FlexCEUs, Author at FlexTherapistCEUs

Leading AIDS experts issue new HIV guidelines

News Medical

Leading AIDS experts at Johns Hopkins and other institutions around the world have issued new guidelines to promote entry into and retention in HIV care, as well as adherence to HIV treatment, drawn from the results of 325 studies conducted with tens of thousands of people infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

The guidelines are believed to be the first ever to focus exclusively on how best to get those newly diagnosed with HIV into treatment plans and to help them adhere to lifelong drug and check-up regimens.

Some 50,000 Americans each year are diagnosed with the potentially deadly, but now-treatable infection, and more than a million Americans already are known to be HIV positive.

Full story of new hiv guidelines at News Medical

New tools tackle chronic pain

Health, Therapist News by FlexCEUs

By Jeannie Kever

Judy Franklin tried surgery, physical therapy, nerve-blocking injections and a variety of medications to deal with chronic back pain over the past 30 years.

Nothing worked for long.

Late last month doctors implanted a spinal cord stimulator in the Pasadena resident’s lower back. The device sends a low-voltage dose of electricity to the spinal nerves to stop pain signals from reaching the brain.

"I’m not going to say it’s a cure-all," the 70-year-old said last week. "But it’s working fairly well."

New technologies and a better understanding of the biology of pain are changing the way doctors treat chronic pain from car accidents, surgeries, nerve damage, arthritis and dozens of other causes.

Full story of chronic pain tools at The Houston Chronicle

Arthroscopic procedure defeats hip pain

Health, Therapist News by FlexCEUs

By Estela Villanueva

Dave Moench didn’t have arthritis, but standing for long periods as well as waking up in the morning had become painful. Thinking the pain was a pulled groin from playing basketball, he saw his physician, who referred him to physical therapy for a pulled hip muscle. When the pain continued, he sought help at Iowa Ortho.

There, orthopedic surgeon Dr. Steven Aviles immediately diagnosed hip impingement, which had resulted in a torn labrum, or the soft tissue lining the pelvis. An MRI confirmed that Moench’s hip could be saved through hip arthroscopy. If he waited, Aviles told him he’d need a hip replacement in 10 years.

“That’s what prompted me to trust him. Every step I was taking was further aggravating it,” said Moench, 34.

Through the hip scope procedure, Aviles was able to shave the bone down and repair the soft tissue to correct the problem and eliminate the pain.

Full story of hip pain procedure at Des Moines Register

Ampio: On The Trail Of An Osteoarthritis Winner

Health, Therapist News by FlexCEUs

By Brian Ganch

Osteoarthritis is a debilitating disorder affecting millions of Americans, and as the most common type of arthritis, it has been affecting a large amount of people ever since our life expectancy out lasted the life expectancy of the cartilage in our joints. The majority of adults will experience symptoms by the age of 70, as this arthritis is caused by normal wear and tear on the joints, breaking down the cartilage between the bones which leads to inflammation of the joints.

According to the National Institute of Health, symptoms can include severe pain, difficulty moving, and stiffness and grinding of the joints, which usually begin appearing in people who are reaching middle age. Aging is not the only cause of osteoarthritis but does seem to be the most common. High impact sports, fractures or joint injuries, being overweight, and other additional causes can lead to osteoarthritis.

Although this disorder has a significant effect on most middle age and older adults, there is still no direct cure for it, but rather, symptom treatments which only last for the short term. These treatments include pain killers, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin and ibuprofen, corticosteroid injections, creams, and artificial joint fluid.

Full story of osteoarthritis at Seeking Alpha

If nurses seem anything less than compassionate towards the elderly, it’s because they’re overworked and bogged down by paperwork

Geriatric Patients, Health by FlexCEUs

By Dominique Jackson

“Were you a miner, then, me duck?” The nurse, looked up from the clipboard in her hand and fairly bellowed at Dad, “Mr Jackson, is it? You don’t mind if I call you Fred, do you now, love?”

“I don’t mind if you call me Fred but there is no need to shout at me, now is there, duck?” My father replied with equanimity and with his usual beaming smile.

She was one of the nicer nurses we encountered during the three years my father spent yo-yoing in and out of the various and very varied hospitals of the Mid Yorkshire NHS Trust, before he finally died at the end of 2008.

Yet to be fair, the overwhelming majority of the staff we had dealings with throughout that fraught and stressful period were, indeed, doing their best, often under significant pressure, frequently apparently hide-bound by paperwork and, in some cases, working in frankly antiquated and far from ideally hygienic conditions.

Full story of the nursing relationship with the elderly at Daily Mail

Knowing Your Body

Health, Therapist News by FlexCEUs

Jennifer Hamady

About six months ago, I did something to my shoulder. Assuming it was a muscle, I treated it as I do most "physical things" — with yoga, bodywork and stretching.

While it hasn’t gotten worse, it certainly hasn’t gotten better. Thankfully, a new massage therapist (the previous three were unable to fix it) enlightened me: "Muscles don’t stay static like this for six months. Something else is going on. Go see a specialist."

I did, and started physical therapy last week. And I learned something very important: that I haven’t been in touch with my body. Or at least, not all of it.

Being a singer and a voice coach have given me the opportunity of being intimately aware of my body in ways that many people aren’t. The breath, the chest, the throat, the back… I’ve spent endless amounts of time in the worlds of my own and others’ voices, including all of the related physiology.

Full story of body health at Huffington Post

New Therapeutic Surface for Pressure Ulcer Treatment Provides Patient Comfort and Significant Cost Savings for Facilities

Health by FlexCEUs

SBWire

Proper product utilization is crucial to lessening pressure ulcers. In the hospital and long-term care setting, it is important for medical professionals to address what is not only clinically efficacious but also reasonably priced. According to McKnight’s Long Term Care News, more than 2.5 million people develop pressure ulcers annually and approximately 60,000 die from complications due to them.

“Proper therapeutic surfaces must be implemented early on when a patient is immobile,” said Greg Grambor, president of Vascular PRN. “The latest products offer comfort, odor control, and can give the facility substantial cost savings.”

Vascular PRN recently added in the Skin IQ™ mattress coverlet – a totally new class of therapeutic surface– that gives similar results as a Low Air Loss bed but for a small percentage of the cost. For example, the Skin IQ has an in use cost of about $4.15 a day whereas a LAL bed averages about $30 a day to rent. Facilities that own LAL beds rather than rent them achieve savings on a similar scale when they replace the LAL beds with Skin IQ as those beds reach the end of their useful life.

Full story of pressure ulcer treatment at SBWire

Medical advances lessen joint injuries among active seniors

Geriatric Patients, Health by FlexCEUs

By Leighton Ginn

Dr. Raj K. Sinha says the advancements in joint-replacement surgeries have come so far in the past decade that the results are exciting.

For active seniors, such as the ones who regularly play United States Tennis Association national events, getting joint replacements, particularly hips and knees, have been a Godsend.

Richard Doss, a highly accomplished tennis player who competes in the 80s age group, has replaced both knees and says they are the “best part of my body.”

“Everything else is wearing out rapidly, but the knees are like new,” Doss said. “That’s the advantage of stainless steel and titanium.”

Doss had his knees replaced six years ago, and he’s been coming along well. Last year, Doss won four national titles and reached the finals in three others.

Full story of joint injuries at My Desert

FLEX CEUs: New Course For February

New CEU's, Therapist News by FlexCEUs

Achilles Tendinitis

$36.00 [4.00 CE Hours]
This course presents clinical practice guidelines for Achilles pain, stiffness and muscle power deficits, developed by the Orthopaedic Section of the American Physical Therapy Association. The guidelines address the anatomical and functional impairments clinicians should assess when a patient presents with Achilles pain, as well as the interventions supported by current best evidence to address the condition. This article introduces ICD-10 codes used to report medical diagnoses and inpatient procedures, which will replace ICD 9 codes starting October 1, 2013.

Knee Pain – Ligamentous Injuries

$54.00 [6.00 CE Hours]
This course presents clinical practice guidelines for knee Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) and other ligament strains, developed by the Orthopaedic Section of the American Physical Therapy Association. These guidelines address the anatomical and functional impairments clinicians should assess when a patient presents with knee instability and movement coordination impairments, as well as the interventions supported by current best evidence to address the condition. This article introduces ICD-10 codes used to report medical diagnoses and inpatient procedures, which will replace ICD 9 codes starting October 1, 2013.

Full information on new courses at FLEX CEUs

Meet the Elliptigo: Part Bike, Part Elliptical Machine

Health, Therapist News by FlexCEUs

By Becky Worley

The simplest way to stay fit is to just go for a run right? It doesn’t cost anything, you can do it almost anywhere and it’s a good workout. The U.S. Track and Field Organization estimates there are 50 million adult runners in the United States alone.

But for the aging runner who’s laced up the sneakers all their lives, now the hip pain or knee pain is telling them running is no longer an option.

Many have tried biking, but to get a similar workout to a run, you have to bike for two to three times as long. And being hunched over or looking down for a few hours can be a pain … and that doesn’t even take into consideration the pain in the posterior that bikes can evoke.

The solution for many has been trips to the gym for the elliptical machine: a gliding no-impact exercise machine that prolongs running, but it’s indoors and stationary, AKA boring.

Full story on Elliptigo at ABC News

Author: FlexCEUs