Lecture test 1 Flashcards
What are the three categories of physical agents? Give examples of each.
1) Thermal (Hot/cold)
2) Mechanical (Traction/ultrasound)
3) Electrical (ES/TENs)
What are the three categories of thermal agents and how deep to each go and examples?
1) Superficial Heating (1-2 cm deep) - Hot pack, fluidotherapy, paraffin
2) Superficial Cooling (1-2 cm deep) - Cold pack, ice massage, vapocooling spray
3) Deep Heating (3-5 cm deep) Microwave, shortwave diathermy, Ultrasound.
What are some benefits of thermotherapy?
Increase circulation
Increase metabolic rate
Increase soft tissue extensibility
Decrease pain (flushes irritants)
What are some benefits of cryotherapy?
Decrease circulation
Decrease metabolic rate
Decrease soft tissue extensibility
Decrease pain (analgesic)
What do mechanical agents do? What are some examples?
(apply force to ↑ or ↓ pressure on the body)
EXAMPLES water traction compression sound
What does water therapy do?
- Applied with or without immersion
- Provides buoyancy, resistance, hydrostatic
pressure, applies pressure to clean wounds - Can transfer heat to and from the area
What does traction do?
- Used to alleviate pressure on structures such as nerves or joints that produce pain or
other sensory changes or that become
inflamed when compressed - Pressure-relieving effects may be temporary
or permanent
What does compression do?
Used to counteract fluid pressure and
control or reverse edema
What does sound (ultrasound) do?
Mechanical form of energy composed of
alternating waves of compression and rarefaction
Thermal and Non-thermal effects
Continuous US
– Heat deep tissue to ↑ circulation, ↑ soft tissue extensibility, ↓ pain
Pulsed US
– Facilitate tissue healing
When would you not use heat?
Acute pain!!
Two categories of electric therapy.
Electromagntic Radiation UV radiation Infared radiation (IR) Laser Shortwave Diathermy (SWD)
Electrical Stimulation NMES TENS IFC HVG
What does UV radiation do?
Produces erythema and tanning of the skin
Does not produce heat
What does infrared radiation (IR) do?
Produces heat only in superficial tissues
What can a laser help with?
Tissue healing
Talk about short wave diathermy
SWD produces heat in both superficial and
deep tissues
PSWD does not produce heat
– Thought to modify cell membrane permeability
and cell function by non-thermal mechanisms
and may control pain and edema
Talk about electrical stimulation
Effects and clinical applications of electrical
currents vary according to the waveform,
intensity, duration, and direction of the current flow and according to the type of tissue to which the current is applied
– Muscle contractions, pain modulation, tissue healing, edema control, iontophoresis
How does the treatment of wounds and TB compare from years ago to today…
Years ago….
IR lamps were commonly used to treat
wounds because it dried out the wound
Sunlight was used to treat tuberculosis
Today….
We know that wounds heal faster when kept
moist
Antibiotics are more effective in treating
tuberculosis
How does the ICF model view function and disability?
- as a complex dynamic interaction between the health
- condition of the individual and the contextual
factors of the environment, as well as personal factors - Applicable to all people
- Neutral to etiology
What is the emphasis of the ICF model?
Emphasis on function rather then condition or
disease
The ICF model reflects what interaction?
the interaction between health conditions and contextual factors as they affect disability and
functioning.
What are health conditions in the ICF model?
diseases, disorders, injuries
What are contextual factors in the ICF model?
environment and personal factors
What are examples of environmental and personal factors in the ICF model?
Social attitudes and structures, legal
structures, terrain, and climate are examples
of environmental factors.
Personal factors are those things that
influence how disability is experienced by a
person, such as gender, age, education,
experience, and character
ICF model is structured around three levels
of functioning:
– The body or a part of the body
– The whole person
– The whole person in a social context
The Role of Physical Agents in
Rehabilitation
– “Without documentation which justifies the necessity of the exclusive use of physical agents/modalities, the use of physical agents/modalities, in the absence of other skilled therapeutic or educational intervention, should not be considered physical therapy.”
What is a contraindication?
Conditions under which a particular treatment should not be applied
What are some contraindications for physical agents?
– Pregnancy (reach fetus)
– Malignancy (alter circulation)
– Pacemaker or other implanted electronic device (alter function, change heart rate)
– Impaired sensation / impaired mentation (not able to report how it feels)
Attributes to consider in the selection of physical modalities
- Goals and effects of treatment
- Contraindications and precautions
- Evidence for physical agent use
- Cost convenience availability
What are the effects of physical modalities?
Inflammation and healing
Pain
Collagen extensibility and motion restrictions
Muscle tone
What is evidence-based practice (EBP) and what is its goal?
is “the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients.”
The goal of EBP is to provide the best possible patient care by assessing available research and applying it to each individual patient.
The traditional signs of Life
- Heartbeat
- Body temperature
- Respiration
- Blood pressure
- Levels of consciousness
Four additional measurements
- Pulse oximetry
- Pain scales
- Perceived exertion
- Gait speed
Purpose of Taking Vital Signs
– Establish a database of values for an individual. – Assisting in goal setting and treatment planning. – Assisting with assessment of patient responses to treatment. – Contributing to assessment of effectiveness of treatment activities.
What is a sign vs. a symptom?
Sign
• An observable objective finding related to a person’s condition
• Often able to be quantified by using valid and reliable measurement instruments
Symptom
• How a person experiences a condition
• A subjective finding, often difficult to measure accurately
Pain vital sign or symptom?
Although, not considered a vital sign, indications of pain levels perceived by a patient are usually measured when vital signs are measured.
A baseline measurement of vital signs at rest should be established so that…
…changes in the values as a result of exercise or other factors can be determined.
Particularly important to establish baseline values for the
following type of patients:
- Elderly patients (above 65)
- Very young (under 2)
- Hypertension and following surgery.
What if abnormal resting vital values are found?
You need to find out prior to any activity that could affect vitals. Usually patients with abnormal resting values will be less able to tolerate physical activity or stress producing events.
• Some possible adverse/potentially
dangerous responses to activity are:
Why might these occur in the elderly?
- Mental confusion
- Fatigue
- Exhaustion
- Lethargy
- Syncope (passing out)
- Slow reactions to movements or responses.
- Vertigo
- Excessive diaphoresis (sweating profusely)
- Level of consciousness
Popular cause of dangerous responses in the elderly is dehydration
Contraindications for taking Pulse
No contraindications, except different patients may need to be checked in different places.
Locations for taking Pulse
• Temporal • Carotid Brachial • Radial • Femoral • Popliteal • Dorsalis Pedis • Posterior Tibial • Sites are selected that will not cause discomfort or alter the pulse.
Characteristics of Pulse
- Rate (number of beats per minute)
- Rhythm ( intervals between beats)
- Volume (force)