Physiotherapy Specialization

There are quite a lot different areas where a Physiotherapist can work. We explain all of them in the following lines .

Cardiopulmonary
In cardiovascular and pulmonary rehabilitation physical therapists treat a wide variety of individuals with cardiopulmonary disorders or those who have had cardiac or pulmonary surgery. Primary goals of this specialty include increasing endurance and functional independence. Manual therapy is used in this field to assist in clearing lung secretions experienced with cystic fibrosis. Disorders, including heart attacks, post coronary bypass surgery, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and pulmonary fibrosis, treatments can benefit from cardiovascular and pulmonary specialized physical therapists.

Geriatric
Geriatric physical therapy covers a wide area of issues concerning people as they go through normal adult aging but is usually focused on the older adult. There are many conditions that affect many people as they grow older and include but are not limited to the following: arthritis, osteoporosis, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, hip and joint replacement, balance disorders, incontinence, etc.
Geriatric physical therapy helps those affected by such problems in developing a specialized program to help restore mobility, reduce pain, and increase fitness levels.

Neurological
Neurological physical therapy is a discipline focused on working with individuals who have a neurological disorder or disease. These include Alzheimer's disease, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT), ALS, brain injury, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury, and stroke. Common impairments associated with neurologic conditions include impairments of vision, balance, ambulation, activities of daily living, movement, speech and loss of functional independence.

Orthopaedic
Orthopaedic physical therapists diagnose, manage, and treat disorders and injuries of the musculoskeletal system including rehabilitation after orthopaedic surgery. This specialty of physical therapy is most often found in the out-patient clinical setting. Orthopaedic therapists are trained in the treatment of post-operative orthopaedic procedures, fractures, acute sports injuries, arthritis, sprains, strains, back and neck pain, spinal conditions and amputations.
Joint and spine mobilization/manipulation, therapeutic exercise, neuromuscular re-education, hot/cold packs, and electrical muscle stimulation (e.g., cryotherapy, iontophoresis, electrotherapy) are modalities often used to expedite recovery in the orthopaedic setting. Additionally, an emerging adjunct to diagnosis and treatment is the use of sonography for diagnosis and to guide treatments such as muscle retraining. Those who have suffered injury or disease affecting the muscles, bones, ligaments, or tendons of the body will benefit from assessment by a physical therapist specialized in orthopaedics.

Paediatric
Paediatric physical therapy assists in early detection of health problems and uses a wide variety of modalities to treat disorders in the paediatric population. These therapists are specialized in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of infants, children, and adolescents with a variety of congenital, developmental, neuromuscular, skeletal, or acquired disorders/diseases. Treatments focus on improving gross and fine motor skills, balance and coordination, strength and endurance as well as cognitive and sensory processing/integration. Children with developmental delays, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, or torticollis, may be treated by pediatric physical therapists.

Integumentary
Integumentary (treatment of conditions involving the skin and related organs). Common conditions managed include wounds and burns. Physical therapists utilize surgical instruments, mechanical lavage, dressings and topical agents to debride necrotic tissue and promote tissue healing. Other commonly used interventions include exercise, edema control, splinting, and compression garments.

Sports Physiotherapy
Sports Physiotherapy is a physiotherapy specialisation in which sport injuries are treated.
Sports physiotherapists also advice people how to avoid sports injuries as well as try to help them to get better a their respective sports.
Their work includes examining and diagnosing injuries in the field, being specially important their quickness in figuring out what is happening to the sportsman.
Skills which should be the main strength of sports therapists are manual therapy, therapeutic exercise and the application of electrotherapy.

Gynaecologic and urologic Physiotherapy
Gynaecologic and urologic Physiotherapy is specialised in treatments which try to avoid incontinence problems.
To achieve this goal physiotherapists will have to focus his/her treatments in strengthening the pelvic floor muscles of the patient.
These exercises can be taught at first in the clinic and afterwards made by the patient at home. As it is known incontinence problems create a big social problem for patients in their daily life, that is why physiotherapists should be in this case very sensible towards the patient`s possible social problem.

Lymphatic drainage
Lymphatic drainage is a physiotherapy technique which consists of a manual massage
Focusing on specific lymph nodes and points of the body, trying to restore the natural flow of the lymphatic system.
The result which is intended to achieve with this technique is basically to reduce the blockage of the lymphatic system.
Lymphatic drainage can be considered as a preventive health care which reduces swelling and can be used in order to treat lymphoedema.

Aesthetic Physiotherapy
Aesthetic physiotherapists treat all kind of diseases and problems which are related to our aesthetic sphere.
Scars and burns can be treated with aesthetic physiotherapy.
In both cases rosehip oil is used. Scars are common after surgery of waist definition.
After this surgery scars should be treated by an aesthetic physiotherapist in order to prevent the apparition of restriction in our skin.