PHYSIOTHERAPY AND REHABILITATION TECHNIQUES
We have all the resources necessary for a fast and consistent recovery.
Here we give a brief summary of the techniques used in the services provided in our physiotherapy and rehabilitation clinic. We emphasise that we only describe the techniques separately and that they do NOT make any sense in isolation, without an approach based on the needs and context of the individual.
Once we have completed the assessment, we will draw up a joint plan, choosing the most effective tools and techniques that best suit you in order to achieve your goals. NO single technique will ever offer optimal and lasting results.
Education
We consider education to be one of our fundamental pillars, as it is one of the few techniques that will be used in 100% of our treatments. For us, education means communicating and empowering the patient, so that they know what awaits them in their recovery process, what alternative options they have at any given moment, what to do in the event of a relapse, how to manage the day-to-day burdens… in short, we teach them to be the best specialist for their injury.
Manual therapy
Is our flagship, specific manoeuvres for the treatment of pain and other symptoms of neuro-musculo-skeletal dysfunction, which are characterised by being applied manually. Their main objectives are: To recover movement when the joints present a restriction in movement. To alleviate pain related to articular, connective, visceral, muscular and neural tissue. Immediately improve the functionality of the individual through stimulation of the nervous system.
Massage therapy
Is undoubtedly the most used tool on a daily basis, often forgotten or underestimated, but always offering good results in the whole spectrum of pathology and patients.
Neurodynamics
Also called neural mobilisation or neuromeningeal mobilisation. It treats and evaluates alterations or disorders of the peripheral nervous system by means of passive or active mobilisation, depending on whether it is carried out by the physiotherapist or as a therapeutic exercise. By means of tensioning and sliding the nerves along their entire length, we induce a mobilisation of the peripheral nervous system, offering a good resource for freeing possible traps that cause symptoms and improving functionality. It is a technique with a wide field of action.
Musculoskeletal ultrasound
Dry needling
Involves the puncture of a muscle in the tense band located within the so-called myofascial trigger points. We prefer the nomenclature of painful hyperirritable focus as there is much controversy on the existence of the trigger point. The puncture is performed using a sterile needle (it can be performed under ultrasound guidance) with the aim of stimulating the muscle receptor, immediately reducing the patient’s pain and producing reflex muscle relaxation, causing changes in motor and autonomic function.
Percutaneous musculoskeletal electrolysis
Also known as PIE- Percutaneous Intratissue Electrolysis. Percutaneous musculoskeletal electrolysis is an invasive physiotherapy technique that consists of the ultrasound-guided application of a galvanic current through a puncture needle that produces an analgesic effect in the musculoskeletal soft tissue and a local inflammatory process that allows phagocytosis and repair of the affected tissue (Valera & Minaya, 2014). It is essential for safety and effectiveness that this technique is applied with ultrasound. These effects are beneficial in degenerative tendon processes (wrongly called tendinitis), muscle injuries that have not evolved well, nerve, capsule and periosteum.
Percutaneous ultrasound-guided percutaneous neuromodulation
Is defined as the electrical stimulation through a needle with ultrasound guidance of a peripheral nerve at some point along its pathway or of a muscle at a motor point with a therapeutic objective (Valera & Minaya, 2016). The electrical current applied will be low or medium frequency, seeking a sensory and/or motor response that helps to reduce pain and restore function. Our target tissue will be the nerve and all the alterations related to it.
Electrotherapy
Consists of the application of certain physical stimuli generated by an electric current, which manages to trigger a physiological response, which will provoke a therapeutic effect. Within electrotherapy, depending on the desired objective, we work with different types of application: Radiofrequency, Electro stimulation, TENS… all of them with three common effects on the tissue to be worked on, in our case the musculoskeletal system, relaxation of muscle tissue, anti-inflammatory effect and improvement of blood circulation.
Radiofrequency
Is an electrotherapy technique to which we dedicate a special section as it is at the forefront of sports and trauma physiotherapy. It uses heads that do not generate heat, in this case it is the body itself that generates heat, with all the physiological effects that this entails and all the benefits that the final result will provide, both in the recovery of sports injuries, trauma, pathology with acute pain and postoperative.
Kinesiotape
Those colourful strips that physiotherapists wear and that are so fashionable. But what is neuromuscular bandaging? It is a tape with a texture and elasticity similar to that of the skin of the human body, which adapts to the contour of the muscle and allows mobility in a natural way. Kinesiotaping provides stability and support to muscles and joints without restricting the range of movement, basing its action on somatosensory stimulation, relieving pain and facilitating lymphatic drainage, thanks to the microscopic lifting of the skin. This small lifting increases tissue drainage, tension in the area is reduced, the space is decompressed and pain is reduced. Although they are sold for private use, it is recommended that the kinesiotape is fitted by a physiotherapist.
Functional bandage or tape
Is a type of partial immobilisation, which is characterised by the fact that it allows a certain degree of functional mobility compared to total immobilisation. It is used for ligament, tendon and muscle pathologies. Functional taping has the advantage of avoiding the side effects of total immobilisation. This type of taping is very common among athletes of different sports and is used for both therapeutic and preventive purposes.
Therapeutic Exercise
Is the prescription of a physical exercise programme that involves the patient in the voluntary task of performing a muscle contraction and/or body movement with the aim of relieving symptoms, improving function or improving, maintaining or slowing health deterioration. This is one of our fundamental pillars when dealing with any patient.
MARES
Manual acommodation resistance exercises
Is an exercise system in which the trainer or physiotherapist applies the load with his hands by opposing the movement in the direction of the muscle fibres to be worked.
Infiltrations
Infiltrations consist of the administration of a substance for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes such as an anti-inflammatory, a local anaesthetic, hyaluronic acid, platelet growth factors, etc. by means of an injection applied directly to the affected area.
Hyaluronic acid
Treatment with hyaluronic acid is effective at any stage of osteoarthritis and its clinical presentation is osteoarthritis, especially in the knees. It is effective in patients who actively and regularly use the affected joint. Its therapeutic effect is due to viscosupplementation, a process by which the physiological and rheological state of the osteoarthritic joint tissues is restored. In our centre, we rely on Synvisc-One from Sanofi Laboratories.
Plasma rich in growth factors
PRGF® (Endoret®)
Is a medicine for human use based on obtaining a protein preparation from the patient’s own blood. These proteins have biological activity for the regeneration of damaged tissues. The application of autologous plasma rich in growth factors accelerates the process of healing and tissue regeneration, reducing inflammation and pain, the risk of infection or post-surgical complications. It has the following applications in the musculoskeletal system: musculoskeletal injuries, clinical presentation of osteoarthritis, osteoarthritis, regeneration of bone and other connective tissues.
Evacuations or aspirates
Evacuations or aspirates consist of the removal of excess fluid, either in a joint or in muscle tissue. This may be the case of synovitis or haemarthrosis in a joint, or a haematoma between the muscle planes due to a muscle rupture. The aim is to relieve excess pressure, alleviate pain and inflammatory manifestations, prevent or recover functional limitation, accelerate the favourable evolution of the process and reduce or eliminate the need for more aggressive treatments or side effects.
Anthropometry (ISAK)
Is a methodology developed by the International Society for the Advancement of Kinanthropometry, an organisation of professionals and researchers linked to sport, health, nutrition and anthropology. From some measurements (plicometry, body radius and perimeters) the values of fat, lean and muscle mass percentages as well as the type of somatotype are obtained. This type of assessment is a good long-term indicator to obtain a global and evolutionary vision of the patient’s situation.
