rehabilitation medicine

rehabilitation medicine

A field that bridges gaps between conventional and nonconventional medicine by administering mechanical (massage, manipulation, exercise, movement, hydrotherapy, traction) and electromagnetic (heat and cold, light, and ultrasound) modalities in psychological and pharmacological therapies. The patients seen in rehabilitation medicine include those recuperating from sports injuries, automobile and motorcycle accidents, cerebrovascular accidents, amputees, and those with joint disease and reduced mobility.

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rehabilitation medicine

Physiatry, physiotherapy A field of therapeutics that bridges the gap between conventional and nonconventional medicine; rehabilitation physicians may adminsiter or prescribe mechanical–eg, massage, manipulation, exercise, movement, hydrotherapy, traction and electromagnetic–eg, heat and cold, light, and ultrasound modalities, psychologic and pharmacologic therapeutic modalities. See Massage therapy, Physical therapy.
Cf Physiotherapy.

McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.