Centre for Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine

Physical and rehabilitative medicine (PRM) is a medical speciality dedicated to the restoration of physical and cognitive functions in patients with a disability or a deficit that is congenital (present from birth) or acquired as a result of illness, accident or surgery.

What is physical and rehabilitative medicine?

The specialist in physical and rehabilitative medicine has the task of guiding the patient through a rehabilitation programme aimed at improving his or her quality of life and reducing the after-effects of an accident or illness, both on a functional and physical level as well as on a psychological and social level. The aim is to maintain the patient's maximum autonomy according to their disability (or functional deficit) and to integrate them as well as possible into their environment.

When is it recommended to see a specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation?


Consultation with this specialist is recommended for people with a disability (as a result of orthopaedic conditions, various types of surgery and cancer) and for patients who have been forced into prolonged immobilisation. A specialist consultation is also necessary for painful symptoms of musculoskeletal dysfunction.

Centre for Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine

Consultation

The most common areas of consultation for orthopaedic and neurological conditions are:

  • Post-traumatic injuries, e.g. cervical spine distortion or trauma from a fracture or muscle tear.
  • Chronic diseases of the spine (low back pain, neck pain)
  • Inflammatory pathologies of the musculoskeletal system, e.g. tendinopathies or enthesopathies, i.e. painful inflammations of tendons or tendon-capsule ligament attachments to bone (enthesias)
  • Pathologies of a progressive nature of the musculoskeletal system, e.g. osteoarthritis
  • Disorders of the balance control system (vertigo, coordination disorders)
  • Neurological damage to the central nervous system: e.g. after a stroke, head injuries
  • Neurological damage to the peripheral nervous system, such as sciatica, carpal tunnel syndrome or elbow syndrome

Treatment

The specialist assesses the patient's deficit or disability in terms of the underlying pathology and degree of disability. Once a rehabilitation diagnosis has been made, he puts together an individual rehabilitation plan for each patient, including programmes to relieve pain, regain autonomy and articulation, mobility and coordination, and restore cognitive abilities. For this purpose, they may include methods such as remedial gymnastics, massage, heat or cold treatment, etc., so that the patient regains his independence or at least reduces the degree of his deficit.

+41 61 295 89 89
info@schmerzklinik.ch

Rehabilitation Specialty

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