Needless to say, the Nintendo Wii System has been the craze amongst not only children but adults for the last couple years.This system simulates the activity therefore requiring the player to perform coordinated dynamic movements. Not only is this a great way to enjoy interactive games with friends, or do a work out but it may also improve your balance! A recent Case Report in the Journal of Geriatric Physical Therapy suggests just that. The Wii Bowling game was used as the sole treatment for a 89 year old female patient with an unspecified balance disorder and a history of multiple falls. The patient participated in 6 bowling sessions for 60 minutes each over a 2 week period. The outcomes proved to be positive. The patient's clinical measures included the Berg Balance Scale, Dynamic Gait Index, Timed Up and Go Test and Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale; improvements were noted in all measurements.  Although this was a case report involving only one patient and a single examining physical therapist, it is great start in determining the effects of using the Wii in physical therapy treatments. Next time you are looking for an new and fun treatment approach to improve balance, take a look at the Wii!

As a physical therapist I am often asked by my patients, "Why are you doing this exercise?", "How is this going to help my injury?" Based upon my schooling, experience, and current research I am able to confidently respond to my patient's inquiries. But is there enough evidence out there to be 100% sure your treatment approach is the best for each individual patient and will show successful outcomes? Within the past decade, the physical therapy profession has put more emphasis on evidence-based practice, not to discredit the theories we all once learned and still use in our everyday practice. The community and physician practices seem to be in agreement with this movement.  Recently in a New York Times article titled Treat Me, but No Tricks Please , the author discusses PT treatment for a sport's-related injury and states:

When I asked Dr. Irrgang for studies showing what worked, I was a bit surprised. To put it kindly, they left much to be desired.

Researchers would mix treatments — stretching and massage and orthotic shoe inserts, for example. If patients said they felt better, it was impossible to know why. Some of the studies involved as few as four participants. And the researchers did not always assign subjects randomly to one treatment or another to see which one worked better.

While we hope that our clinical reasoning leads to proper treatment choices and execution resulting positive outcomes, let's take it a step further and follow the steps to prove our choices through concrete evidence. The Allied Health Research Instutute is a great organization that  is dedicated to assist the profession in just that. One of the  principle objectives is to  "create a central data repository to collect and analyze clinical outcomes for the purpose of establishing industry and academic-supported, evidence-based practice patterns." As therapists, let's dedicate ourselves to showing through theory, experience and EVIDENCE the importance of Physical Therapy.