Physical Therapy Literature Review

Literature Review Physical therapy is the practice of healing various injuries with exercises instead of drugs. People have to attend physical therapy for various reasons, such as after facing a stroke, after a surgery, or if someone is experiencing pain anywhere in their body. From the International Association for the Study of Pain, pain can be defined as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience, unique to every individual, associated with actual or potential tissue damage” (Keefe, 2017). Many reports have shown that over 100 million Americans suffer from persistent pain, (Keefe, 2017). These people who are experiencing pain must be referred to a physical therapist’s office.

Treatment Methods

As people attend physical therapy

If a treatment is working correctly, then the quality of life of a patient should increase (Ratchford et al., 122). The study conducted by Manigandan et al (2014) describes how patients who underwent electrical stimulation on their shoulder reported a sense of well-being after the muscle contraction and movement of the arm. One scientific test used to diagnose quality of life is the SF-36 test. After undergoing functional electrical stimulation, Ratchford et al (2010) conducted the SF-36 test on patients. The physical health score improved by 20%, the mental health sub score improved by 12%, and the overall SF-36 score improved by 13%” (Ratchford et al., 124). Therefore, because of functional electrical stimulation and its impacts on the patient’s success, the quality-of-life for patients improved in both the physical and mental health aspects. The study conducted by Venugopalan et al (2015) also displays that there is an improved quality of life after using various functional electrical stimulation machines. After the ultrasound therapy conducted by Yavuz et al (2014), patients had an increased quality of life, decreased pain and increased ability to conduct daily activities. Patients treated with ultrasound therapy had "less shoulder pain, lower disability scores, and a lower sleep interference score after the treatment than before," (Yavuz, F., Duman, I.,

Shoulder subluxation is the partial dislocation of the glenohumeral joint in the shoulder (Kumar et al., 1623). The glenohumeral joint, also known as the shoulder joint, is the ball and socket joint that connects the humerus bone with the scapula (Peterson, 634). Since the shoulder joint gives up stability for mobility, shoulder subluxation can occur from trauma, surgery or chronic instability (Peterson, 634). The persistent problem of shoulder subluxation leads to physicals therapists choosing a specific treatment for this issue. Ultrasound therapy has been shown to be effective in treating patients with subluxation in their shoulder. There is a decrease in pain and an increase in movement after patients have experienced the ultrasound therapy (Yavuz et al., 319). The study conducted by Kumar et al (2014), shows that the ultrasound therapy method has potential to prevent and manage glenohumeral subluxation in patients after a stroke as shoulder subluxation occurred less frequently after an ultrasound was conducted. Functional electrical stimulation has also been applied to patients with shoulder pain. FES has been applied to the supraspinatus and posterior deltoid muscles as these muscles affect shoulder subluxation (Somyung et al., 70). Shoulder subluxation is a very painful and serious injury as these treatments try to decrease patient pain and increase mobility of the