Jorge Rodrigo Rodríguez
Professor of the E.U. of Physiotherapy of Toledo (U.C.L.M.).

This report looks for to show that the fields of performance of the Physiotherapy are much wider that the classics of breathing cardio, apparatus locomotive and nervous system; really, the physiotherapy is defined exclusively for the type of agents therapeutic employees that you are always of physical order, and not for the organic territory on the one that acts that understands the entirety of the human organism and the dysfunctions that can take place in him.

That doubts it fits that to get the full development professional he should expand the physiotherapy in the academic plane toward the degree, doctorate and specialties; and inside these last ones and already connecting with the assistance function of the profession, it is necessary to mention an entire series of specific fields in those that the attention of the physiotherapists can carry out a mission of first order.

Among these novel fields we can stand out, in the first place, for their specificity and their originality, the ophthalmology and the optometry. The method of Physiotherapy Ophthalmologic that shortly will expose next, I believe that it would be very interesting that said method reached the maximum possible diffusion as specific field of the physiotherapy, before other professionals appropriate of him

This way, from principles of this century, a working method exists in the treatment of the visual alterations that was developed by the oculist from New York Dr. William Bats starting from the empiric knowledge of the Indians of the American prairies that used these techniques to improve its visual sharpness.

The merit of the Dr. Bats consisted on to endow from scientific base to these techniques and to systematize its use. This way, it demonstrated that the eye has a very important muscular anatomical and functional component; it also demonstrated that the accommodation phenomenon or focus was not only responsibility of the ciliary’s musculature (that skirts the crystalline lens, varying its curvative radius or optic power as he contracts or it relaxes himself), but rather the musculature ocular peripheral was also responsible for the accommodation, besides carrying out the movements of the eye. Of equal it forms it demonstrated the indirect, but very important influence that you have the alterations of the cervical spinal static in the irrigation of the eye and annexed nervous roads, and how their appropriate work improved the vision.

All these kinesitherapy techniques were enriched with other, coming from the field of the actinoterapia, hydrotherapy, massage and re-education postural, and even of the reflexologies; all them, technical of physiotherapy that, worked appropriately, they allow to stop and to revert the process of visual loss, and that they offer us the possibility to give a totally new focus in the treatment of the functional illnesses, and, in many cases, organic, of the ocular apparatus.

In second place, I want to show you shortly the possibilities that he offers the physiotherapy in unsuspected fields: I will mention the physiotherapy in urology, gynaecology and obstetrics whose beneficial goods are today every time but well-known and employees, it doesn't only stop to treat the illness of the pelvic floor, but also for visceral affectations as the essential dismenorrea or the surgical adherences search. I also want to mention the therapeutic possibilities that exist in fields like the oncology, and not only at palliative level; some experiments made in France have allowed to give a focus bioelectric to the phenomenon of the wicked tumours (and not only biochemical that is the traditional medical focus); it arose this way, as proposal therapy, the one denominated "load electric" negative, in which the fellow was subjected to a negative electric field of low intensity during lingering periods of time, and this originated the recovery and the involution of the degenerative phenomena (and not only of the cancer, but of other illnesses, as the arteriosclerosis, or many rheumatic illnesses); special mention deserves in Spain the work of D. Pedro García Férriz in this field of the bioelectricity that gave to know in its book "The electricity of the human body

In another order of things, the derived reflective techniques of the oriental medicine, such as the acupuncture or the shiatsu, they allow to carry out treatments in multiple functional syndromes whose conventional treatment with the help of medicines originates, with too much frequency, dysfunctions iatrogenic. These techniques have demonstrated their utility in numerous illnesses for which the western medicine doesn't offer but poor results, such as chronic pains, distonías neurovegetativas, and even organic alterations, as the anaemia or the liver cirrhosis.

The physiotherapy in emergency medicine is one of its fundamental branches. It is easy to forget that the reanimation lung cardio is a technique of physical therapy; in fact, the external heart massage elaborated it a North American doctor starting from certain techniques of the kuatsu (Japanese martial art) that were used to revive the faint fighters. Other measures of physical therapy in emergency medicine are the rules postural (safe-deposit posture, elevation of inferior members, etc.), the compression in haemorrhage points, etc.

Another physiotherapy field to discover in all its therapeutic possibilities is the reflective techniques of western court, among which even figure the nice therapy that consists on the stimulation of points of the nasal mucosa to treat certain dysfunctions, of organs and apparatuses that anything has to do with the nasal graves or the breathing roads. And also figure the reflex therapy of the foot, form of punctual massage that is applied in the plant of the feet and with goods mainly the organism. A reflective technique to horse between the western medicine and the oriental is the auricle therapy, in the one which, by means of the mechanical stimulus (for small needles, imams, or even seeds) of certain points of the pavilion headphone, they are gotten therapeutic goods in the whole organic economy.

The visceral physiotherapy is an application in general as unknown as old. The treatment of visceral illnesses by means of the massage, the electrotherapy, the manual therapies and the kinesitherapy are relatively old, there being you abandoned their employment in faith healers' hands, masseurs and osteopaths of doubtful origin. This way, we find that affections like the constipation, the hiatus hernia, the congestion hepatic, and even certain types of nephritic syndromes and alterations prostates are susceptible of physical treatment or mechanic that can avoid the lingering medication, and even sometimes the surgery

In psychology and psychosomatic we find that certain techniques can be useful to approach this type of problems. This way, we have an entire range of relaxation exercises, taking of corporal conscience, I develop of the coordination and the dexterity, and even techniques of emotional unblocking and give corporal inhibition that you can be extremely useful to patient of this field.

In otorhinolaryngology they have been developed technical specific to treat alterations of the voice (aphonic, hoarseness, non infectious pharyngitis), as the technical Alexander, for not speaking of the alterations of the balance and the vertigo, with the techniques of vestibular re-education; applicable electrotherapy even exists in these cases by means of a special electrode.

Another field to mention is the aesthetic physiotherapy. The same as the aesthetic surgery makes it the surgeons, the physiotherapy in aesthetics should make it the physiotherapists. Unfortunately today in day the techniques in aesthetics and other professionals unaware to the physiotherapy use technical as the lymphatic drainage, the electro stimulation, the therapy with cold, the ultrasound or the kinesitherapy correctives. Without method neither precise knowledge of their application, with the damages that this can suppose for the patient-client and for the true professional of the physiotherapy.

Lastly, I don't want to stop to mention the application of the Physiotherapy in areas like the Ergonomics and the Bioengineering, where the knowledge of the biomechanics and of the dysfunctions of the posture and movement in the human being make of the physiotherapist an indispensable professional in this fields.

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