Physical and occupational therapy gets Airmen back to mission

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Eboni Knox
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  Airmen across the Air Force find themselves in the unfortunate position of being injured on a daily basis. When Team Liberty Airmen find themselves in that position they go to the 48th Medical Operations Squadron Occupational and Physical Therapy Flight.

Treating more than 9,000 patients per year, occupational therapy specializes in protecting and improving function from shoulder to finger, while physical therapy focuses on recovery and regaining proper use of all body parts.

Patients are referred to the clinic by primary care managers, orthopedics, neurology and specialists from flight medicine and pain management. After a patient is referred, an appointment is made for a full body assessment that ranges from 45 minutes to an hour.

From there, OTPT specialists work to create a recovery program specifically designed for the patient. They try to create programs so patients can recover from the comfort of their homes.

"It is our goal for every first-time patient to leave with a diagnosis and exercises they can do at home," said Maj. Justin Theiss, 48th MDOS physical therapist.

If at-home treatment doesn't suffice, patients are scheduled for one-on-one therapy with an occupational or physical therapy technician. Hospital in-patients can receive therapy in their rooms.

Occupational therapy uses therapies called modalities to help patients in recovery. Paraffin baths and hot wax modalities are used to generate heat to relieve pain. Another modality is fluidotherapy, which uses warm, crushed corn cobs to increase circulation. During this therapy, the patients' hand is submerged in the warmth of wax or crushed corn cobs to relieve the pain.

The OTPT specialists say they get as much satisfaction from sessions as the patients.

"My passion is when I'm working with the patient," said Maj. Veronica Boucher, 48th MDOS occupational therapist. "I get my energy from patient interaction."

Staff Sgt. Maybelle McKinney-Martin, 48th MDOS physical therapy technician agreed.

"My favorite part of the job is watching my patient's progress and witnessing their growth," said Sergeant McKinney-Martin.

Major Boucher is the sole occupational therapist in U.S. Air Forces in Europe, making the occupational section here essential to the USAFE mission.

Since many body parts are prone to injuries, OTPT offers health classes to patients.

"We have a class specifically for lower-back patients because it is the most frequent case to be reported," said Sergeant McKinney-Martin.

Other body parts highly susceptible to injury are the knees and shoulders. There are no classes available for these problem areas yet, but specific exercise routines are set aside for new patients.

One upper-back patient at RAF Mildenhall thinks the OTPT flight does more than what is required.

"I had limited motion and was losing sleep due to my back pain, and coming to this physical therapy section is the best. It made a huge difference," said Capt. Angelina Stephens, 100th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Aircraft Maintenance Unit, officer in charge.