Your Rehabilitation Medicine

Importance of Physical Therapy

2012-01-26T20:54:00.001+08:00

A local advertisment simply says it all, "Mahal ang magkasakit." (Getting sick is expensive). This is especially true for those who got hit by devastating or debilitating conditions such as strokes or similar conditions that affect the physical strength of a patient. Lets try to enumerate the would be expenses: Hospitalization, medicines, laboratory and imaging/diagnostice procedures, and

Runner's Feet Seminar Presentation

2011-11-27T23:13:00.000+08:00

Just today, I had the opportunity to share my insights on a seminar conducted in San Juan De Dios Hospital in Pasay. The topic is Runner's Feet. I was given the task to share about the anatomy of the shoe as well as the biomechanics of the foot that affect an individual during running. It also included some history of the running shoe as well as the evolution of the shoe. So as promised to the

Falls in the elderly: Exercises done at home

2011-10-14T23:28:00.004+08:00

Your patients or love ones who have been not so active at home will succumb sooner or later to the what we call deconditioning. Due to their condition such as poor balance or affected by other ailments, they become confined in bed, or wheelchair or chair. Definitely such situations will leave their upper and lower limbs weaker. As the saying goes, "Use it or lose it." So here are some simple

Falls in the elderly: Prevention

2011-09-25T23:17:00.000+08:00

Now we will deal with simple things in the household to prevent accidents that may lead the elderly people to lose balance. Also included are some things to consider to do when you have them checked by their physician. Here in the Philippines, it usually have an extended type of family structure which of course consists of the grandparents or older population. So what are those simple steps to

Falls in the elderly: The Facts

2011-09-20T21:39:00.001+08:00

As I have discussed in the past 2 blogs regarding falls in the elderly that are focused mainly on simple ways to assess if they have a tendency to fall. Now you may be wondering, what is the big deal with falling? Short answer. A LOT! Long Answer: As one ages, just like a mechanical equipment, the body undergoes "wear and tear" if I may simply it. Anatomically and physiologically, the body may

Falls in the elderly: How to assess their balance Part 2

2011-09-12T17:20:00.004+08:00

The next part of these series of blogs for the elderly is another type of test that does not involve walking.It is called the Four Test Balance Scale. A study done by Melinda Gardner, David Buchner, M. Clare Robertson and A. John Campbell from the Journal Age and Ageing 2001: 30: 77-83, Titled Practical implementation of an exercise-based falls prevention programme, showed how to do this test.It

Falls in the Elderly: How to Assess their Balance Part 1

2011-09-09T15:29:00.005+08:00

Last August 2011, I was asked to give a short seminar on fall prevention in the elderly by Home Health Care. It gave me a chance to provide information on helping the allied medical and medical audience together with caregivers on taking care of the elderly. So to start this set of blogs, I initially asked myself, if I am taking care of someone in this age group, how can I know if he or she has

EMG-NCV Electomyography Nerve conduction Velocity study: Do you need one?

2008-12-01T20:28:00.006+08:00

Your physician might recommend you undergo EMG-NCV study and you are wondering what it is. The simplest but not that accurate way of explaining it to my patients is by doing an analogy of this test with ECG or electocardiogram. ECG is the placement of electrodes on the chest which gets the electrical activity of the heart. It then helps the physician diagnose problems related to the electrical

What is a Physiatrist?

2008-03-22T23:09:00.006+08:00

Since, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation is a specialty that was created during the near end of world war 2 era, not all are familiar with it. Unlike a cardiologist or dermatologist, a layman automatically knows what the doctor is specializing.So as a way to give clarity as to what a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) specialist or Physiatrist treats, I have placed links that will

Painful, Inflamed or Both? What medications to use.

2008-03-13T22:59:00.004+08:00

Are pain medications the same with anti-inflammatory medications? Should one be used instead of the other? Can they be used interchangeably? Can they be used at the same time?First off, pain medications get a bad publicity both in the media and in the movies. You usually see stars or news on patients getting addicted to it. This is a sad faith for such useful medications. In reality, there are

Cold or Hot? What should I use after a soft tissue injury?

2008-03-09T23:10:00.005+08:00

This past week in the clinics, I was surprised to see patients in succession who attained sports injuries while playing. From an ankle sprain to muscle strains. What strike me the most, is that their first aid during the acute stage or within 24 to 48 hours after the injury is the application of heat on that area. The result is a more swollen and painful injured limb.The rule of thumb for first