Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Deriving pleasure from combating patients’ pain

— File Photo

bringing relief: A physiotherapist helps a patient with knee exercises.

Chennai: A physiotherapist’s job is a gruelling test of patience. But the joy on patients’ faces when they are relieved of pain or regain their mobility is what keeps physiotherapists motivated.

These professionals often spend time with patients more than the doctors do. Personal interaction is key to progress in a patient’s recovery and physiotherapists may spend anywhere from a few weeks to several months working with a patient.

Physiotherapist G. Thenmozhi, who house-calls on several geriatric patients, said, “Within two weeks, some of patients began treating me as a family member. One patient even came to my sister’s wedding on a wheel-chair.”

She teaches her patients exercises for pain relief and uses traction to ease backache.

Ms. Thenmozhi wanted to become a doctor but joined the Bachelor of Physiotherapy programme when she did not score enough for a medical seat. She does not regret her choice. In chronic, progressive illnesses such as Parkinson’s disease, a physiotherapist can help to control the degeneration.

Senthil Kumar, who has a master’s degree in physiotherapy, has worked with several hemiplegia patients, who suffer from paralysis of one half of the body after a stroke.

Helping them regain mobility is a slow process and requires the right combination of discipline and encouragement, Mr. Kumar said.

Physiotherapy for children, who may be affected by muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy or ataxia, needs great sensitivity, Mr. Kumar said.

“You have to make friends with them, get down to their level. Only then will they want to do the exercises.”

Sheeba Neeru Priya, a physiotherapist who works with a fitness company, says that there are several opportunities in the profession as it plays a role in every speciality of medicine, including neurology.

Fitness and pre-emptive physiotherapy acquire significance in an age where people work long hours before a computer or face occupational hazards.

Physiotherapists often travel extensively as they make their house-calls on patients who are bed-ridden or with very little mobility.

They also need to be empathetic when patients, who are lonely and with little opportunity for outside interaction, want to simply talk to them.

Their work may not bring them earnings comparable with a doctor’s. But all these difficulties fade away when their patients thank them for pain relief.

“That’s the best compliment I can receive,” says Ms. Priya.

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