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Sustainable healthcare is a system that helps maintain an individual’s health without putting future generations at risk. It focuses on improving health outcomes and benefitting patients through reduced emission of carbon footprint and restricted use of natural resources. Physiotherapy is one of the preferable treatment options in a sustainable healthcare system. But, how does it achieve sustainable development goals and take care of patients’ well-being at the same time? Let’s find out.
A sustainable healthcare system benefits the present generations keeping the health needs of future generations in mind as well. It should lead to positive health outcomes without contributing to the climate crisis. And physical therapy meets all these criteria. Let’s see how.
Hospitals are the greatest emitters of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. From the use of electricity to performing surgical procedures, hospitals emit toxic gases through a variety of sources.
Physiotherapy, on the other hand, emits significantly fewer greenhouse gases or leaves behind a negligible carbon footprint. For instance, it diagnoses and treats patients through communication, physical tests, movement assessments and palpation instead of relying on emergy-consuming diagnostic equipment.
It uses the science of movement to treat a wide variety of conditions that cause chronic pain and discomfort. You can improve your gait, balance and muscle strength through therapeutic exercises and stretches without opting for orthopedic services at hospitals.
All in all, physical therapy can reduce the need for patients to be admitted to hospitals or stay there for long periods of time. It has the potential to promote your health and well-being without harming the environment.
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs are quite common medicines that help reduce pain and high body temperature. These medications bring temporary relief but are quite harmful to the environment, especially aquatic life. Once you excrete the meds, they tend to arrive in sewage plants and merge into water bodies, thereby affecting fishes, crustaceans and molluscs.
Physiotherapy, on the contrary, is a highly effective alternative to conventional pain management techniques. It adopts a holistic approach to treating a wide variety of musculoskeletal conditions like Tennis Elbow, Golfer’s Elbow, chronic pain, Tendonitis, etc. Physical therapists use movement exercises and other forms of manual treatments to provide you with long-term relief. The most common treatments include massage therapy, IMS, kinesiology taping, etc.
Surgical procedures involve the use of energy-consuming equipment. It leaves behind the carbon footprint of single-use sterile syringes and the transportation of surgical staff during the procedure.
Physical therapy prevents surgeries. It can help you recover from chronic pain through specific exercises and physical movements. The treatments work on the core of your problem, thereby providing you with long-term relief. The physiotherapists take social, health, and psychological factors in mind while preparing an appropriate treatment plan for you.
However, in some cases, surgery might be the only treatment option for you. In that case, physical therapy can help you prepare for the surgery and recover from the same quickly. Even doctors often recommend physiotherapy after surgery for complete, efficient recovery. Also, it implies that you don’t have to stay in hospitals once the surgery is done.
The world is becoming sustainable due to the ever-increasing climate crisis and global warming issues. Physiotherapy helps the healthcare sector too to become sustainable and provide the best treatments to patients of varying ages. It adopts a holistic, painless approach to treating musculoskeletal and nervous system conditions without posing threats to the environment.