World Physiotherapy Day. Teresa Rodríguez: “My goal is to involve the patient in their healing”

Teresa Rodríguez personifies what we all understand as “ant work.” Little by little and based on effort and determination, this woman from Córdoba obtained her degree in physiotherapy and her master's degree in manual therapies. He landed at That is to say, to his youth he adds 15 years of experience at the Mutua, and a lot to tell.

That is why we have chatted with her, to learn a little more about her daily life, the characteristics of her profession and the development of her work in a Fraternidad-Muprespa center. At Mutua, physiotherapy is one of the professions most valued by the patients treated, they score it with a 9.1 out of 10. We took advantage of World Physiotherapy Day, September 8, to get to know Teresa a little more, and we started by talking about the award she won in 2021, at the Setla Congress, Spanish Society of Occupational Traumatology.

C___HTML TAG14______you followed along with three colleagues from the Mutua, the award for the best physiotherapy and occupational therapy poster with the clinical case “Physiotherapy treatment after partial section of the external jugular vein”. What did the award-winning work consist of?

It was a very interesting case about a “miracle patient” that I rehabilitated firsthand. The patient partially severed his jugular vein in a traffic accident when his tractor fell into a ravine; He took off his shirt himself, pressed his wound, which was more than 20 centimeters, on his neck, managed to perform hemostasis, which is what we call the mechanisms to stop hemorrhagic processes, and call by phone to ask for help. The patient arrives at a hospital where he is stabilized, but the wound is not sutured. He is transferred to a hospital with more resources and has another traffic accident in the ambulance.

There was a quite peculiar poster, with a high clinical interest, and we were lucky that it won an award.

___What do you consider to be the role of the patient in his own recovery?

I consider that the patient's collaboration and desire to recover their health is essential, which directly influences in a proportional manner the patient's improvement, even avoiding sequelae and disabilities.

It is also worth highlighting the personal psychological and economic situation that the patient goes through during the injury, as well as the environment that surrounds them, which can greatly influence the patients and their evolution.

This year, World Physiotherapy Day focuses on low back pain, a pathology that will suffer el 80% of the Spanish population during their lifetime and it can end up being chronic for between 5 and 20% of patients who suffer from it.Additionally, ___ has become ___HTMLTAG118_ __themain cause of absenteeism from work,second reason that takes us to the doctor, behind the flu, and affects between 70 and 85% of the population activates, significantly impacting quality of life and productivity. What are the best ways to prevent this ailment?

___As a physiotherapist and sufferer of this pathology, I have proven that taking care of postural hygiene, maintaining an adequate weight and practicing sports adapted to it ailment is necessary to prevent, not only this, but any other pathology that is chronic in nature and to maintain physical and mental well-being.

___We find patients with imaging tests with severe spinal pathology who, due to training and other care, do not have painful symptoms, as well as patients with mild ailments that cannot get out of bed because they have lost their muscles and have acquired joint stiffness. We have the obligation to educate about the movement.

___What can workers in general do to avoid ending up on the stretcher? physio?

Take care of our diet, stop fad diets, avoid processed foods and return to the diet of our grandparents and the Mediterranean diet. We also have to include three or four sports activities a week, which do not include “I just move a lot at home (or at work).

Currently I observe a lot in our patients the importance and need for good mental hygiene as well as physical. Take care of our mind, stop to continue moving forward, meditate, free ourselves from stress and the frenetic pace of life that we sometimes lead... As well as visit specialists in this field if there is something to polish or assimilate.

___What is Fraternidad-Muprespa's philosophy or approach to physical therapy work?What type of rehabilitation does the Mutua offer?

___Every day a less “serial” and more personalized rehabilitation is consolidated for each user, dedicating it to the patient more time and “more hands”. I think it is important not to fill the gyms excessively, but rather that when the patient goes to rehabilitation they value our dedication, being supervised at all times and they have to collaborate and actively get involved in their individualized session.

On the other hand, Fraternidad-Muprespa is working to provide us with the necessary means for the most optimal addressing pathologies, betting on cutting-edge techniques and machinery in the sector and a comprehensive reform of the rehabilitation rooms.

___What is your day to day life like at work?, What importance do you give to the relationship? doctor-physio-patient?

___The workday is often rewarding, helping patients achieve their recovery goals and sharing their progress until discharge. On the other hand, we also share your frustration when you acquire the idea of ​​total healing, being as before the accident, and given your injuries, this is not possible.

___For me it is essential to be a team and maintain permanent and fluid communication with the doctor and my colleagues. Together we can have a more global vision of the patient that optimizes their recovery and shortens the time of temporary disability.

___What is the profile of the patients who come to the Lucena center?

___The profile is very varied, I suppose like in other centers. There are very cooperative patients with prospects for a speedy recovery, this being their first goal, and others find it a little difficult. more.

Regardless of this, my goal is to always focus the treatment for the benefit of the patient and involve them as much as possible in their process healing.And we have to do something right when patients from when I started in Puente Genil still visit me, thanking us at goodbyes, giving us chocolates and oil or bringing us churros for breakfast.

___What are in your opinion the biggest challenges or problems facing the profession of physiotherapy?

We have several open fronts, highlighting the work intrusion that surrounds us and that we have all seen on our beaches, starting with the need to regularize and standardize the specialties in physiotherapy, and also the saturation of rehabilitation services in many cases.