There are five major physical therapy centers, i.e. pediatric, orthopedic, geriatric, cardiovascular and pulmonary rehabilitation.
The pediatric rehabilitation centre focuses on infants and children. The treatment is usually focused and trained on congenital and non-congenital diseases, spina bifida, torticollis, cerebral palsy and some of the problems that result in developmental delays.
The orthopedic rehabilitation center targets all types of dysfunctions that result from the skeletal system. This could be the result of birth defects, which could not/and were not treated in the pediatric centre, it could be the result of accidents, and it could be the result of other bone diseases, which affect both muscle and bone. This is a very complex process, which consists of exercises, massage, hot and cold compress, and psychological counseling, to name a few.
The geriatric rehabilitation centre as the name indicates deals solely with seniors and their problems. The work is harder here because age is working against the treatment. Some of the main problems that the rehab experts are working with would be, Alzheimer s diseases, stroke, incontinence, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, hip injury, spinal chord injury, and so on. Often the cardiovascular and pulmonary rehabilitation is also included in this program because it is part of a host of other diseases that affect the elderly.
The cardiovascular and pulmonary rehabilitation centre is a very crucial rehabilitation unit since it works with vital organs such as the heart and lungs. The pulmonary rehabilitation is usually required in the wake of lung damage due to asthma, pneumonia, TB, cancer and many other such lung diseases, which affect the endurance and functionality of this organ. Besides the pulmonary rehabilitation this centre deals with heart problems that may result from by-pass surgery, stroke, heart attack and other major heart diseases.
Comprehensive Care
Seldom, a patient would need to register to more than one rehabilitation center because the care/treatment is given according to the priority of the health problems. A little overlapping of rehabilitation care will be there even in ordinary circumstances. However, generally the physical therapy necessary will fall into any of these categories.
Besides the treatment, physical therapy can work wonders in the recovery program of the patient. Whenever the medical treatment is backed up by appropriate physical therapy, the recovery is faster and complete. This is why it is very important that the patients have access to the right type of physical therapy as early in the treatment as possible.