
ROBINS AIR Pressure Base, Ga. —
When Capt. Sara Silva, 78th Operational Healthcare Readiness Squadron bodily therapist, consults with her sufferers at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, she is normally empathetic.




















“I experienced several accidents escalating up being an athlete,” reported Silva. “My senior calendar year of significant college I injured my knee and I could not play in nearly anything the remainder of the year. So, I know what it’s like to be sidelined.

“I was putting a whole lot of have confidence in in other industry experts to assistance me,” she continued. “Now, I can assist others in a very similar place of confusion or who do not fully grasp what is likely on with their bodies. Educating them assists alleviate anxiousness and pressure.”


Which is what pushed her to go after a occupation in actual physical remedy.


Silva also serves as the Human General performance Optimization Flight commander. The HPO consists of bodily therapy, optometry and wellbeing promotion.


Collectively, each individual section allows the warfighter by improving physical well being readiness, actual physical efficiency through energy and conditioning, injuries avoidance, and affected individual education.


“Our occupation is to increase the deployability fee of Robins Airmen,” mentioned David Lunsford, 78th OMRS physical therapist. “Whatever pain or ailment the individual is encountering we want to end it or get it underneath management so they can operate and be suit to fight.”


Lunsford has labored at Robins practically five a long time.


“We see a wide variety of injuries that can be connected to sitting down too lengthy, donning weighted gear, or repetitive actions from using selected applications like wrenches. A lot of what we will see is from perform-associated grind around the many years,” he said.


Moreover workout machines, weights and resistance bands, the facility has a NASA-created AlterG Anti-Gravity Treadmill to assistance rehabilitate Airmen. It outcomes in more rapidly restoration and minimizes influence on joints when going for walks or functioning.


Alternate sorts of remedy are also presented, this sort of as dry needling and cupping.



















“If an Airman is dealing with muscle suffering, people two methods could help present reduction,” mentioned Silva. “Dry needling is very similar to acupuncture exactly where tiny needles are inserted through the pores and skin to minimize muscle pain, and cupping will work by positioning a cup on the patient’s skin to develop suction to help with blood move.”

Lunsford appreciates the versatility to generate individualized cure ideas for just about every individual.


“When I worked in the non-public sector, actual physical therapy was pretty constrained by what insurance coverage firms would permit you to do and how lengthy you could do it,” he stated. “However, in this article at Robins we have the liberty to consider distinct procedures and come to a decision how long to consider it or adjust our energy to help a patient heal.


“It’s a fantastic experience to support Airmen get better and are living ache cost-free,” Lunsford continued. “This is a satisfying job because, finally, the Airmen are seeking to shield us.”





