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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1987-03-11, Page 15i' o he stated. • Patient education plays a large role in the treatment process of physiotherapy, said Remtulla. "One of the things we do is educate pa- tients as to what their problem is.. Doctors don't spend so much time explaining to them about the nature of their injury." • Entert,ainrnent •Feature • Religion • Farr lily •More (WDEHICH SIGNAL -STAR, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 1987—PAGE 1A ation.l Physiotherapy Week "Putting People in Motion," is the theme slogan adopted by the. Canadian Physiotherapy Association, which is gear- ing up for it's fourth annual National Physiotherapy` Week, March 14 to 21. The slogan aptly describes what physiotherapy is all about. While many people still have only a limited idea of the potential of the prac- tice, people across Canada and around the world today live better lives because of the care given by physiotherapists to stroke victims, amputees, athletes, in fact everyone from infants to senior citizens can benefit. • "A lot of people think of physiotherapy only as massage, and that's not even .something we generally do a lot of," said Salim Remtulla,director of physiotherapy at Alexandra 'Marine and General Hospital. Stimulating public awarness of the wide scope and application of physiotherapy practices is one of two primary goals of Physiotherapy Week, said Remtulla: "The mission of physiotherapy in our hospital is to provide quality health care by competent and qualified staff, assisted I by the use of appropropriate equipment in keening with the advancing technology," While not all health care professionals t. automatically explain the exact .nature of an injury to'a patient, said Remtulla, pa- tients themselves are often responsible for the lack. of communication as they don't, "come right out .and ask." -However, since most physiotherapy ria- tients, "comet°• us for an extended period I of time," said Remtulla, there is a greater opportunity to discuss the nature:' of the f problem. "A patient is less:likely to do a series of. excercises just; becausewe. say so,"thane' he is if he• fully understands the cause of the problem and the.. effect of the treat- ment, Remtulla explained. Toward further .public understanding, the Physiotherapy Department of . the Alexandra Marine and General Hospital is (3[:( T ft )Nf Isabel McKay (centre) practices walking with a specially -designed walker and the aid of Debbie .Jamieson (left) physiotherapists assistant and. Alison Hollingworth, .physiotherapist at the Goderich Alexandra Marine and General Hospital following recuperation from injuries to her hip and shoulder. (photo by Patrick Raftis) 11 arch l_4-21 BY WILLIAM THOMAS hosting a series of open houses, from Manch Thi to 20, from 2:30 to 3 p.(n. each afternoon. Visitors are welcome to tour the department and ask questions of the staff. The second goal of the week is to stimulate interest in physiotherapy as a career among Students. There is a cons- tant de•rnand for physiotherapists in Canada, said Remtulla, adding that there is a continuous lack of qualified profes- sionals in the field. This is partly due, he explained, to the fact there are only 13 universities in Canada 1 five in Ontario ) that offer a physiotherapy program. "For the student, it is worthwile to note that this is a rewarding career to bear in mind, especially in terms of employment opportunities," said Remtulla; adding, •'I don't think I'll ever be unemployed." Remtulla encourages . students in- terested in pursuing a career in the field to seek guidance from the .staff of the physiotherapy department. . The Putting. People in Motion,' theme; was developed by .'the Canadian ,Physiotherapy .Associaton last year, in- spired by the .feats of Rick Hansen. Hansen, Canada's "Man in Motion, started a, wheelchair exodus around the World in 1986 to raise funds for spinal cord research. Spinal cord injuries, often resulting from automobile accidents as Hansen's did, can leave victims without the use of their legs, or. even more severe paralysis. .A wheelchair athlete such as Hansen is in constant need, of the" services of a - physiotherapist, said Remtulla, and intact was accompanied by one on the trip. Physiotherapy can be instrumental in the recovery of a patient from a variety of injuries and chronic conditions. Remtulla points to the case of one elderly Goderich woman, Isabel McKay, who.had incurred severe hip and shoulder injuries. After More. than 10 weeks of recupperation and physiotherapy treatment, she is now in the process of re -learning to walk, with the aid Of a walker, a feat it was thought she might never accomplish again. . "The. idea is to try to get these in- dividuals up and around and it's such a great accomplishment — not only for the patient, but for the doctors and nurses as. well —to see that wefinally got this patient going — in motion." grraSsMATZEIStc 4.k".a�*flrh�aS.Y �' �iC+i:4dfit4 Sports -related injury terminolog often confusing to eneral public With today's emphasis on physical fitness and activity; increasing numbers of people are falling prey to exercise -related injuries. With the abundance of new infor- mation on such injuries, comes a whole vocabulary of confusing terms and concepts. . To clear up someof the misconceptions and give practical advice to the athletically -oriented, Salim Remtulla, director of physiotherapy at the Alexandra and Marine General Hospital offers these definitions and answers to some of the most common questions asked of people in his profession. Definintion of -six common terms which come to the athletes attention: MUSCLE — Contractile tissue that moves bone. Muscle tissue has elastic pro- perities. It can shorten by contraction or . lengthen by stretching. TENDON — Tissue that connects muscle to bone. The tendon transmits muscular force to bone, thuse causing movement. Tendon also has elastic properties. ' IJGAMENT . — Relatively non -elastic bands of fibrous .tissue that connect bone to bone. Ligaments act to stabilie and to limit movement of joints. , JOINT CAPSULE — Fibrous tissue that surrounds the joint and provides a measure of stability and support for it. The joints capsule also forms a confined space for joint fluid that nourishes and lubricates the joint surface. CARTILAGE Tissue covering the bone surfaces which come into contact with each other. Cartilage provides a nearly friction -free surface. for, movemei t to occur. BURSA — A closed sac containing fluid. These sacs are usually found in areas sub- ject to friction, for examplee'where a ten- don passes over a bone. Commonly -asked questions on injuries. Q. What is inflammation? A. tnflamation is the natural reaction of living tissue to all forms of injury or infec- tion. The inflammatory process destroys or contains the injured tissue or infecting agent (e.g. bacteria) and prepares the sur- rounding tissue for repair of the injured side. Repair is the process by which damaged or destroyed tissue is replaced by fresh living tissue. In the course of containing acid destroy- ing the injured tissue; inflammation displays certain recognizable signs: pain, heat, swelling, redness and limited or loss of function of the'injured area. In medical terminology, the suffix "itis indicates that inflammation is present. For example, tendonitis is inflammation of tendon; artbritis is inflammation of a joint; appendicitis is inflammation of appendix. ' Q. What is the difference between a strain and a sprain? - A. A sprain is the stretch or tear of a non - contractile tissue, the ligaments or joint capsule. it may be caused by excessive twisting or external force on a joint. If that force is.severe enough, some of the fibres of either the ligaments or joint .capsules may be torn. A sprain may be termed tarsi, second or third degree, depending on the severity. First degree sprains indicate an overstretch of the ligaments or joint cap- sules, Very few fibres have been torn. Se- cond degree sprains may vary from the rupture of a few fibres to nearly all fibres. This injury is characterized by varying degrees of pain and swelling. A third degree' Sprain indicates the ligament has ruptured completely. It can no longer con- nect the two bones together and as a result a large measure of joint stability is lost. A strain involves a streatch or tear of the muscle or tendon. It is commonly referred to as a muscle pull or muscle tear. A strain may also be characterized as either first second or third degree, similar to sprains. Q. What is hest used immediately after suffering a sprain or strain: ice or heat? A. For the treatment of an acute injury sprained ankle or strained Muscles) ice is the treatment of choice, It decreases the blood flow and inflammation and reduces the metabolic needs of the surrounding tissue. Thus, ice decreases the swelling and pain associated with acute strains and sprains. Ice should be combined with the com- pression of the injured limb by bandaging, elevation of the limb and rest. Early move- ment should be encouraged upon the ad- vice of the physician of the physiotherapist, once the serverity of the injury has been determined. Q. Can you advise on the use of hand and ankle weights? ' A. Exercise with hand or ankle weights has become a popular training method. The benefits of this type of excercise are, increased aerobic fitnes and strengthening of the muscle groups involved. However, there is a trade-off between using weights to develop aerobic capacity and rising them to develop strength. Ad- ding weights to walking or exercise pro- grams will probably decrease the speed of Salim Remtulla, director of physiotherapy at Alexandr,,p Marine and General Hospital, Goderich, displays a model of a knee joint which is used to educate physiotherapy patients about the specific nature of their injuries. Remtulla feels that helping patients understand their problem is an important part of their physiotherapy treatment. Next week, (Feb. 14 to 21) has been declared National Physiotherapy Week by the Canadian Pysiotherapists Association. ( photo by Patrick Raft's) exercise and thus aerobic gains will be lost to strength gains. Care must be taken to prevail injury with the use of weights. Arm movements :should be tightly controlled and performed without excessive momentum. Large sw- inging movements with hand weights can strain the elbow and shoulder joints. Running with weight is not recommend ed al this increases the already -high pact'forces on the foot and leg. Aerobic gains are more easily obtained by simply increasing mileage. " When starting with weights: have a well- established exercise program before using weights; start light, about one pound, it may not feel hey when you first pick it up, but after 20 mutes you'll be surprised how heavy it seems; add weights in one- pound increments and remember to main- tain the same duration and same pace as the previous workout. :4 Flirting t . e fry F- : e of lunac in ew York , I hate New York, especially Manhattan. A few months ago I had to go to the city - New York, New York - the city so nice, says 'Late Night's David Letterman, they named it twice. • I put up the usual fight, "No, not New York. I`ll spend February in Windsor' Send my mother home to Schumacher in shackles! Do anything but don't send me to New York!" Going to New York is not the 50 minute . fly and cab ride one would envisi4in. First of all, I've got to go by train. My travel]- ing.companion is usually Chris Haney, one of the inventors of Trivial Pursuit. Chris' wallet h.as officially been, designated as "cargo" by the airlines. He•also hates to fly,. This guy hates'fly- ing even more than I do. He breaks into a sweat just driving by an airport: He keeps an airline harf bag attached to. his reclinable chair at home in the event Air Canada ads appear on TV. ' Thus New York City is a 12 -beer trip over tracts that were last repaired when President McKinley did his fateful whistle-stop trek to Buffalo. At first you're appalled by, the 'filthy windows of the Amtrak train; once' you've seen the backside of Rochester you realize it's in the passenger's best interest. There are parts of.New York state that resemble hilly New England coun- tryside, but not these parts. The Amtrak route•rattles past.rusting, abandoned in- dustrial structures and junkyards, one exclusively devoted to the carcasses of yellow 'school buses. Occasionally a dog staked beside a mobile train barks at the train and the bells clang. to the rhythm of - red flashes at a country crossing, b'it for the most • part it's• flat; lacklustre land • broken by decaying sectors 'of towns caught between the ruin and New York Cit�ry. The once great Erie Canal looks aTittIi.. embarrassed to 'be tagging alongside the railway route; for the slightly downhill trek to Gotham. . On this trip, even abstainers, find the bar car the hest way to see the U.S.A.. So suddenly, it's New York.and a race for the bags. The confusion of'Gr.and Cen- tral easily overtakes the visitor's senses softened by eight hours of bar. talk and haunches hardened by having to sit • throe gh it all. • Grand Central is home to the homeless. who sleep in front of shops Pr pass bottles . Of liquor wrapped in brown bags from mouth to crooked mouth. They are oblivious to passersby. 'New Yorkers retse-to look at t em,It is the widening g of blindness 1 the haves and have nots. New York is st 11 "the citythat never sleeps" but now it' because of its conscience. There's a waiting limo, bags are drop- ped at a mid -town hotel and it's out on the streets. • On this night the New York Mets are in- to the second inning of the seventh game of the World Series and every 'street is vacant, every bar spilling out onto the sidewalk. Security guards stationed at construction sites huddle around fire pits and portable TV's and broadcast the death knoll of the Boston Red Sox to peo- ple stranded between bars. When it's over, the restaurant owned by Mets veteran Rusty Staub is mostly out on the sidewalk arida million more people who couldn't tell a baseball from a bass fiddle are decked out in the orange and blue Mets Wear. The next day at the tickertape parade up Fifth Avenue, the fans tire of throwing just confetti and toss New York telephone books. out "of 40 -storey win- dows. When the sidewalk filled up they simply walk up the back and down the front of'cars parked, along the route. They showered their heroes with 648 tons of paper and chanted "Go Get'em Mets" for four solid hours. And this was just a baseball game. Can anyone imagine what they might do if they won a war? Somehow I didn't much mind the "Go Get'em Mets" mania. The last time I'd been to New York City, 'Bernard Goetz had just shot four youths in the. subway and the hottest selling items were T- shirts that urged "Go Get'em Goetz!'" Flirting on the fringe of lunacy, New York plods ahead bumper to bumper in a sea of yellow cabs. About the orily way a • motorist could hit a pedestrian in New York is to get, out of his car and.do it. After three days of watching a city self- destruct in celebration, I'm out. It's a spontaneous decision, more of an escape than an exit. A quick check out; a goodbye note and I'm part of the yellow sea: "To the train station fast, I've got 15 minutes to get my train." The 12 blocks take 15 minutes or 11 blasts a$ the horn honks. I fight an onslaught of early morning commuters, dash for the Amtrak counter and as gently as possible push an elderly man aside, begging forgiveness: "My train, has it left? It's the only train to Buffalo. Please Miss, look at my ticket!" She doesn't look at my ticket. She doesn't even look up. She's reading Judith Krantz's "i Take Manhattan," Before I explode in rage she calmly "replies that 1 can't make the train and turns a page. 1 „ Turn to page 2'