Physical therapy is one of the best ways of helping patients recover from their illness and sometimes heart wrenching injuries. This unique form of treatment aims at soothing the pain and of returning the patient to his or her normal functioning. This therapy can be better understood and a unique insight can be gleaned by taking a look at its rich history.

The beginning:

The concept of physical surfaced as far back as the 460 BC. As you must have already understood, this therapy dates back to the time of Hippocrates. He was one of the first ones to emphasis the importance of massage in healing. Another great advocate of physical therapy during this time was none other then Hector, who actually used a form of water therapy known as the hydrotherapy to initiate the healing process. Physical therapy according to many sources also has its roots in China that dates back to 2500 B.C.

Development of physical therapy:

The development of physical therapy began in London in 1896. During this time, many hospitals felt the need of giving regular massage to the patients. It was also seen that this enabled the patients to improve their muscle coordination and overall balance of the body. This was specially seen in the patients recovering from injuries and other health concerns. These developments in turn lead to the development of the Charted Society of Physiotherapy in 1920. This organization was formed in the United Kingdoms. Later, many more countries including the USA developed many facilities to aid physical therapy in all its formats.

Meanwhile, in 1921, the very first professional association of the therapist was formed. It was known popularly as the women's physical therapeutic association. It was however not until, the 1930s that the association included the membership of men.

The biggest development of physical therapy was however seen most prominently during the two devastating world wars. This was because, the number of injured were very great during these times. Therapists during those times focused primarily on helping the gravely injured to cope with the excruciating aches and pains.

Since then, the popularity of physical therapy grew and so did the advance in its technology. Now, physical therapy is used not only for assisting the injured, but also for people suffering from long and incurable diseases like cerebral palsy, mental retardation and whole host of other problems.

Thus, the development of physical therapy is greatly acknowledged due to its glorious past.