly effective as it has been shown that: group exercise programs delivered and guided by qualified physiotherapists reduce falls by 29% and the risk of falls by 15% and the corresponding individual programs reduce falls by 32% and the risk of falls by 22%.

“In addition to these,” the expert points out, “physical therapy also helps with fall management, as it ‘teaches’ people who undergo it how to get up off the ground safely if they have not been injured by the fall or how to avoid falls. consequences of being on the floor, since they cannot get up after falling.”

Physiotherapy and incontinence

The role of modern physical therapy for incontinence is particularly important, it is the first form of physical rehabilitation and it comes to catalytically improve the quality of life of patients.

Physical therapy for incontinence works in two ways:

– Preventive: By treating possible incontinence in cases of imminent surgery for prostatectomy, hysterectomy, sacrocolopexy, etc., during pregnancy and in cases of prolapse of intrapelvic organs.

– Therapeutic: Against the symptoms of incontinence after pregnancy, from surgery, from neurological diseases, from medication, malignancies, urinary tract infections, injuries, radiation therapy, diabetes, etc.

Physiotherapy and neurological diseases

Multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, strokes, myopathies, polyneuropathies, spinal cord injuries are the most common (but not the only) neurological conditions that need the help of physical therapy.

“In all neurological diseases the restoration of nerve function is vital and physical therapy is the cornerstone of this restoration as it has developed special methods to deal with them. Neurological physical therapy aims to enhance the recovery process of movement and function for patients with injury/disease of the central or peripheral nervous system,” he explains.

Physiotherapy and COVID-19

Respiratory physical therapy appears to contribute to the healing of the respiratory system and the recovery of patients with COVID-19, so it is recommended when:

– Patients with COVID-19 have profuse secretions that they cannot manage on their own.

– There is comorbidity such as neuromuscular disease, respiratory disease, cystic fibrosis, which is associated with copious secretions or ineffective cough.

– Suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients may develop secondary bacterial lung infection, hypersecretion of mucous membranes and/or difficulty draining bronchial secretions.

In addition, physical therapy by providing mobilisation, exercise and rehabilitation interventions contributes to the better treatment of patients with co-morbidities and/or reduced functionality and muscle weakness that occurred during their hospitalization in the ICU.

Physiotherapy and the heart

“Cardiovascular rehabilitation with the help of physical therapy is necessary after a heart attack, angioplasty, heart surgery, but also for people with heart failure. Its contribution is so important that, in most cases, it starts the day after the operation. “Cardiorespiratory rehabilitation is designed to address potential respiratory dysfunction due to anesthesia but also to help improve activity and cardiovascular health. It includes providing specific exercises for the patient to follow, training them in these exercises under the supervision of the treatment team while the patient is hospitalized and continuing the rehabilitation program at home,” says Ms. Kanellopoulou.

Physical therapy and lymphedema

Lymphedema is a pathological condition in which the lymphatic system (lymphatic vessels and/or lymph nodes) does not function effectively, due to damage to its structure either acquired or congenital, resulting in insufficient removal of the lymphatic load and its accumulation in the interstitium space and consequently the swelling (swelling) of the area.

“Practically all of us at some point in our lives have experienced such a “swelling” due to some insufficiency of our lymphatic system. A healthy lymphatic system, however, reverses this situation in a few days, restoring normality to our body without any intervention. When this does not happen and the swelling remains for more than 3-6 months then we can talk about pathological chronic lymphedema.

As for the first case (a tissue swelling that can be, for example, post-traumatic or post-surgical), yes, at some point it will disappear by itself, but special physical therapy for lymphedema will remove it much faster, while at the same time speeding up the recovery process by relieving swelling and pain.

Lymphedema, however, requires complete drainage treatment which is called comprehensive decongestive treatment and includes manual lymphatic drainage which is completed in 10-12 sessions, the application of multi-layer bandaging with the use of special compression bandages, skin care, appropriate exercise and then the use of a graduated compression garment adapted to each patient.

In the past, cases of lymphedema were rarely detected, but over the past few decades, the increase in neoplasms with the simultaneous development of innovative treatments for their management and the resulting insufficiency of the lymphatic system in some of them have increased the cases of lymphedema, making their treatment imperative, which can only be carried out by physiotherapists specialized in this”, concludes Ms Kanellopoulou “as is done at the Metropolitan Hospital, which has a separate physiotherapy department staffed by certified physiotherapists and trained both in collaboration with the treating doctors and with the patients”.