About ME & Total Rehabilitation!

My Profession:

I am a Physiatrist, a physician who has specialized in Rehabilitation Medicine (also known as Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation in many parts of the World, including India). I have around 20 years exposure in this medical specialty. Rehabilitation Medicine is an independent discipline of Medical Sciences. The patient spectrum catered to, in this field includes all the conditions that are associated with either or combination of PAIN, PARALYSIS and/or DEFORMITY. The age range is practically from womb to tomb. Here, in addition to medical diagnosis we also make a Rehabilitation Diagnosis that includes mainly, but not limited to, functional limitations posed/left by the disease condition. In addition, an assessment of left over and potential abilities is also done to optimize the same for overcoming functional limitations (read disabilities) to maximum possible extent.

Physiatry is a team game where Physiatrist leads a team, mainly comprising of Occupational Therapists, Orthotists-Prosthetists and Physical therapists. In addition to being responsible for above diagnoses, the Physiatrist also sets realistic long-term functional goals aligned to person’s aspirations. He plans and strategizes attainment of these goals by defining intervening milestones. The execution of the plan is a dynamic process, where every team member contributes his/her defined function and periodically communicates amongst themselves, with the Physiatrist, (team leader) and most importantly, the person being treated. These communications help to maintain cohesiveness of the team effort and provide opportunities for course-correction as we proceed to execute the physical rehabilitation plan.

The final aim and objective of comprehensive rehabilitation is to re-integrate the physically challenged person, as a productive member, back into the society. To this end the Physiatrist also ropes in Clinical Psychologist, Social Worker, Vocational Counselor & Trainer, Remedial Gymnast, etc. Physicians from other medical disciplines may also be required on case-to-case basis.

Some conditions that are treated by Physiatrists include, Aches & Pains (Backache, Neck Pain, joint pains, etc), Different types of Arthritis, Head Injuries, Stroke, Paraplegia (due to any cause), Movement Disorders, Amputations, Spastic Children (Cerebral Palsy), Congenital Deformities (like Club Foot), Post Heart Attack/Surgery/Angioplasty cases, terminally ill persons, Sports Injuries, etc.

Some conditions that are NOT handled by Physiatrists include, recent onset organic pains (like Acute Pain in abdomen), Headaches (where neck involvement is ruled out), Acute Heart Attack, Drug Addiction, etc. Nevertheless, even in such cases it is always better for the treating physicians to involve Physiatrist (not just physiotherapist) from the very beginning to minimize many of the future complications.

How I got interested in LifeStyle Rehabilitation:

Over the years I found that it was easier and economical to prevent disabling conditions rather than treating and rehabilitating them. Most of the conditions were a result of unhealthy lifestyle practices, faulty postural habits, obesity leading to early osteoarthritis, cardiac ailments, diabetes (further leading to neuropathies, amputations, etc.) and sedentary practices, etc. Since unhealthy lifestyle was already a part of one’s personality by the time he/she came for my medical attention, I started to target lifestyle factors in addition to specific treatment for the specific conditions. Later I started enrolling people with unhealthy lifestyle practices before appearance of physical symptoms and impairments to impart Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) for preventive purposes. This also helped me in maintenance of optimum functional state in persons already having impairments and who got stabilized following institution of rehabilitative measures. That is how I developed special interest in LifeStyle Rehabilitation.

My Hobby:

Since childhood and early teenage I used to be fascinated by my father (who is also a physician) managing his tax returns and investments himself, without taking help of CAs or other taxation advisers. With time, I also developed interest for financial numbers and started reading about different aspects of taxation, investments, etc. At that time I also intended to be like my father, managing my own financial affairs. But, over the years I found that Dad had missed on many potentially decent investment opportunities in concentrating on tax planning only and going for just risk-free investments, even when he was young.

That induced me to go deeper into personal financial planning concepts. Later, as a Physiatrist, I found a great analogy in rehabilitation and financial planning. Physiatry deals with prevention and treatment of physical disability while Financial Planner deals with prevention and treatment of financial disability. In both the processes one needs strategizing, periodic reviews, course-correction to optimize returns (functional or monetary).

So now, I practice conventional Rehabilitation, LifeStyle Rehabilitation and Personal Financial Rehabilitation. That’s my TOTAL REHABILITATION and me!

In coming days I shall be dealing with different aspects of Total Rehabilitation as guidance for adopting healthy lifestyle practices to avoid physical and financial disabilities.

Disclaimer:

Whatever I am going to share will be of general guidance nature to give an overview of basic concepts of Total Rehabilitation. It is aimed at sensitizing the reader to healthy lifestyle habits or basic concepts of financial planning. It should NEVER be treated as substitute for professional advice, which can only be given by your physician/investment advisor after personally assessing your specific condition/financial status.