CASE SCENARIO

Case 1. You are an outpatient physical therapist, and Betty is a patient under your care for restorative physical therapy secondary to tennis elbow. During one session, Betty con- fides that she’ll be attending her 15th high school reunion in 2 weeks and she really wants to look good. She explains that her friend wore a plastic suit in a sauna, lost almost 5 pounds in just a few hours, and looked a lot thinner. Betty asks for your opinion. When you give Betty feedback, you would want to share with her that when a person sweats, she loses water weight. Sweating a lot does not cause fat loss, only dehydration. Excessive dehydration can cause weakness and lightheadedness and even more serious complica- tions if fluid loss and electrolyte loss are excessive. You need to be sure that Betty under- stands that if she wears a plastic suit in a sauna she will lose weight, but it will be water weight rather than fat weight. The weight loss will be temporary and could be dangerous to her health. This scenario underscores why it so important that physical therapists have a basic knowledge of fitness wellness

As  a Physical Therapist, with all the background subjects i took throughout the years, I know losing a significantly unhealthy amount of water weight is dangerous to ones health. As stated, it can cause an even more serious complications. My role as a Physical Therapist is to correct and not approve of this way of losing weight. Yes, losing an unhealthy weight leads to optimal wellness and would make you look good but it has to be done in a healthful manner. There are many ways and programs to achieve the desired weight that a patient wants, and as Physical therapist we must discuss to them why taking a different approach is better.


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