Physiotherapy

Integrated Medicine Centre in Trieste in Collaboration with an Expert Physiotherapist

Physiotherapy comes from the Physiotherapist, a professional qualified in the healthcare field of rehabilitation. The physiotherapist exercises their skills with professional ownership and autonomy, as provided by Italian and international regulations, either in private practice or within a multidisciplinary team alongside specialist doctors and/or other professionals.

The physiotherapist assists the patient in the functional recovery from various impairments and motor disabilities, regardless of their cause. Therefore, the physiotherapist, within a therapeutic programme, acts during the clinical phase of post-acute care to help the patient regain abilities lost due to a recent medical event, applying basic methods and special techniques to achieve this goal.

Internal Medicine and Geriatrics

PHYSIOTHERAPY

Physiotherapy (from the Greek Φυσιο = natural and θεραπεία = therapy) is a medical science aimed at the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of congenital dysfunctions or acquired conditions in the neuromusculoskeletal and visceral systems through multiple therapeutic interventions, including physical therapy, manual/manipulative therapy, massage therapy, postural therapy, kinesiology, and occupational therapy.

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A Bit of History

It is believed that some doctors of antiquity, primarily Hippocrates and later Galen, were the first practitioners of physiotherapy: they performed massage, some techniques of manual therapy, and hydrotherapy as early as 480 BC.

With the development of orthopaedics during the 18th century, treatments for gout and similar disorders began to include systematic exercises of the joints, which foreshadowed the subsequent developments in physiotherapy. Machines such as the Gymnasticon started to be invented.

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The documented origins of modern physiotherapy, as we understand it today, date back to the Swedish Pehr Henrik Ling, the father of "Swedish gymnastics," who founded the "Royal Central Institute of Gymnastics" (RCIG) in 1813 for massage, manipulations, and exercises. In 1887, physiotherapists achieved official registration with the National Swedish Council for Health and Welfare.

Soon, physiotherapy was recognised in other countries: in 1894, the "Chartered Society of Physiotherapy" was established in Great Britain, in 1913 the "School of Physiotherapy" was founded at the University of Otago in New Zealand, and in 1914 "Reed College" in the United States opened in Portland. In March 1921, the first research work on "PT Review" was published in the United States. The Physical Therapy Association (now the "American Physical Therapy Association") was established by Mary McMillan.

During the 1940s, treatments primarily consisted of exercises, massages, and traction. Manipulative procedures for the spine and extremity joints began to be practised, particularly in Commonwealth countries, during the early 1950s. Since then, the activities of physiotherapists began to extend beyond strictly hospital settings, spreading to orthopaedic centres, schools, geriatric facilities, and rehabilitation centres.