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Face of Defense: Deployed Physical Therapists Keep Soldiers on Their Feet
By Army Spc. Rick Rzepka
Special to American Forces Press Service
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WASHINGTON, May 29, 2008 – Many of the physical tolls professional
athletes face are mirrored in professional soldiers. Pulled muscles,
back pain, and sprains are just a few injuries soldiers face while
conducting day-to-day operations in Iraq.
Army
Staff Sgt. Gaither, physical therapy noncommissioned officer in charge
with 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, checks on a
soldier with back pain at the combat support hospital at Contingency
Operating Base Speicher, Iraq. U.S. Army photo
(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. |
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Enter the Army physical therapist -- a mobile, hands-on medical
professional who works with soldiers to alleviate their
neuromusculoskeletal problems in the thick of the fight here.
“We
see our guys on the line as professional athletes,” said Army Capt.
Christine Iverson, a physical therapist with 1st Brigade Combat Team,
101st Airborne Division.
Iverson, who has been an Army
physical therapist since April 2006, earned a doctorate of physical
therapy from Baylor University and has been helping Screaming Eagle
soldiers reach their peak performance ever since.
She and her
mobile physical therapy team have helped more than 2,500 soldiers get
back on their feet since being deployed here in September.
The
Bastogne physical therapy team handles an array of soldier’s injuries,
from acute battle wounds to chronic orthopedic pain, Iverson said.
“You name it, we’re here to fix ‘em,” Iverson said.
“Physical
therapy is not to be confused with massage therapy,” said Iverson, who
describes her operation as a one-stop shop for relieving soldiers’
aches and pains.
The physical therapy team here specializes in
joint mobilizations, manipulations and exercise therapies. They use
sophisticated machines, modalities and braces to help debilitated
warriors get back on their feet across the Salahuddin province.
Iverson
said her team spends an average of 20 days a month traveling to forward
operating bases here providing treatment and giving advice to soldiers
on how to avoid injuries.
“As we are trying to do more with
less, it becomes important for our line soldiers to get the best
treatment we can give them,” she said. “We want them to leave here as
better soldiers.”
A large portion of the cases Iverson’s team
deals with concern back pain. As soldiers are being asked to carry a
heavy burden here, they carry equally heavy loads on their backs.
Core
strengthening is key to avoiding back issues, Iverson said. This
entails building the muscle that acts as a weight belt underneath the
superficial layers of muscle around your core, she said.
For many soldiers, the physical therapists here have been instrumental in helping them recover.
“It’s
awesome because you don’t have to go through a whole deployment in
pain,” said Army Spc. Thomas Heppler, who suffers from chronic back
pain.
Heppler said he appreciates having a physical therapist
at the brigade level instead of having to seek help elsewhere. “It
makes it easier on me to have them here,” he said. “They make
themselves real accessible.”
For Iverson, there is no better
place for a physical therapist to be, than at the heart of the fight.
“We belong down at the line units,” she said. “We owe them that.”
(Army Spc. Rick Rzepka serves with 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, in Multinational Division North.)
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| Military Connection's Comments: Soldiers must stay in top physical condition. Daily operations can cause pulled muscles, sprains and much more. Army Staff Sergeant Gaither is the physical therapist with 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division. Sergeant Gaither’s job is to keep combat soldiers physically fit. Army Captain Christine Iverson is also a physical therapist with the 101st Airborne Division. Captain Iverson and she and her physical therapy team are kept busy. They have treated several thousand aches and pains since they were deployed to Iraq. The physical therapy team specializes in joint mobilizations and exercise therapies. Their goal is to get our warriors back on the job. Many soldiers develop back pain due to the heavy loads they carry. Captain Iverson and her team want to be accessible and that means being among the line units. MilitaryConnection.com works helps hospitals and medical groups recruit these awesome therapy professionals after they complete their duty. Check out our new user friendly job board. |
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