On July 23, 2022, Health Live@ Seniors Today hosted their weekly live webinar with Prof (Dr) Ali Irani who spoke on and showed live exercises on easing pains with physiotherapy.
About Prof (Dr) Ali Irani:
Prof (Dr) Ali Irani is Head of Department – Physiotherapy, Sports Medicine & Rehabilitation Centre at the Nanavati Max Super-Specialty Hospital, Mumbai.
Dr Irani has done his B Physio from MS University, Vadodara. He has done PhDs in Sports Medicine and Anatomy of Body Movement and Dance, from the University of Mumbai.
Experience:
Physiotherapist for the Indian Cricket Team, 1987-1997.
Member Board of Studies, NMIMS University
Academic Council, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health sciences, Bangalore
Worked as Researcher at Bombay Hospital, 1985-86.
Presented papers on Knee Mobility, Backache, Hammer Tone for Frozen Shoulder, Fitness & Sports injuries at various national and international conferences.
Held workshops on innovative physiotherapy & sports medicine at various physiotherapy & medical colleges
Delivered lecture for Diploma in Sports Medicine at N.I.S, Patiala
Conducted a workshop for the Iranian Physiotherapy Association, 2004 and again in Feb. 2005. Presented papers at various national and international Physiotherapy and Sports Medicine conferences
Trained state and national level athletes to improve their performance
Held rural physiotherapy camps (Community Based Rehabilitation)
Delivered lectures for Physiotherapy Colleges all over India.
Set up physiotherapy and rehabilitation centre in Bhuj, Gujarat for earthquake victims
Examiner and Lecturer for students of Masters of Fine Arts (Dance), Bombay University
Faculty for PG students at various universities
PhD guide at various universities in India.
Lectured on Disaster Management
Principal, Post Graduate Institute of Physiotherapy since 2009.
Awards:
‘Hitra Oration’ Award in 1994 for achievements made in the field of Physiotherapy
Lifetime Achievement Award by Indian Association of Physiotherapy, 2004
Awarded Fellowship by Indian Association of Sports Medicine, 2005
Awarded Fellowship by Indian Association of Physiotherapists, 2005
Best Citizens of India Award 2011
Dr Irani strongly believes that science will increase the longevity of a human being, and so many of us will cross 100. Crossing a century is soon going to become a cake walk just because of science.
Some people are old at the age of 18, unable to do things an 80 year old could do. And then there are 80 year olds doing things an 18 year old can’t.
The WHO has found that instead of calling a person a senior citizen, they want to say that once a person crossed the age of 60-65 you should be called “new old”. Individuals over the age of 75-80 should be called an “old person” and people above the age of 85 should be called “old old”.
As you cross the age of 60-65, your muscle mass reduces, this process can be faster if you are diabetic, or have any other comorbidities.
The vital capacity also reduces as we age. Our lungs can take up to 4.5l of air and as we age, the vital capacity also reduces.
The air we breathe has only 20.78% of oxygen, we breathe to take in the 20% of oxygen, hit the impure blood in base of the lungs, that blood from the lungs goes to the heart and heart pumps it all over the body again. There is no substitute for oxygen or a supplement.
Try getting up from the chair without pushing the chair. This will increase the strength of your quadriceps, which is a thigh muscle which helps you in standing and from going to sitting to standing and vice versa and other activities where you have to balance yourself.
Science will increase years to your life, but it is physiotherapy that will add life to your years. Physiotherapy improves the quality of your life, says Dr Irani.
As you perform any of the exercises, you should understand that you are:
- Strengthening your muscles
- It also helps in motivation
- If you choose group therapy or exercise sessions it also helps in social interactions
- Mood enhancement
30 mins of swimming is better than 1 hour of walking, this is because swimming involves both your upper and lower body whereas walking only strengthens and exercises your lower body.
Instead of playing games such as football or cricket, you can do exercises or play games such as-
throwing a tennis ball in the bucket
Having a small basketball net in your house and throw the ball in the net
These are some exercises for coordination.
The following exercises will be a few basic exercises, that will help with your generalised fitness and over all well being:
Exercise for the lower back ache:
- This exercise is to unwind your spine.
You’ll need: I) good, medium thickness bed
- II) a pillow who’s vertical thickness is more than that of the bed
Lie down in the prone position (on your stomach). Ensure that the pillow goes on your upper chest near your chest. Lie down on the bed, with the pillow in the above said position. You will see a c-shape of your spine. You have to lie like this and while you’re lying like this, you can read the newspaper, chat on your phone or do other activities. You have to maintain this position for 30 minutes twice a day.
Exercise for neck pain:
- You will be performing this exercise in the sitting position.
You will need- i) towel
You wrap the towel around your neck and hold the ends on the towel with your hands.
Take your head back against the towel, you will see that it gives your a double chin while you press your neck against the towel. This is called a chin tuck.
Hold this for 5 counts and come back to your normal position. And repeat it 10 times, twice a day.
Exercise for your hands/ upper limb:
- This is helpful in keeping our small and intrinsic muscles of the hand.
You will require a piece of paper.
You simply crumble the paper up with both your hands.
You can also do it in one hand and pass it to the other hand.
Once you’ve crumbled it into a small paper ball, you will open the piece of paper and then grip it again, and crumble it again.
- This exercise is helpful for the elbow, arms, scapula and chest muscles. It is a good upper limb stretch.
Open your hand with the palm showing all 5 fingers.
Put your hand on the wall with your arm outstretched and give a nice stretch while pressing your hand against the wall.
Rotate your hand to 90° in all 4 directions to make a complete circle.
Do it with both hands.
Exercises for proprioception and balance
- You will require i) Swiss ball of medium size
Stand in front of a wall and throw the ball at the wall
Then try to catch the ball when it comes back
This is called a wall and ball exercise.
Repeat the same 10 times. You can increase the distance and the intensity to make it harder.
