Therapeutic Modalities - PT8313 - Spring 2025 Course Intro

Therapeutic Modalities PT8313 - Spring 2025 Erin Baumann, PT, DPT, OCS Emily Blum, PT, DPT, OCS Jason Dring, PT, DPT, GCS Content adap...

Therapeutic Modalities PT8313 - Spring 2025 Erin Baumann, PT, DPT, OCS Emily Blum, PT, DPT, OCS Jason Dring, PT, DPT, GCS Content adapted from Dr. Jason Dring Today’s Objectives 1. Welcome/Course Introduction 2. What are therapeutic modalities? 3. Tissue healing 4. Pain theory Welcome! Syllabus review Grading Written Exams (2x25% each) 50% Quizzes (4x2.5% each) 10% EBM Assignment 25% Skills Check (2x7.5%) 15% Practical Exam* P/F Welcome! Important dates to remember 3/03 - Exam 1 4/07 - EBM Assignment Due 4/28 - Exam 2 4/24 - Practical Exam 5/03 - Lab Practical Retakes (if needed) Open lab sessions: 11:30-12:15PM: 2/3, 3/24, 4/14 Course Objectives 1. Have a working knowledge of the inflammatory response and healing to soft tissue and bony injury 2. Have a working knowledge of pain perception and the body’s analgesic mechanisms 3. Understand the physical principles of thermal, electrical, acoustic, light, and mechanical modalities 4. Understand the physiological response to thermal, electrical, acoustic, light, and mechanical modalities 5. Safely and effectively apply therapeutic modalities for pain and limited motion, tissue healing and edema reduction, and muscle weakness/loss of motor performance, utilizing evidence-based practice Be Safe! Protect your pt/partner ALWAYS seek permission Protect yourself Protect others in the environment With modalities: Please do NOT use something unless supervised or in the lab Please do NOT try to fix anything you think is broken – just let us know! For Every Physical Agent We NEED to know: 1. Indications 2. Application parameters 3. Contraindications 4. Precautions What do your instructors REALLY want you to learn? 1. Have clear reasons for choosing a modality, know why you are using it while minimizing biases 2. Don’t just pick a modality because other people are doing it or it looks cool. 3. Have open and honest discussions about the world of modalities…we can even debate! 4. This is your safe space Types of Physical Agents Thermal Electromagnetic Acoustic Mechanical Why do we use them anyway? Modulation of pain Controlling inflammation Facilitate tissue healing Increase tissue extensibility Alteration of skeletal muscle performance Modalities are a tool in your tool-box What does your treatment plan look like? APTA Position “… without documentation that justifies the necessity of the Statement exclusive use of physical agents, the use of physical agents, in absence of other skilled therapeutic or educational intervention should not be considered physical therapy.” APTA. Position statement on the exclusive use of physical agents/modalities. HOD P06-95-29-18:1995. Reiterated in 2005.  Things to Consider When Choosing a Modality Indications, contraindications, precautions Apply appropriate clinical-decision making when choosing and using modalities Available evidence to support your decision Ways to measure the effectiveness (outcomes – did it work?) How to document What else should we consider? Evidence Based Medicine https://www.physio-pedia.com/Evidence_Based_Practice_ %28EBP%29 The BEST available evidence? You need a question! PICO Is the modality doing what we want it to? Need to test, re-test (measure outcomes) Are we making progress? Can be a requirement for 3rd party payers Should be for a specific impairment Pain  VAS/NPRS Tissue extensibility  Goniometry measurement Muscle performance  MMT Edema  Girth measurements What documentation better supports the use of the modality? Option A: Option B: Patient received noxious TENS for pain Patient received e-stim to the right knee control with the following parameters: for 15 minutes prior to manual techniques. pulse duration=