However, several days later the symptoms return and the person feels muscle pain and weakness as paralysis begins. Anyone experiencing these symptoms should see a physician who can diagnose and treat the disease immediately. Treatment options Before 1929 the only treatment for polio was physical therapy to ease the paralysis . When a person with polio was placed in this device, it helped the patient, whose breathing muscles were paralysed, to breathe more easily. Today a hospital stay for polio treatment includes hot packs, baths, exercise, and help in breathing with a respirator when needed.
Some hospitals still use a version of the iron lung with some patients.
The greatest protection against the disease is immunization with the polio virus vaccine. In order to develop safe, effective vaccines against polio, thousands of children were used to test several kinds of vaccine developed by Dr. Jonas Salk. Some groups of children received a real vaccine while other groups received mere sugar water, known as a placebo. The number of children from each group who later became sick with polio was compared. The result was that the vaccine protected children against polio with few side effects or reactions.