Purpose of the Rehabilitation

Rehabilitation is to maximize the physical, mental, social and professional potential of the person with physical disability and environmental incompatibility. The aim is to give the individual as much independence as possible physically, spiritually, economically and socially. A comprehensive rehabilitation program will increase independence, shorten the period of dependence on bed and others, and improve quality of life. Social rehabilitation is the transformation of the disabled from consumer to producer. Rehabilitation practices deal with all kinds of diseases that cause functional disorders. It tries to overcome the functional problems of the patient.

Rehabilitation Team

A team approach is essential to the solution of complex problems associated with disability. The team is a working group of health professionals from different disciplines who share responsibilities. The head of the rehabilitation team is a physiatrist who is a medical doctor specialized in physical therapy and rehabilitation. Other physicians are also consulted in some cases related to the illness of the patient to be rehabilitated. Non-physician assistants such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists, rehabilitation nurses, speech therapists, orthosis-prosthesis technicians participate in the rehabilitation team composed of physicians.

Rehabilitation Centers

The place, tools and team where the rehabilitation is performed are different. While patients admitted to hospital for diagnosis and treatment usually stay in bed, rehabilitation patients try to get rid of bedridden life. Persons to be rehabilitated have functional loss. Therefore, the purpose of the rehabilitation process is to overcome this loss. The building, equipment and personnel of the rehabilitation centers are arranged according to the needs of the people to be rehabilitated.

Hot and cold application, pain relief and strengthening electric currents, traction, massage, manual therapy, exercise, occupational therapy, hydrotherapy and rehabilitation robots are the main rehabilitation methods.

Rehabilitation sessions are usually held once or several times a day. The duration of the sessions varies according to the disease and the techniques applied but is 30-60 minutes. The total treatment time is usually 30 sessions. In some diseases such as complete (tetraplegia) and half (hemiplegia, paraplegia) paralysis, rehabilitation sessions may last for months. Most rehabilitation practices can be performed on an outpatient basis. Patients with complete paralysis (tetraplegic), bed sores, urine, heart, respiratory and dietary problems are rehabilitated inpatient.

Rehabilitation Application Areas

Physical therapy and rehabilitation techniques have a wide variety of application areas:

• Neck and arm pains
• Shoulder, elbow, hand, back, low back, leg, hip, knee and foot pains
• Osteoarthrosis
• Muscular rheumatism (fibromyalgia, myofascial pain)
• Rheumatic diseases
• Herniated disk in neck and spinal cord
• Frozen shoulder
• Heel Spurs (Plantar Fasciitis)
• Facial paralysis
• Paralysis (tetraplegia, paraplegia)
• Stroke (hemiplegia)
• Limitation of movement in joints (due to accident and after surgery)
• Cerebral palsy (CP)
• Muscular disorders (myopathy)
• Neurological disorders (neuropathies)
• Parkinson’s disease
• MS (multiple sclerosis)
• Cardiovascular diseases
• Respiratory diseases