Happy 100th Birthday to the American Physical Therapy Association!
Happy 100 Years to the American Physical Therapy Association!
The APTA celebrates it’s 100th Birthday this year, though the roots of Physical Therapy go back way further. To honor this profession I’m so proud to be a part of, I wanted to share some interesting history on how it began and how it has continued to develop. The APTA has also developed some really cool resources on their APTA Centennial Page, like this timeline of 100 Milestones of Physical Therapy – APTA Centennial.
Old Old School History: In the BC times, even Hippocrates was hip to the benefits of manual therapy. In 460 BC, he documented the benefits of manual manipulation for pain relief and during the same era, in Ancient Greece, hydrotherapy became a thing when Hector began using water treatment to help people heal.
Old School History: Throughout the 1800’s, Sweden actually became the first country to establish an official PT registration through the National Health and Welfare Board and Physiotherapists used massage, manipulation and exercise to help gymnasts heal from injuries and illness.
Back in a century we actually lived in: The early 1900’s brought Physical Therapy to America. Rehabilitation aides and rehabilitation therapy was used to help soldiers recover after traumatic injuries sustained in World War 1, but the Polio epidemic in the 1920’s was where the benefits of Physical Therapy really took hold. Much like the current pandemic crisis we are living through, Polio shook our nation because in the absence of a vaccine, this paralytic virus had little mercy and killed thousands, and left many others paralyzed and often unable to breathe effectively without assistance - see the picture below of the Iron Lung! Physical Therapists helped people with polio learn to walk again with braces and crutches, and regain strength to get back to their normal lives. In 1921, Mary McMillan, the ‘Mother of Physical Therapy,’ established the American Women’s Physical Therapeutic Association, and the papers began to be published regarding the effects of physical therapy on healing and recovery.
Since then: The profession of Physical Therapy has continued to grow, specialize and diversify since then. Influential therapists have conducted careful research on the benefits of therapy and our profession has grown from women in dresses in black and white images helping children learn to walk to Doctors of Physical Therapy with advanced educations and certifications who hold Direct Access to see patients first because of our competence not only in healing, but in effectively triaging those who are appropriate and can benefit from conservative care from those who need further medical workup and treatment first. We are specialists in our respective fields: the APTA offers board-certified specialization in Cardiovascular and Pulmonary care, Geriatrics, Orthopedics, Neurology, Oncology, Pediatrics, Sports, Women’s Health and Wound Management. We work in hospitals, emergency rooms, private practices, on sports fields and in people’s homes. We help people of all ages recover strength and motor control, develop critical skills like mobility and walking after traumatic injuries, manage pain and teach self-management of chronic conditions and work with patients to live their fullest and best lives despite whatever physical limitations they may develop. I’m as proud as I’ve ever been to be part of this wonderful profession full of compassionate and caring individuals who truly live to make people feel better.
