The Home Health Care Today Show: S1, E16: National Physical Therapy Awareness Month: David Sharath, PT.

In Season 1, Episode 16 of The Home Health Care Today Show, David Sharath, PT. Golden Triangle Rehab visits the show to discuss National Physical Therapy Month and the importance of movement and exercise for patients of all ages. The show's goal is to inform, inspire, influence, and educate Metropolitan Detroiters on the importance of movement, physical therapy, and increased mobility.

Cleamon Moorer:

“It is October and in October we focus on several very important topics. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but it's also National Physical Therapy Awareness Month. So we are joined today by a very special guest, a physical therapist of close to 40 years. David Sharath is the owner and lead physical therapist at Golden Triangle Therapy Incorporated.

A. (Question #1: David, there's a lot of talk, obviously about the importance of physical therapy health such as strength of the neck and the spine. Tell us a little bit about yourself, your background, and your passion for helping patients in Metro Detroit.)

David Sharath:

“I've been 50 for quite some time and my passion to help people is when I see people get better. It's a tremendous motivation for me to do better because on an average, if I see 10 patients per day, at least eight plus of them feel good. When you're doing the right stuff, such as mental therapy techniques and the therapeutic exercises and body mechanics instructions, it's so satisfying.

If you see the human body, everything is moment based. If we look at our eyes, mouth, tongue, the heart, the joints, everything is moving and we are created to be movement beings. So as long there is movement, the problems are less. If you see even postoperatively also they say get up and walk.

That’s what I am passionate about helping people, especially in the Metro Detroit area. In my opinion, Metro Detroit area patients are the best because they're very courteous and they follow the instructions and it's easy to work with them. I've been in and out of the home care work also,?for almost 10 years. But right now I'm mostly working in the clinic.”

Cleamon Moorer:

B. (Question #2: What goes into a little more about physical therapy? What goes into a physical therapy evaluation in the event that a patient feels as though they are not moving as easily as they would like to, or they're moving with pain. Rather that pain comes from a chronic illness or whether it's a post operation for a patient, what goes into evaluation and treatment?)

David Sharath:

“Usually when I'm doing an evaluation, I'm basically trying to get a history, which is very important. I try to find out what is the origin of this problem. Is it because you fell down or slipped and fell or you bent down to pick up something or how you were lying in the bed for a long time because of surgery. Usually, there is some kind of sickness that comes about and you've been in bed for 15, 20 days. Once we figured out the history, then based on that we start the evaluation process and the treatment. For example, for most of the people that we see, they are elderly people. They got a lot of knee pain, hip pain and back pain. It's very important to screen, to see if the knee pain is coming from the back or it's an isolated knee pain, or the hip pain is an isolated hip pain, or it is coming from the back.

Once we figure that out, it's easy to fix. Sometimes, we are working on the back, but the problem lies in the hip. For example, they might need some hip quarter and mopes and you fix that and like a little different glides, like a C glide or like a plus glide. The range of motion comes back and the patient is able to walk better. Same thing with the knees, if you find out it's because of the knee, most of the people have patellar tendonitis. You work on that and they're able to walk and it's very important for people to recognize that they got to move, you got to do something and that's the way to go. That's what goes into evaluation of course.”

Cleamon Moorer:

C. (Question #3: David granted it’s physical therapy awareness month nationally, and you've been at it for close to 40 years, 37 to be exact, how do we encourage more youth to pursue physical therapy? Because we also want to talk to some of the students out there and make them aware that physical therapy is a great career to get into. To be able to be of greater assistance to some of the elderly, individuals in our community.)

David Sharath:

“20 years ago, they used to say by 2020, we'll have so many baby boomers retiring and all this stuff that I used to hear. It used to be a long time but now, 20 years have passed and we're in 2021 now. A lot of people need help, baby boomers worked hard to make what we are now in America. Physical therapy is a great profession because you see a result. Otherwise I wouldn't be in this profession for 37 years.

People get better from whatever problems they have. It's a great occupation and there is a lot of demand for physical therapy. You yourself know that PTs are hard to find. So it's a great occupation if you want to help people and make a difference in our country.”

Cleamon Moorer:

D. (Question #4: David, we want to encourage young people or even older people that are changing careers that are looking to go into health science, or looking to go into PT to pursue this as a career path. What were some of your challenges or obstacles along the way, David, as you created a successful business, a successful career, and as you have helped thousands of patients here and in Dearborn and Metro Detroit, Southeast Michigan?)

David Sharath:

“To me, obviously, finances were a big problem. Going into school and accumulating student loans and stuff like that. So having said that, if you put your heart to it and if you put in the hard work and if you're willing to study, and if you're disciplined, it's doable. What I realized is consistency is very important and there were many down times in my life where it was tough, but I realized I got to do this consistently and passionately and people see that you care for them. Then the word of mouth goes out. I have generations of families who are my patients. Those are the things that you gotta be consistent with and you must love what you're doing.”

Cleamon Moorer:

“Very nice David! We are having a good conversation about loving our patients, caring for them, being passionate and fighting to get through obstacles. As we all know, COVID-19 has been a tremendous obstacle and challenge for families here in Detroit and around the country, better yet around the world.”

E. (Question #5: How could physical therapy be of assistance to patients who are recovering from COVID?)

David Sharath:

“I've been seeing quite a few patients post COVID. One of the things that I noticed is their activity tolerance level is quite low because of what it does to your cardiopulmonary system. What we have been doing is starting slow and doing a few things like breathing exercises and some little bit of bike and a little bit of low intensity aerobic exercises. - general strengthening exercises, not heavy-duty strengthening exercises because they get tired very easily. Those are the kinds of things that we have been doing and encouraging them to take walks inside the house. Generally, post COVID recovery patients, I tell them to take at least 5,000 steps per day. Especially if they are the younger ones, the older population, at least I recommend at least 3000 steps and I tell them to breathe, take a deep breath for two or three steps and exhale for three to five steps. It's all doable. A lot of people, especially these patients, think that they got to go to a gym or our physical therapy office. It's not true in the comfort, especially for the homebound patients in the comfort of their home. You can get 5,000 steps if you are diligent.”

Cleamon Moorer:

“Absolutely! David this gets us to our next topic. We're a home health care agency, we're American Advantage Home Care. That's how you and I first met, as tenants here in the same medical building and you were able to actually go out and see some of our home bound patients and refer patients to us and that we appreciate that. We'd like to also refer patients to your clinic, the ones that have gone through in-home physical therapy and are in good position for outpatients.

F. (Question #6: What are some of those benefits for families to get in-home physical therapy,?to help them to rehabilitate or recuperate faster?)

David Sharath:

“Immediately when they come home from let's say, a knee replacement or hip replacement or early back neck, or even general surgery, it's absolutely important to have home health. Physical therapy for that matter, home health services, including nursing and other services. It's so important because when we get to the people's home, we help them to get up and move and being medical professionals, we understand what it takes to take care of the sutures for a knee replacement or hip replacement or the back.

The weight bearing status and non-weight bearing, or partial weight bearing status or different precautions, how to hold the sutures to costs and stuff like that. If you have swelling, elevate your legs and all those kinds of things and movement. Being there for 45 minutes to one hour, encouraging them, we do all those things and assessing their home and seeing what they have in their homes to use as means to help them recover. A lot of people think that they need dumbbells, they have more than enough at home, a gallon of milk or even a can of beans can be used in exercises. Those kinds of things are enough.

Especially going up stairs is a big problem because most of the seniors have issues with the balance. A little bit of balance exercises and it'll go a long way. Plus we are moving world-class orthopedic skills into your house. For example, a patient has had a surgery, but let's say abdominal surgery, but they have capsulitis and are unable to reach their back. We not only take care of the general physical therapy associated with the post-op post-surgical recovery, we take care of the shorter by doing inferior glides and so many other things.“

Cleamon Moorer:

“Very helpful, David. It really is for families out there listening because the Eval and training oftentimes extends to caregivers and family members to assist that patient. Once that therapist leaves or in between therapy visits to keep the motions going and to keep them going correctly. And you mentioned the fear of can I sneeze or when I sneeze or if I cough, how do I keep my abdomen muscles tight or close? That is very helpful. And a lot of times families don't think about it until they're in that situation. David, so very good work there.”

G. (Question #7: One important question that we didn't cover that families think about a lot, especially during this season, David is falls and fall prevention. What are some ways that physical therapy can help either in home or in a clinic such as this outpatient clinic? How can we help patients with balance and to prevent or decrease the risk of falling?)

David Sharath:

“As we were talking earlier, loss of balance, usually when a person hits 65-70 years of age, the proprioceptive reflects has become less. The patients are having more tendency to fall and come back from the hospital because of the post-surgical anesthesia. They may have a knee weakness or hip weakness, quadriceps, or gluteal muscle weakness that those weaknesses can cause you to trip on, run out, just general fall. Also, because of lying down in the bed, sometimes they can develop simple interior issues of labyrinths. All these things, it's a combination and we got to do the assessment to find out where the things are coming and then address that specifically. Sometimes what happens is when patients get light headed when standing up, the head starts spinning, this is a very common thing that you see with the patients.

We assess and see whether this particular patient will need a balanced training associated with therapy or just general strengthening so they won't trip and fall. And also another important precaution that we do is thorough home assessment to see if there were any carpets, chairs or any of the toys, a dog, things that are there in their house and give them specific instructions. That goes a long way and we train the home health aid and also the family members to know with regard to precautions. This is because patients ask what is touch, weight bearing, how much is it? I can also tell the patients that they shouldn’t be in fear and to put on a little bit of weight, you're not going to trip and fall. “

Cleamon Moorer:

“David, you have been so insightful and informative. You got a full-scale clinic here with all the equipment. You have patients here and patients waiting in the lobby. So we don't want to take up more of your time.

H. (Question #8: Last question, David, are there any additional resources or clinics that you would recommend for patients in Southeast Michigan besides American Advantage Home Care and Golden Triangle? Is there anything else out there for listeners and viewers?)

David Sharath:

“Yes, there is Max Rehab clinic and it's fantastic! I have a couple of my friends working there and there's one additional one in Dearborn. There's one in Madison Heights. There's one in Troy and one in Southfield. These are some good places that I know of where I strongly recommend. And of course, Dr. Cleamon, you are very passionate. I'm so privileged that sometimes I get to work with you and for a fantastic home health care organization. I wish I had more time to work with you. And I know you care for your patients. I've been to your office and you really care about your patients. Thank you for hosting me and making the effort to bring awareness in the community!”

Cleamon Moorer:

“Thank you, David! All right, folks wrapping up here. Keep physical therapist David Sharath and Golden Triangle Therapy Incorporated in mind. Thank you!”

?The Home Health Care Today Show was launched in 2021 to inform, inspire, influence, and educate viewers and listeners about a variety of health and wellness topics important to home health care clients, caregivers, and family members in Metro Detroit and beyond.

Sponsored by American Advantage Home Care, Inc.

?