As World Physiotherapy Day is observed on September 8 every year, 3,435 clients have been evaluated by a team of specialists at the All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH), a premier institute for speech and hearing in Mysuru, providing 22,197 physiotherapy sessions in the past five years.
The day is observed every year to raise awareness about the crucial contribution of physical therapists (PT). PT are experts in human movement and have a key role in the prevention, identification, assessment, treatment, and rehabilitation of individuals when movement and function are affected by aging, injury, or disease.
At AIISH, conditions like cerebral palsy, developmental delay, stroke and Parkinson’s disease are attended to.
A press release from AIISH said CP is a group of conditions that affects a person’s ability to move and maintain posture and balance. It can occur due to genetic causes or due to damage to the brain in the first two years of life. Premature babies with low birth weight, brain infection, lack of oxygen to the brain during childbirth, and untreated jaundice during the newborn period are the common causes of CP. In addition to walking difficulties, children with CP suffer from speech delay, seizures, swallowing problems and difficulty in learning, the release added.
The condition of developmental delay is when a child does not reach his/her developmental milestone by a time or age that is expected. For example, head control, rolling, crawling, walking and talking will be delayed in children with developmental delay, the note said.
Damage to the brain from interruption of its blood supply leads to weakness of one side of the body or paralysis of the arm or leg and face along with difficulty in speech. Parkinson’s disease is a brain disorder that causes unintended or uncontrollable movement such as shaking, stiffness and difficulty with balance and coordination as disease progresses. People may have difficulty in walking and talking, the AIISH explained.
The above cases undergo rehabilitation by a multi-disciplinary team of professionals. In this team, physiotherapists, speech-language therapists, occupational therapists, clinical psychologists and special educators play a very important role, the release said.
At AIISH, as many as 3,435 clients have been evaluated, providing 22,197 physiotherapy sessions in the past five years. Director M. Pushpavathi, Swapna N., Head, Clinical Services, and Sangeetha Mahesh, Associate Professor, have been looking at the cases and monitoring the services.
