Analysis of Physiotherapy through Art History
We are well accustomed to photographs of World War I physiotherapy wards. Busy rooms, filled with rehabilitating soldiers offer a glimpse into a past world and the beginnings of a new profession. In contrast, a painting of the very same scene offers far greater insight, as we get to see what …
Obituary: Freddy Kaltenborn (1923-2019)
A giant has died, the likes of which we will see no more. He was the right man at the right time. Physical Therapy had not yet become a profession when in the 1950’s Freddy Kaltenborn then of Norway and later of Germany, began his interest in mastering joint manipulation. …
Plaster of Paris
Immobilisation of injured limbs has been performed for thousands of years and starch-based casts were the standard treatment, with only minor changes, until the beginning of the 19th century. Many centuries before it was introduced as a cast material, Plaster of Paris (PoP)* was well known as a building material. Egyptians …
Origins of the Bad Ragaz Ring Method
The waters of Bad (Bath) Ragaz, Switzerland enjoy a long history of healing, which began in 1240 when hunters from the local monastery discovered an extraordinary warm thermal spring in the Tamina Gorge, close to the nearby Mountain town of Pfäfers. Bathing activities started soon afterwards by drilling bathtubs into …
A Heart Stopping Game
Physios are like goal keepers and umpires: you don’t notice the good ones. A shell shocked and broken England cricket team was touring New Zealand in February 1975 for a two match test series. Having just faced the fearsome pace attack of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson in Australia and …
The Man in the Middle of Modern American Physical Therapy
I think one of the best things PTs can do when they come out of school [is to] go in a hospital. Work inpatient/outpatient. Learn the medical side of things. Learn things about illness, learn things about other disciplines… Mike Rogers has been a practicing physical therapist specializing in orthopedic …
History of the Wheelchair
The 1st of March is International Wheelchair Day so we are getting ready for the celebrations by having a look back at the history of the wheelchair. While both chairs and wheels have been around of thousands of years, the Ancient Greeks and the Chinese were the first to combine …
Armistice 100 year Anniversary
On the eve of the 100th year anniversary of the Armistice following the First World War, it is timely to reflect on how this tragedy provided the opportunity for a fledgling physiotherapy profession to establish its place in modern healthcare. The war produced injured men on an unprecedented scale …
French WWI Physiotherapy Images
In 1916, the Photographic Division of the Army in the French Ministry of War published collections of photographs documenting aspects of French involvement in World War I. The collections were grouped by theme and published in 20 separate instalments (fascicles), which in turn were published in two larger volumes. The …
The Primary Contact Physiotherapist
In 1976 the Australian Journal of Physiotherapy published an article by Prue Galley titled ‘Patient referral and the physiotherapist’. This article was a synthesis of the debates and arguments about whether Australian physiotherapists were ready to act as primary contact professionals. Galley asked: Have we as physiotherapists, the knowledge, the …