Thursday, March 26, 2020, 8:00 AM
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NIJMEGEN –
The physiotherapist is also important when treating patients in intensive care. Now that many corona patients are located there, there was a demand – especially in Brabant – for treatment advice. When can you help as a physiotherapist and when are you at too much risk of infection? Physiotherapists and scientists from Radboud university medical center in Nijmegen therefore made national recommendations.
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Corona patients are often in intensive care for a longer period of time. ‘They are often on ventilation for between two and four weeks,’ says physiotherapist and initiator of the treatment advice Karin Felten-Barentsz of Radboud university medical center. “It does a lot to your body. For example, your muscle mass decreases by 5 percent per day because you are inactive for a long time. ‘
Felten-Barentsz developed the recommendations with her colleagues after she, with her scientific colleagues, spoke about the consequences of the corona outbreak on their daily work. “The scientific research came to a halt, while my direct colleagues in the workplace faced all kinds of challenges. Much appeared to be unclear about what we can and cannot do as physiotherapists. We wanted to do something about that. ”
Listen to the conversation with Karin Felten-Barentsz here:
‘Physio is important, but it is also careful’
Seriously ill corona patients who lie on their stomach and are ventilated cannot currently treat the physiotherapists. Certainly also in connection with the risks of spreading the virus. ‘From the moment they have passed that first phase, physiotherapy treatment is very important, but even then it is very careful. Because once they are off the ventilator they can also cough and then the chance of infection, despite all kinds of protection measures, is greater. “
Felten-Barentsz and her colleagues therefore made instructional videos with which nurses can work with patients themselves without the need for a physiotherapist to be physically present. ‘It is very important to work with these people in a dosed manner. You can’t just do muscle workouts. After intensive ventilation, the slightest exertion for a patient already feels as if they have run a marathon. ‘
“I no longer woke up stuffy”
Physical therapy can also provide relief for corona patients who do not end up in intensive care. That tells corona patient Boukje Tichelaar. She emailed us that she noticed she was less likely to wake up when she set her alarm clock to move around at night. “Then I went up at night to walk and cough and that helped. I didn’t wake up stuffy anymore. “
Felten-Barentsz endorses the importance of keeping moving, as far as health permits. “You feel sick and that invites you to lie down in bed. But it is recommended to keep moving. Sitting upright and walking allows you to breathe better. Although you have to keep listening to your body. Too much effort also backfires. ”
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