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Patients who first seek physical therapy or chiropractic care have better outcomes and shorter episodes of acute care for low back pain, according to research. The findings show that for patients with acute episodes of low back pain, the first point of entry to the health care system is associated with utilization and total cost of care in the following year. Clinical practice guidelines prioritize nonpharmacologic and nonsurgical treatments. Patients are often prescribed opioid pain medications or referred to specialists for procedures—including surgery, imaging or steroid injections—that do not address the root causes of their pain. By combing through nearly...

Consider this an open thread, I know, I know – they’re all open threads, but I mean officially. Somebody who shall remain nameless was allowed to book his own PT appointments and inexplicably scheduled them all very early. This from a guy who has hated mornings and everything related to them other than coffee for as long as I’ve know him. He claims that with the first appointment of the day, which he discovered from his last round, that they aren’t as busy and you don’t need to wait as long to use the equipment (which of course still needs...

A combat medic assigned to the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, makes a photographic record of a patient's foot. Courtesy photo. COB ADDER — Two Soldiers from the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, are responsible for providing physical therapy across three of Iraq's southern-most provinces.Capt. Candi Darst and Spc. Nicholas Pieper, assigned to the 27th Brigade Support Battalion, have provided their medical skills to Coalition forces, Iraqi Security Forces and Iraqi civilians in the Maysan, Muthanna and Dhi Qar provinces since the unit arrived here last summer."While the contributions of the brigade physical therapist are not...

TIKRIT, Iraq, May 29, 2008 – Many of the physical tolls professional athletes face are mirrored in professional soldiers. Pulled muscles, back pain, and sprains are just a few injuries soldiers face while conducting day-to-day operations in Iraq. Army Staff Sgt. Gaither, physical therapy noncommissioned officer in charge with 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, checks on a soldier with back pain at the combat support hospital at Contingency Operating Base Speicher, Iraq. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Enter the Army physical therapist -- a mobile, hands-on medical professional who works with soldiers to...

AP Medical Writer Some call it "Wiihabilitation." Nintendo's Wii video game system, whose popularity already extends beyond the teen gaming set, is fast becoming a craze in rehab therapy for patients recovering from strokes, broken bones, surgery and even combat injuries. The usual stretching and lifting exercises that help the sick or injured regain strength can be painful, repetitive and downright boring. In fact, many patients say PT - physical therapy's nickname - really stands for "pain and torture," said James Osborn, who oversees rehabilitation services at Herrin Hospital in southern Illinois. Using the game console's unique, motion-sensitive controller, Wii...

ATLANTA Iraqi Army Capt. Furat surveys the therapy gym as he stands erect for the first time in nearly four months, every inch as tall as he was before insurgents' bullets left his legs lifeless on Christmas Day. All around him, paralyzed patients are toiling, striving for their own personal victories. "Where are you traveling to right now in your mind?" asks Basle Roberts, a therapy technician at the Shepherd Center. "I wish that I could stand without this equipment," Capt. Furat says, resting on a frame used in physical therapy. The rigid metal device is a relief from sitting...

LANDSTUHL, Germany — The “Rocky” theme song was the only thing missing from Spc. Christopher Lively’s physical therapy session at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. First Lt. Greg Carey, left, performs a resistance drill with his hands during a physical therapy session last week at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany, with Maj. Ford David Paulson, a physical therapist at the hospital. Photo by Steve Mraz / S&S “This is my ‘Rocky’ moment,” said Lively, as he gingerly pumped back-and-forth on an exercise machine. Then in his best Sly Stallone impression, Lively belted out a “Yo, Adrian.” During a late July/early August...

Thank you for your support to the soldiers. They would really like to hear encouragement especially through their physical therapy and the several operations they are having to endure. The address is: American Red Cross Walter Reed Army Medical Center 6900 Georgia Avenue NW Washington, DC 20307-5001 Thank you so much for your kindness to the soldiers. I have listed items below and the address for your convenience. Needed Items Summer clothing, exercise shorts, colored pocket t-shirts, boxer shorts, full zippered lightweight jackets, tear away pants, wheelchair/weight lifting gloves, ankle socks, phone cards, back packs (must be in black and...

War and Disabilities Michael Arnold Glueck and Robert J. Cihak Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2004 New Diagnoses and Strategies Create Both Short- and Long-term Problems for Medicine and the Military War is hell and becoming even more hellish. The "advancement" of technology has provided new ways to live and terrible ways to die. Those who live because of body armor now face hellish injuries to what's left of limbs and looks. These in turn provide new challenges to medicine and the military. The Body Armor Trap While there has been a generational decline in infantry skills, the American infantry still widely...