Physical therapy

A general term for treatments that use various physical elements such as water, heat, light, electricity, and mechanical force. Mechanical therapy includes exercise therapy (therapeutic exercises, etc.), massage, traction therapy, acupuncture, chiropractic, and ultrasound therapy. Electrotherapy (electrical treatment) includes low-frequency therapy and high-frequency therapy, phototherapy includes infrared therapy and ultraviolet therapy, hydrotherapy includes therapeutic baths and compresses, and hot spring therapy, although it also includes chemical elements, is a type of physical therapy.

Climate therapy also includes climate change, and heat therapy often overlaps with radiofrequency therapy, phototherapy, hydrotherapy, etc. Radiation therapy is handled by the radiology department and is not included in physical therapy in the narrow sense.

In general, there are various types of biological reactions to physical therapy, and since there are individual differences, such as types that can tolerate hot baths but are sensitive to cooling, and vice versa, care must be taken with the type and amount of stimulation given. In other words, start with the minimum amount of stimulation that causes a biological reaction, and then decide the amount per session, the number of repetitions, and the intervals, taking into account individual differences. Usually, several physical therapies are used in combination, so it is important to avoid excessive stimulation.

Physical therapy is also called physiotherapy, and is abbreviated as physiotherapy and physiotherapy, respectively, but with the advancement of rehabilitation medicine, physiotherapy is now mainly used in the field of internal medicine, and physiotherapy is used in the field of rehabilitation and orthopedics. In this case, physiotherapy is a treatment system that mainly uses exercise therapy and supplements it with other physical therapies, and the Medical Care Act recognizes the name of the department of physical medicine. Physiotherapists and occupational therapists are among the specialists in this field.

Incidentally, physical therapy is the name of a medical department at the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Medicine, where a course of physical therapy is established within the Department of Internal Medicine, and the Department of Internal Medicine and Physical Therapy is an independent department separate from the First, Second, Third and Fourth Departments of Internal Medicine, which provides medical care as the Department of Physical Therapy.

[Kojima Hideo]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

水、熱、光、電気、機械的な力など種々の物理的作用要素を用いて行う治療法の総称。機械的療法には運動療法（治療体操など）をはじめ、マッサージ、牽引(けんいん)療法、鍼(はり)治療、カイロプラクティックなどのほか、超音波療法も要素的にはこれに含まれる。電気療法（電気治療）には低周波療法や高周波療法など、光線療法には赤外線療法や紫外線療法など、水治(すいじ)療法には治療浴や罨法(あんぽう)などがそれぞれ含まれ、温泉療法は化学的な作用要素も加わるが物理療法に含まれる。

　また、気候療法には転地療法も含まれ、温熱療法には高周波療法、光線療法、水治療法などと内容的に重複するものが多い。なお、放射線療法は放射線科で扱われ、狭義の物理療法には含まれない。

　一般に、物理療法に対する生体反応には種々の型がみられ、高温浴などには耐えられるが冷却に弱い型やその逆の型など、個人差が認められるので、与える刺激の種類や量には注意が必要である。すなわち、生体反応をおこす最低の刺激量から始め、1回量や反復回数および間隔などは個人差を考慮して決める。普通、いくつかの物理療法を組み合わせて行う場合が多いので、とくに刺激が過大にならないようにする。

　物理療法は理学療法ともよばれ、それぞれ物療、理療と略称されるが、リハビリテーション医学の進歩とともに、現在では主として物療は内科領域、理療はリハビリテーションや整形外科領域で用いられる。この場合の理学療法の内容は、運動療法を主体として補助的にその他の物理療法を用いる治療体系となっており、医療法では理学診療科という診療科名が認められている。その専門従事者として理学療法士および作業療法士がある。

　なお、物療内科というのは東京大学医学部にある診療科名で、内科学教室において物理療法学の講座が設けられ、内科学第一・第二・第三・第四とは別に内科物理療法学科が独立し、物療内科として診療にあたっている。

［小嶋碩夫］

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