Introducing Elizabeth Johnson, Physical Therapist for MedFaxx

Elizabeth Johnson, P.T.

MedFaxx Physical Therapist

Elizabeth is around to answer questions you may have specific to your diagnosis or questions you may have on physical therapy. If you are thinking of a career in physical therapy she welcomes those too!!!

C.V.

B.S. Physical Therapy University of Maryland, 1986

Employment:

The Cotton Company; Owner/ President; 2000- present
Responsible for leasing of vendor spaces, marketing of retail/gallery, development and marketing of Event Gallery, Manage staff of 12, and over 50 vendors. Responsible for Facility management of historic building.

MedFaxx, Inc.; Director of Operations; 1998 – present
Hire, evaluate and manage staff; oversee all aspects of day-to-day operations including customer service, shipping, billing, insurance claims and collections.

Cameron Park Botanicals; Owner/Manger; 1992-1994 Management of all aspects of retail operations.

MedTherapy; Regional Director of Operations 1989 – 1992
Responsible for hiring, training and managing professional rehabilitation staff in over 60 Long Term Care Skilled Nursing Facilities in North Carolina and South Carolina. Ensured compliance with government and insurance regulations, proper documentation for reimbursement, and quality assurance in Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Speech - Language Therapy services.

Experience:

1985 – present; Management of residential, commercial, and retail properties
Includes facility management in most cost effective way; evaluating potential for success of retail and commercial clients; managing cash flow and capital expenditures for historic properties.

Civic:

American Physical Therapy Association, Maryland Chapter; Board of Directors 1986-1987
American Physical Therapy Association, North Carolina Chapter; Board of Directors 1988-1990
Wake Forest Alliance for History & Culture; Board of Directors 2001
Wake Forest Downtown Revitalization Corporation; Board of Directors 2002; committee member 2001- present
Wake Forest Community Council; 2002 –2004; President 2004
Wake Forest Chamber of Commerce; Board of Directors 2003- present;
Chair Elect 2004-2005; Chairman of Board – 2005-2006
Wake Forest Citizen of the Year 2005
Graham Johnson Cultural Arts Endowment, President 2006- present




Awards:

Anthemion Award for Historic Preservation of The Cotton Company Property; Capital Area Preservation; 2000
Small Business of the Year Award; Wake Forest Chamber of Commerce; 2001
Small Business Person of the Year Award; Wake Forest Rotary Club; 2004
Wake Forest Citizen of the Year – December 2004

Electrical Nutrients - Assisting Your Body To Heal

It is oft repeated that electric modalites can help facilitate healing of bones, bedsores, and atrophy of muscles. The understanding of how these processes work is defined better in this article on Electrical Nutrients on the Medfaxx web site. If you want an elementary understanding of the processes please visit the new article on site.

Cheapest Tens Unit On The Internet

MedFaxx has released the Infrex Plus unit which combines tens and interferential in a portable unit that is the two most world wide used forms of electrotherapy for pain relief in one unit.

With the new Infrex Plus MedFaxx can now provide the best price for tens and also the best value for pain relief.

Muscle Stimulation - What's Important in The Unit

What is Muscle Stimulation and Are There Differences In the Purpose?

Unfortunately most people refer to muscle stimulation as the amount of electrical energy needed to produce a muscle nerve reaction such as a muscle twitch. That may be fine if all one is trying to do is increase blood flow, or compress to move fluids away from the area such as an edematous limb.

In therapy and rehab. that is not sufficient as an answer. The physical therapists define muscle stimulation as "functional electrical stimulation", abbreviated as FES. The distinction is in therapy, possibly following a stroke, one of the primary purposes of the intervention is to teach the patient a new way to achieve functionality in executing a simple act such as picking up a coffee cup. The patient needs to regain the ability to volitionally cause muscles to contract so they can grasp the cup in a manner consistent with achieving the desired result of picking up, tilting the cup, holding still until can drink, then putting back down. The muscle stimulator is the catalyst to bridge the brain to the muscle so the patient can slowly learn how to regain control.

Many muscles require a pulse width ( amount of time the electrical stimulation is on - measured in thousandths of a second ) , of 350 milliseconds. This is not the amount of energy exiting the unit but the amount of energy required at the nerve itself in order to achieve functional stimulation. This amount of energy also varies according to the placement of the nerve which includes factors such as fat content, hydration of the patient, and the size of the nerve itself. As an example less energy is generally needed near the fingers due to closeness of nerves to the surface, lack of excessive fat tissue around the nerve, and smaller target area. Contrast that with the nerve(s) at the thigh for the quadriceps. One has larger muscles, greater surface area, deeper penetration needed so the ability of the muscle stimulator must be greater in output and possibly wave form to achieve the desired quadriceps response compared to stimulating the nerves for the fingers.

When one is choosing a muscle stimulator all these factors have to be considered just to determine if the muscle stim. unit itself has sufficient energy to achieve the desired results. In a later discussion we will look at what is important after determining if the output is sufficient to achieve the desired results.

If you would like to receive more information on muscle stimulation we have a free sign up for updates that are sent about once a week for 5-8 weeks. Just sign up below:

Stopping Hospital Acquired Infections

Forbes magazine, March 10, 2008 issue has couple of articles on the dangers of acquiring infections in the hospital. The editor's comments include a web site set up to report on the dangers of acquiring infectious agents and we have linked to the site, http://www.hospitalinfection.org. on this blog.

TENS for Labor/Delivery

Tens is predominantly used in Europe, more so than in U.S., for labor and delivery pain. The patient often purchases a unit specific for the delivery process and is instructed prior to the need on how to use the unit.

Many years ago in the U.S. 3M company had a unit specific to the delivery process and integrated into it's design a "squeeze handle" which incresed the power when squeezed. This adaptation for this procedure was based upon most people tend to squeeze their hands when they experience pain and taking advantage of that response the patient would regulate the amount of stimulation concurrent with her degree of pain. Unfortunately in the U.S. labor pain is not regarded as "chronic" so the use of the unit was not covered and as with many innovations in the U.S. the unit soon was discontinued.

That is unfortunate as the units are totally safe, totally drug-free thusly leaving the patient in control and it does not affect the natural responses to childbirth ( other than pain reduction!!).

In the U.S. it is not unusual to see Physical Therapists use the units themselves for labor and delivery and also the units are very helpful for Caeserean section patients used post operatively.

Ultraviolet Patent for Use With Dental Patients

MedFaxx's owner has filed for patent on use of similar V-254 Wound Lamp product to be used with dental procedures.

In dental procedures there is increased probability of systemic infections due to performing procedures that open up circulatory system to direct infections. The mouth is full of harmful bacteria and any opening of the gums and cirulatory system allows bacteria directly into blood system. With the advent of the MRSA and VRE bacteria and other advanced mutations the device takes aim at prevention of acqiring harmful bacteria in the dental office during routine procedures.

View patent.

For more information contact patent holder at 800-937-3993.