Anatripsis

Anatripsis involves use of friction for treating a medical condition; without applying any medicine. Anatripsis indicates massage therapy and has its roots in ancient Greek medicine where patients were rubbed with stroked to get relief from ailments.

Physiotherapy

Physical therapy also known as physiotherapy, includes evaluating, diagnosing and treating numerous disorders and disabilities through the physical way. This branch of medicine helps people restore, retain and maximize their strength, function, movement and overall well-being.

People who practice this branch of therapy are called physiotherapists. Diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of patients are their main areas of work. They primarily work with physical disorders and disabilities. Physiotherapy helps a person

• Become flexible
  
• Improve mobility
  
• Reduce pain
  
• Stay active
  
• Prevent injury
  
• Recover from injury

Physiotherapy helps the human body to remain functional. Physiotherapy is recommended when the human body suffers some physiological trauma. During physiotherapy the patient is examined physically and if required imaging studies are carried out so as to decide the right type of therapy. It is recommended in the following conditions:

• Post injury rehabilitation like fracture recovery, post surgical recovery.
  
• Spine problems like spina bifida, sciatica.
  
• Neck problems
  
• Muscular problems
  
• Joint disorders like osteoarthritis
  
• Neurological disorders like stroke, multiple sclerosis
  
• Backaches
  
• Headaches
  
• Urinary problems like urinary incontinence
  
• Lung and heart disease like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Heat therapy: Heat therapy improves the blood flow to the injured area thus speeding up healing. Heat therapy also loosens the tight tissues thereby relieving pain. Various heat treatments include ultrasound, hot pack, infrared heat, Paraffin wax bath, Diathermy

Cryotherapy: Cold therapy helps in minimizing the swelling and pain. It is very useful in acute injuries. Various treatments include ice massage and ice pack application

Strengthening exercises with Physical Therapy: Certain conditions may have caused the muscles to weaken, there are certain types of exercises aimed at strengthening the muscles thereby helping rehabilitation and improving performance.

Range Of Motion exercises: ROM exercises help in improving and maintaining the flexibility of joints. They also help in reducing the stiffness of the joints. Various exercises include:

Passive Range of Motion exercises: (PROM)

Active Range of Motion exercises: (AROM)

Active Assistive Range of Motion exercises: (AAROM)

Soft tissue mobilization/Therapeutic massage:This relaxes the tight muscles thus relieving pain and reducing swelling

Electrical stimulation: This method is used to prevent muscle atrophy in people with paralysis. Electrodes are placed on the surface of the skin thus causing the muscle to shorten.

TENS: Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation is a type of never stimulation wherein a low degree electrical current is passed through the surface of the skin to the affected part. This process helps in relieving pain momentarily.

Other types of physical therapy treatment include taping, bandaging, joint mobilization, ergonomic training, postural training, balance exercise, traction, fitting of orthosis, etc. Physiotherapy has various specializations like geriatric, pediatric, orthopedic, neurological, sports, cardiovascular and pulmonary.

Levator Ani Syndrome

Levator ani syndrome also known as levator ani spasm, refers to pain and discomfort in the rectum caused by spasms in the levator muscles that surround the anus. Patients with Levator ani syndrome often complain of a pain associated with rectal pressure that gets worse on sitting or lying down. The pain is almost always dull and constant with a sensation of tightness and fullness in the rectal region. In few cases, the pain may not be constant, but recurrent at frequent intervals lasting up to 20 minutes. Prevalence of Levator ani syndrome is five times higher in women than men. Proctalgia fugax refers to the 'anal pain without known cause'. Here the episodes of pain are very brief and occur rather infrequently.

Diagnosis

When the patient develops rectal pain, firstly the doctor would want to rule out any disease related to organs surrounding the anal canal and pelvic floor. Sometimes an endoscopy is done to investigate the cause of the pain. Patient with Levator Ani Syndrome experiences severe tenderness on palpation of the pubo-rectalis muscle and this forms the basis for diagnosing the levator ani syndrome. In case of Levator ani syndrome, the patient also undergoes posterior traction of the puborectalis muscle during rectal examination.

There is constant rectal, vaginal or perineum pressure. Defection becomes difficult. The symptoms are often aggravated by emotional stress. Muscular tension, injury or surgery can also lead to this condition. Childbirth injury, pelvic infection, lumbar disc surgery or sexually related injuries can lead to levator ani syndrome.

Treatment of Levator Ani Syndrome

Levator ani syndrome is usually resolved through the following steps:

1. Sitting on a doughnut shaped pillow to reduce the pressure.

2. Anti inflammatory drugs and muscle relaxants.

3. Application of perianal lidocaine jelly ointments.

4. Apart from medication and special tools, levator ani syndrome is also treated with physical therapy which includes digital massage of levator muscle, pelvic floor strengthening exercises , pelvic floor relaxation techniques.

5. Hot sitz bath also helps in alleviating the pain and anal pressure.

6. Levator ani syndrome is also treated using Electrogalvanic stimulation (EGS) and Biofeedback training. However recent studies reveal that Biofeedback is far more effective than EGS in treating Levator Ani Syndrome.

Tags: #Anatripsis #Physiotherapy #Levator Ani Syndrome