History of Physiotherapy

Physiotherapy concentrates on the psychological, physical, emotional and social well being of a person. Apart from curing various ailments related to joints and bones, the treatment aims to develop, restore and maintain maximum movement and functional ability. The treatment was formulated a couple of centuries ago. Today, it is undertaken to cure almost every ailment and injuries related to the bones, muscles and joints. A person undergoing physiotherapy is guaranteed to find relief over time. If we go back to the history and origin of Physiotherapy, we see that the treatment has been existence since the ancient period. Check out some more interesting information on the background of physiotherapy, through the lines below.

Interesting Information On Background & Origin Of Physiotherapy-

The ancient form of modern Physiotherapy, or physical therapy, dates back to 460 BC, when Hippocrates and Hector used massage and hydrotherapy (water therapy) to treat their patients. However, the actual Physiotherapy, which is practiced today, was formulated in 1894, when a group of four nurses in Great Britain established the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. Formal training programs were soon started by other countries, following the treatment formulated by the Chartered Society.

The School of Physiotherapy, established by the University of Otago in New Zealand in 1913, and Reed College in Portland (Oregon), founded in 1914, are the early examples of the institutions that taught Physiotherapy. From 1917 to 1918, the therapy was performed widely, to cure people injured in the World War I. The treatment was considered as ‘rehabilitation therapy’ during that time. The people who were employed to provide aid to the injured patients were named ‘reconstruction aides’. They were trained nurses’ who had the knowledge of physical education and massage therapy.

The year 1921 holds significance in the history of Physiotherapy. A research paper on the therapy was published in the PT Review, in March 1921, in the United States. It was during this time that Mary McMillan, the first Physiotherapy aide, established the American Women’s Physical Therapeutic Association. The organization’s name was later on changed to the American Physiotherapy Association (APTA). Due to her significant contribution in the reconstruction aide services, Mary McMillan came to be known as the ‘Mother of Physiotherapy’.

More and more research papers were published about physiotherapy in the following years. The treatment was further promoted by the Georgia Warm Springs Foundation. The foundation, in the year 1924, proposed the therapy as a treatment for polio. Massage, exercise and traction were the common practices carried on in physiotherapy in the 1940s. In the following decade, the British Commonwealth countries started the practice of undertaking manipulative therapy for spine and joint pains.

Until the early 1950s, Physiotherapy was performed only in hospitals. It was only in the late 1950s that physical therapists started treating the patients beyond hospitals. Public schools, universities, skilled nursing facilities, medical centers and rehabilitation centers were chosen by the physiotherapists to treat their patients. In 1974, many doctors in the United States specialized in Physiotherapy. A separate division – the Orthopedic Section – was formed in the APTA, for the physical therapists who had specialized in Orthopedics.

In India, it started during the second World War in 1945 in Bombay (now, Mumbai) to take care of the injured militants.

The manual therapy was popularized worldwide in 1974, when the International Federation of Orthopedic Manipulative Therapy was established. Further development in the field of physiotherapy was recorded in the 1980s, when the use of computers became prevalent in Medical Science. Various devices, such as electrical stimulators, were introduced for practicing physiotherapy, which increased the effectiveness of the treatment. In the present time, the therapy is practiced for curing a number of disorders and injuries, ranging from the most common back pain to musculoskeletal and sports injuries.