Physical therapy in general

Physical medicine is a practical application of physical treatment procedures and methods to the living organism.

Beginnings
Types of physical therapy such as mechanotherapy (friction) and hydrotherapy are already found in animals, when the injured part of the body is licked or dipped in water. China is the cradle of physical therapy, hydrotherapy was used around 4700 BC. In the 3rd millennium BC, the oldest textbook was written here, where hydrotherapy and massage procedures are described. In Europe around 770 BC, hydrotherapy flourished, and in Greece an extensive hydrotherapy complex has been preserved from that time. It is known that even Hippocrates used various traction and hydrotherapy methods.

Middle Ages
During the Middle Ages, spas began to flourish in Europe, but their main purpose was primarily as a place of entertainment, not a medical one.

The modern age to the present
With the development of medicine, physical therapy was put on the back burner and more in the hands of lay healers. In psychiatric institutions, electric shocks were used, which, of course, did not have a therapeutic effect, it was more about calming the patient down or trying to "get him out of his psychosis". It was not until Vincenc Priessnitz, thanks to his successes, highlighted physical therapy (mainly hydrotherapy) and since then physical therapy gained a better name in the eyes of the professional medical public and began to develop. Today, many types of energy and their effects on the body are already known, new and specialized devices are being developed, thanks to which the treatment is much more effective.

Division of physical therapy according to the energy used
Physical therapy uses almost most known types of energy as a therapeutic agent.

Direct effects
Dthis group includes those effects that directly affect the tissue and its biochemical processes, mostly directly at the site of application, e.g. local hyperemia, reddening of the skin, etc.

Indirect effects
Here we would include those effects that act on a non-physiological basis. The effect is mediated by nerve or endocrine system.

Other effects
Here we would include effects that do not have a clearly known effect in advance, e.g. placebo, delay effect.

Contraindications of physical therapy
Each procedure has its special contraindications, which the rehabilitation doctor prescribing the procedure and the physiotherapist performing the procedure should know. However, a general set of contraindications is known, in these cases FT should not be applied at all (there are only a few individual deviations).

Indication
Each procedure has its indications, which the rehabilitation doctor prescribing the procedure and the physiotherapist performing the procedure should know. The indication spectrum is very broad, so it will be listed separately for individual procedures.