A few months back I blogged about how Gretchen Reynolds, the New York Times fitness writer, was doing a job that might be better done by a physical therapist. I've been reading her column fairly regularly and the responses from other readers are often more enlightening than the original articles themselves. One arose today that made me confident ...

The American Physical Therapy Association, Alexandria, VA, put out a press release yesterday detailing the role that therapy professionals and students played in helping victims of the tragic bombing at the Boston Marathon. The release stated: ''A team of 70 members of APTA's Massachusetts Chapter, stationed at the Boston Marathon finish line on ...

By now, many people have heard about New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's attempt to combat obesity by limiting the size of soft drinks containing sugar. There has been both an aggressive ad campaign and a new ban on beverages over 16 ounces. He has quite a few professional voices backing these decisions. Today, though, a state Supreme ...

One thing is true in the field of rehabilitation: Change is constant. This has never been more true than at the present time. Within the past year, there have been staffing shortages followed by staffing surplus; needed equipment, but not enough room; along with insurance changes that are limiting patients' ability to obtain necessary help. ...

Mayo Clinic physiologist Michael Joyner, MD, writes in The Journal of Physiology that physical inactivity is the root cause of many common medical problems. He continues to explain that if physical inactivity was treated as its own medical condition, physicians may be more aware of the value of prescribed exercise, including formal rehabilitation ...

Many times when I work with my patients, they are not the happiest people. Some patients are in a lot of pain, some frustrated with their physical deficits. Although I explain to patients the course of treatment and estimated timeline for recovery, there are a few patients who cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel and are consistently ...

I have been following along with the reports from Danielle Bullen, Rebecca Mayer and Lisa Lombardo on the goings-on in Tampa last week. I find the outcomes interesting and validating. One of my contentions with Vision 2020 is that it seemed too isolating. That seems to be holding up now. As a profession, we are finally starting to realize that no ...

I don't do recipes. Not in the kitchen and not in practice. I have a general idea of how to make a proper shrimp scampi or meatloaf, but I know that sometimes a little more of this or a touch less of that can make for a better meal. Such is the case with rehab; some people require a little more attention on one thing whereas someone else needs ...

There is no doubt that concussions are a hot topic in the sporting world these days, from youth competitions all the way to the professional ranks. In fact, ADVANCE just devoted a cover story to the subject in our Sept. 5 issue. The APTA has also been focused on concussion prevention, treatment and legislation. On Sept. 13, the organization ...

A while back, I wrote about a new practice here in the UK where patients are referred for therapy and receive a phone call from the physio. The physio asks a series of questions and then sends out advice and/or exercises in the post. I had some misgivings about it then. I have been able to see it in action for the first time now. One of our ...