Physio-Articles

WHAT IS HYDRO-COLLATOR BATH THERAPY Hydrocollator bath therapy is application of moist heat as therapeutic agent and is one of the oldest forms of medicine. but these days efficient automatic units which produce a uniform and constant temperature to heat steam packs. these automatic units provide physiotherapists with a constant supply of ready to use heated packs. these automatic heating units are called hydrocollator units. The hydrocollator units are stainless steel tanks in which silica gel packs are heated. the abilities of the machines are vary and all these units have insulated bases, the units contain a wire rack which acts as a divider for the packs and prevent contact of the packs with bottom of the tank, moreover these units contain heater which is thermostatically controlled and maintains water in the unit at a temperature between 76°C and 80°C. It can be felt on continuously as long as there is sufficient water in the tank.  Hydrocollator pack is a fabric envelope containi

WHAT IS HYDROTHERAPY Hydrotherapy is also known as water therapy which in medical term implies using water for therapeutic purpose or simply treatment by water in which water is used as a medium for exercise and provides several opportunities, which are not available in exercise and also hydrotherapy is one of the oldest therapeutic method for the management of body physical dysfunction. Hydrotherapy has been advocated for the treatment of joint stiffness, painful scars, arthritis and adhesions as warm up with exercise. hydrotherapy is used due to the therapeutic properties of water for the effects on body tissues of heating, cooling, debridement, pain relief and relaxation of muscles. when hydrotherapy is not planned well or well performed, it can give side effects, especially on cardio-vascular system, this water therapy is used for the treatment of various diseases, additionally hydrothermal therapy has temperature effects, as in hot baths, saunas, wraps e.t.c. Mostly non-weight bea

WHAT IS FLUIDOTHERAPY Fluidotherapy is also known as fluidized therapy which is a high intensity heating modality that consist of dry heat agent which transfer heat energy or its energy by forced convection to the body soft tissues and produce therapeutic effects. Borrell and coworkers suggested that for superficial heating, it is irrevalent weather the modality produces wet or dry heat, provided that the skin temperature is raised to the same temperature by both agents. the fluidotherapy system is using finely solid particles suspended in a heated air stream (air-fluidized solids) acting as the heat transfer medium. METHOD OF APPLICATION OF FLUIDOTHERAPY Fluidotherapy units come in variety of sizes that's why there are units for treating the distal extremities and larger joints and also there are larger model available for the treatment of the back, for joints and distal body parts. During the treatment the patient places the body part to be treated through entrance sleeve of the

WHAT IS CONTRAST BATH THERAPY Contrast bath is defined as the therapeutic alternative procedure or technique of applying both heat and cold alternatively by immersion of the body part in hot and cold water in alternative way with certain amount of control to help the body temperature mechanism to be maintained. this alternative method of treatment is very important for improving circulation in injured tissues. METHOD OF APPLICATION OF CONTRAST BATH THERAPY Fill the two baths of appropriate size depending on the body part (limb) to be treated, one bath fill with hot water at 40°C to 45°C and the other bath with cold water at 15°C. then the treatment should begin in cold water and end in hot water but some therapist prefer to start with hot water and end in cold water. immerse the limb in hot water for 3 minutes and after 3 minutes immediately and alternatively remove the limb from hot water and immerse the limb in cold water for 1 minute. repeat the cycle up to 3 times and maintain the

WHAT IS PHONOPHORESIS Phonophoresis is the process of introducing substances into the body by using ultrasonic energy. This procedure is improperly compared with iontophoresis which involves transfer of ions into the body tissues while phonophoresis involves transmit of molecules into the body tissue by using different procedure, although is based on a similar concept. these molecules introduced into the body target tissue must be broken into component elements and radicals by using natural processes and recombined with existing bloodstream radicals.     METHOD USED FOR PHONOPHORESIS The technique or method used for phonophoresis is the same method as that for standard ultrasound administration. solutions are not used for phonophoresis, It is physical therapeutic procedure that combines ultrasound and medications, where the medicinal substance are applied directly to the skin and ultrasonic energy is applied by using ultrasound machine, this ultrasonic energy will help the skin to abso

WHAT IS IONTOPHORESIS Iontophoresis is defined as the process of transfer of ions of drugs into the body through the skin by the use of a constant direct current. PRINCIPLE OF IONTOPHORESIS Iontophoresis is based on the fact that ions of drugs will migrate to the electrode of opposite charge under the influence of an electromotive force. EQUIPMENT USED FOR IONTOPHORESIS All modern low frequency generators provide both direct and alternating current circuits for connecting to the patient. direct current is obtained from the main supply after it has been rectified by suitable rectifiers, inductors and capacitors in the circuits. the basic requirements for the application of direct current in an equipment indicated as positive and negative terminals, red indicates the positive terminal or anode and black indicates the negative terminal or cathode. the power output and the miliammeter must be clearly indicated. Generally there will be two current ranges which should be clearly marked. and

WHAT IS LASER LASER is an acronym which stand for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation as we all know the term "light" which also referred as visible light which is a form of electromagnetic radiation energy which has wavelength range between 100 to 10,000nm within the electromagnetic spectrum. Here the light is produced or emitted through the process of optical amplification of stimulated emission of radiation. WHAT IS LASER THERAPY Laser therapy is the application of low level-lasers or light-emitting diodes to the body surface, for therapeutic purpose which is claimed that application of low-level lasers on the body surface gives therapeutic effect for pain relieve and for improving or stimulating of cellular function. STIMULATED EMISSION The concept of stimulated emission was first postulated by Einstein and is essential to working principles of lasers. It states that a photon released from an excited atom would stimulate another similar excited atom to