Description:
Kevin R. Stone, M.D., talks about about
the importance of physical therapy. 4:33 minutes/4.5MB |
|
This is Kevin Stone, M.D. at The Stone Clinic in San Francisco, talking
about the importance of physical therapy.
In general, we are huge fans of using physical therapy and smart physical
therapists to help guide our patients to prevent injury; to recover more
rapidly from injury; and, hopefully, to return to sport fitter, stronger,
and faster than they were before they were injured. We have found that
smart physical therapists look at a patient with an injury and help figure
out why they got injured; help them learn exercises and techniques to recover
from the injury; and help guide them in ways that are very motivating.
We have found that most people are quite unaware of how they carry their
posture, how they walk, how their feet hit the ground, how loose or stiff
their hip joints, shoulder joints, knee joints, or backs are. We find that
if we can teach people about the mechanics of their gait or the mechanics
of their sport, then they leave a better educated patient and they leave
with a more rapid recovery program.
Specifically, when we see people with a knee injury, we not only teach
them how to diminish the pain and recover from that specific knee injury
but how to train around the knee injury, so that, if it requires a period
of relative immobilization for the knee, we can train their hip joints,
back joints, core muscles, and upper body program. We can get them on a
well-leg bicycle where they spin with one leg and rest the injured joint.
We can come up with all kinds of creative ways to help them train while
they are recovering from injury.
We also find that people, while they know about ice and elevation, do
not know all the latest ways to do icing and elevation. The new ice compression
machines that add both soft tissue compression and cold therapy to joints
are far more effective than just using frozen peas. We also find that physical
therapists that have great manual skills, meaning their hands are very
good at both massaging injured tissues using cross friction techniques
in injured tissues and mobilizing the fluid out of injured tissues, help
patients recover very rapidly. So, the soft tissue skills of the physical
therapist in addition to their exercise skills, and their ability to observe
and comment on gait and to train people in better movement techniques really
are what determine the base of what makes a great physical therapist.
We find that patients who undergo surgical procedures and do not have
a great physical therapy program after surgery or who try to do all of
the program on their own tend to recover slower, tend not to have as complete
a recovery, and tend not to learn as much from the experience as those
who go through a great physical therapy program.
In sum, we are huge fans of smart physical therapists. We encourage all
of our patients to see the physical therapists before and after injuries,
before and after surgery, and, at the end of the day, to help avoid injuries
and to play sports with a higher level of satisfaction and enjoyment. Many
of the physical therapy modalities that we are interested in are posted
on our website at www.stoneclinic.com .
The Stone Clinic in San Francisco concentrates on returning injured people
to their active lives, fitter, faster, and stronger than they were before.
The Stone Clinic includes Dr. Kevin Stone, physician and surgeon, a staff
of physical therapists, and an x-ray and MRI facility. Our specialties
include the treatment of joint injuries and arthritis with leading edge
surgical and rehabilitation techniques. Elite athletes and everyday people
alike come to The Stone Clinic from around the world for the best in orthopaedic
care. The Stone Clinic is located at 3727 Buchanan St., San Francisco,
CA 94123. For more information, please call us at (415) 563-3110 or visit
us at www.stoneclinic.com.
|
