The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1953-08-20
Kiwanians Hear Of
Physical Therapy
Robert Shestack, Director Of
Dept. Of Physical Therapy At
County Hospital Is Speaker.

AAOSBhtCE 10 AJpG0kACEs
Robert Shestack, Director of the
Department of Physical Therapy of
the Washington County Hospital,
was the guest speaker at the regular
weekly luncheon meeting of the XII
wants Club, held at the Hotel Alex
ander on Thursday.
The program was arranged by the
Sickness Committee, of which Ernest
J. HiXon is chairman.
Mr.. Shestack spoke on ''The Place
Of Physical Therapy and Rehabilita-
ton In A Modern Hospital And In
The Community" His lecture was
supplemented by number of in
teresting and educational slides on
the subject.
The speaker stated that physical
therapy, or physical medicine as it
is now known, is the newest and
oldest field of medical practice.
It is the newest because only in
the past 10 years has it come to be
recognized as an integral part of reg
ular medicine. It is the oldest be-
cause the employment of physical
agents in the treatment of disease
we're inaugurated thousands of years
ago. The primitive man who crawl
ed into the sunshine to receive the
benefit of its warmth and vitaIizing
effect, unknoWingly started the prac-
tice of Heliotherapy; the first man
who bathed wound in some stream
unknowingly instituted the practice
of Hydrotherapy; and the first man
who rubbed confused or bruised
muscle, unwittingly introduced Mas
sage.
Answering the often heard ques-
ton, What is Physical Therapy?"
the speaker stated that it is the
science that deals with management
of disease by means of physical
agents, such as light, electricity, heat,
cold, water, massage and therapeutic
exercises.
Pointing out that today between
so and 70 per cent of all recognized
hospitals in the United States have
departments of physical therapy, Mr..
Shestack stated that it is commonly
prescribed by doctors for infantile
paralysis, fractures, periphera1 nerve
injuries, spinal cord injuries, cere-
bral palsy, arthritis, bursitis, neu-
ritis and multiple sclerosis.
Another question often asked him.
Mr.. Shestack continued was: 'Do the
latest drugs that are being used for
rheumatic conditions, such as ACTH
and Cortisone, do away with physical
| therapy?" This is not so, he added.
| and then went on to say that better
results are obtained if physical thera-
py is used in combination with drug
medication.
Touching on the second phase of
his address Rehabilitation" Mr.,
ohestack stated that this constitutes
a system of treatment that EMPLOYS
every device and measure to expe-
d1te recovery, shorten the period of
conValescence and secure for the pa
tent the maximum development of
his physical and mental capacities
For the physically handicapped per
son, it is slowly replacing the concent
OF dependency with that activity in
which the remaining powers of the
physically handicapped person are
developed to the maximum.
To-day" he added, "alI states and
most communities are rich, either in
interest, or in uncoordinated serv-
ices, for rehabilitation of the dis
aoled, or in buried and Unframed
resources only waiting for planning
direction and development. No com
munity anywhere in the United
states should be without some TYNE
OF rehabilitation service"
Mr.. .Shestack, who organized tho
department of Physical Therapv At
the washington County Hospital, is
a graduate of Temple University
ochooI OF Pharmacy and of Sargent
College of Physical Education at
Boston University. He is a National
REGISTERED Physical Therapist.
Mr. Shestack recently wrote and
published a book IN sepLor,,o,.,