Building a Stronger Nation

Our growing softness, our increasing lack of physical fitness, is a menace to our security. —John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917–1963), 35th US President

Since President Kennedy challenged an expanding nation to improve its health through exercise in the early 1960s, most Americans have embraced the fundamental knowledge that physical activity will improve their overall well-being. In recent years, gym memberships are up, yoga and martial arts classes are full to capacity, and more folks are out running and walking than in any previous generation. However, accompanying the increase in activity is an increase in injuries.

Fortunately, most sports injuries can be treated effectively, and most athletes (both professionals and weekend warriors) who experience them can return to a satisfying level of activity if they follow a careful regimen of physical rehabilitation. (Even better, many incidents can be prevented if the proper precautions are taken.)

Although the nature and severity of sports injuries depend on several factors, about 95% of these occurrences involve soft-tissue—affecting muscles, ligaments, and tendons, caused by improper training, by using the wrong equipment, or by a general lack of physical fitness. Here is where the need for physical and occupational therapists is critical, and will remain so as a result of an aging population, as well as a general trend toward healthier living. (In fact, the US Department of Labor predicts that physical therapy jobs will grow between 21% and 35% through 2010, higher than the average growth rate expected for other occupations.)

Not only do therapists help clients relieve pain, recover from injuries, and regain the use of injury-affected areas, these rehab specialists and practitioners employ the latest technologies and solutions to repair their clients’ injured joints and tissues, and educate them in preventive or alternative methods of maintaining the body perfect that will efficiently strengthen their bodies. In turn, the individuals working with physical or occupational therapists will, hopefully, learn the best way to avoid injuries and refrain from overstressing their tissues, muscles, and tendons beyond repair. As a result, these therapists will enable their clients to enjoy a lifetime of athletic activities with renewed vigor and intensity.

In closing, Rehab Management will be exhibiting at the APTA annual conference and exposition, in Denver, from June 28 through June 30. Please visit us at booth #510 in the Exhibit Hall.

—Rogena Schuyler Silverman