A growing web resource of physiotherapy exercises: www.physiotherapyexercises.com.This website, physiotherapyexercises.com, started in 2002 as a free web-based resource of exercises appropriate for people with spinal cord spinal cord, the part of the nervous system occupying the hollow interior (vertebral canal) of the series of vertebrae that form the spinal column, technically known as the vertebral column. injuries (SCI (Scalable Coherent Interface) An IEEE standard for a high-speed bus that uses wire or fiber-optic cable. It can transfer data up to 1GBytes/sec. (hardware) SCI - 1. Scalable Coherent Interface. 2. UART. ). Since then, the number and scope of exercises has expanded as permitted by funding. The scope has now been extended to 581 exercises with the inclusion of exercises for people with traumatic brain injury Traumatic brain injury (TBI), traumatic injuries to the brain, also called intracranial injury, or simply head injury, occurs when a sudden trauma causes brain damage. TBI can result from a closed head injury or a penetrating head injury and is one of two subsets of acquired brain (adults and children) and stroke, in addition to SCI. The site is targeted mainly at physiotherapists who work with patients with neurological injuries. Registration on the site is free and allows the user to search and then save their selection of exercises. The number of choices on the main search page is somewhat daunting at first, particularly for those who want to browse, rather than search directly for a specific exercise; however accessibility of the site improves with familiarity. The search criteria are based on condition, exercise type, body part, equipment available, exercise difficulty, age category, and image orientation. You are required to search by condition and age category but the remaining categories are optional. Some of the search criteria are very specific and thus allow you to find exercises quickly, however some exercises do not fall easily into categories. For example, when looking for a bench press exercise, I couldn't immediately decide whether it is shoulder/upper arm or trunk. In the sports and fitness industry, a bench press would be classified as chest (ie, trunk would be divided into chest, back, and abdominals). On this site, a bench press appears under shoulder/upper arm. Similarly are wrist flexors classified under elbow/forearm or wrist/ hand? Interestingly strengthening of wrist flexors in sitting is classified under elbow/forearm and strengthening of wrist flexors in supine is classified under wrist/hand! Navigation is a little challenging when you have selected some of your exercises but wish to continue searching, without losing your initial selection. Basically you need to save the exercises before continuing. The speed of the site depends on how narrow your search is and in what format you view the exercises. For example, if you wish to view the gallery without limiting the search criteria, it takes several minutes to load on a computer with medium specifications. The complexity of the site, particularly the search criteria, probably means that this site will be used by therapists, as intended, rather than by lay people. Names and positions of the steering committee steer·ing committee n. A committee that sets agendas and schedules of business, as for a legislative body or other assemblage. steering committee Noun of the site and its five sub-committees are listed under Information. History of the site is given and usage statistics are also available for those who might be interested. It is obvious that this site has been carefully planned from the beginning. The site includes a range of exercises to address impairments (eg, strength) as well as activities (eg, walking) and provides appropriate information for handouts or exercise programs for patients with neurological injuries. The exercises can be viewed and printed as either sketches or photos, both of which are good quality and certainly easier for patients to follow than the stickmen that I'm used to drawing! Each exercise has accompanying text to explain the aim of the exercise, how to perform the exercise, progressions, and any precautions. There is also a function that allows the therapist to change the text as needed as needed prn. See prn order. and also to add their own logo. These features allow the creation of a very professional-looking handout. At the moment the site has 581 exercises, which provide a good selection of commonly used exercises and activities, but there are bound to be exercises that are still to appear on the site. For example, I couldn't find a straight leg raise The Straight leg raise also, called Lasègue sign or Lasègue test, is a test done during the physical examination to determine whether a patient with low back pain has an underlying herniated disk. . However, as the site is expanding, these gaps will lessen with time. Indeed, feedback is welcome (as are donations). In summary, this site should be of great interest and use to those who work with patients with neurological conditions Neurological conditions A condition that has its origin in some part of the patient's nervous system. Mentioned in: Pervasive Developmental Disorders . It is particularly appealing as it now includes a wide range of exercises and is a free resource. The time spent learning to use the site is well worth the effort. Some improvements, such as instructions, might make the site more user-friendly. However it is easy for any clinician to appreciate the amount of funding, painstaking care, time, and energy that has gone into the site to get to this point. Any therapist working with patients with neurological injuries should bookmark this site. Suzie Mudge University of Auckland Not to be confused with Auckland University of Technology. The University of Auckland (Māori: Te Whare Wānanga o Tāmaki Makaurau) is New Zealand's largest university. |
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