physiotherapy

después de las Guerras Mundiales o epidemias varias como la de la poliomielitis

cuyas facturas fueron la de una gran cantidad de enfermos, lesionados y discapacitados

poco a poco se va asentando en la clase médica mundial la idea de la creación de un corpus profesional que se consagre exclusivamente al estudio y práctica de esta disciplina, la Terapéutica Física.

Éste es el motivo de la creación oficial de los cuerpos de Fisioterapeutas en todo el mundo y la profesionalización y el despegue de la misma al acceder la Fisioterapia al rango de estudio de carácter Universitario. Algunas figuras importantes que han enriquecido la Fisioterapia en esta segunda mitad del siglo XX son Kalternbon, Maitland, McKenzie, Sohier, Cyriax, Souchard, Mezieres, Busquets, Butler, Postiaux, Giménez, Perfetti, o Vojta

En la actualidad

gracias a los avances de la tecnología y fiel a su historia y tradición, la Fisioterapia dispone a su alcance del uso de numerosos agentes físicos (masaje, agua, sonido, electricidad, movimiento, luz, calor, frío...) en las modalidades de electroterapia, ultrasonoterapia, hidroterapia, mecanoterapia, termoterapia, magnetoterapia o laserterapia, entre otras, pero sin descuidar o abandonar el desarrollo e impulso de nuevas concepciones y métodos de Terapia Manual (principal herramienta del fisioterapeuta) para la prevención, tratamiento, curación y recuperación de un gran número de patologías y lesiones.

The earliest documented record of the founding of a professional group for physical therapy, was the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, in England, in 1894

to provide physiotherapy services to the general public

in 1913, the University of Otago, New Zealand, established the School of Physiotherapy.

in 1921, Mary McMillan

founded the American Women's Physical Therapeutic Association, which was later changed to the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). She contributed a lot to the reconstruction aide services and came to be known as "The Mother of Physical Therapy

Till the 1940s, common physiotherapy practices included massage, exercise and traction. It was only in the early 1950s that manipulative therapy for the spine and joint pain was introduced in the British Commonwealth countries

In 1924, the Georgia Warm Springs Foundation was established to fight the polio epidemic

physiotherapy was practiced only in hospitals.

In 1956, physical therapists, APTA and medical researchers jointly worked and cooperated on the Salk vaccine (first polio vaccine developed by Dr.Jonas Salk) trials, which led to the development of a polio vaccine

In 1974, clinical specializations in physical therapy was made possible, with the foundation of Orthopedic Section by APTA.

With the development of computer and technology in the 1980s, more advancement was observed in the field of physiotherapy techniques. For example, electrical stimulators and iontophoresis devices were introduced for practicing physiotherapy.