Wednesday Post

On Covid front, with yesterday’s address to nation by PM. It looks like govt has decided to open economy on all front and it is up to citizens now to take appropriate protections to safeguard themselves. It looks like the Covid has reached its peak as  during last few days cases across pan India are reducing  and even fatality rate has dropped where as recovery rate is on the riser. Now if you talk about of Maharashtra and Mumbai, situation seems to be improving, but not to that extent where you may say that Covid cases are really on decline.  For last one month it is happening in  manner where cases go down for few days on continuous basis, but again they start rising. In Mumbai yesterday only 1091 cases were registered which  were the least in last 55 days, and reported only 45 deaths. The count of Mumbai till date is cases 2,44,260 and deaths 9864, which gives fatality rate of 4.04%, which has come down from earlier fatality rate of 4.7%. So let us wait and watch about the situation in Mumbai.

Now coming to my other topic of the day:

In today’s fast paced world, pains and aches are a common thing, even in the young. So having some constant pain and aches have become common problem for every one. The various pains are back pain, knee pain, muscle pain, joint pains, arthritis related pains, neck pain and many more. While regular exercise can help relieve a few common pains that are not chronic,  a few pains may need medical attention followed by PHYSIOTHERAPY. Hence a physiotherapist should be consulted.

What is Physiotherapy

The physiotherapy is branch of medicine which tries in reducing pain in different parts/areas of body through exercise. The physiotherapist understands the doctor’s prescription and takes you through a certain set of specific exercises and procedures that help in curing pain. These procedure help repair damage, reduce stiffness and pain, increase mobility and improve life quality. At times the physiotherapist may suggest simple or slightly complicated exercises. The sessions could be prescribed on daily/weekly basis based on the situation. At times physiotherapist may use specific treatment options like heat therapy, massage, exercise on specific equipments etc. Some times physiotherapy is also prescribed to recover from injuries to gain proper mobility in limbs etc.

Options

If the pain is not so severe, then physiotherapist may teach you few exercises as part of consultation session and ask you to the same at home with periodic review. If some complicated exercises or treatment is needed, then Physiotherapist may ask you to visit the hospital or clinic, a couple of times a week or so. Some physiotherapist can visit your home with their machines for you to do the exercise in their presence.

Regular home exercises

Physiotherapy exercises are highly individualistic, depending on  the nature of the pain/injury, area affected, age of person and few other such factors. Even Yoga exercises are also good in certain cases, but they also should be done under expert’s supervision.

Common physiotherapy exercises

The common physiotherapy exercises which are suggested:

• Motion exercises- These are meant to provide or increase flexibility in the joints and ease joint pains. These may involve the use of pulley, balls, wheels, wall climbing etc.
• Simple stretches- simple stretches are advised for improving joint flexibility.
• Aerobics-These exercises are suggested to condition the muscles and the body.
• Balancing exercise- These are prescribed to help maintain body balance and avoid fall.
• Aquatic exercise- At times even aquatic activities are prescribed for improving motion and strengthening muscles.
• Breathing and relaxation techniques- To help cool down the body after each session.

Friends, even I have been also prescribed some physiotherapist exercises for my shoulder pain, knee pain and for maintaining balance.

Waiting for your views/comments/feed back on this blog.

Anil Malik

Mumbai, India

21^st October 2020.