When it comes to rehabilitation therapy, many people and even medical professionals still have the misconception that it is acupuncture, tui na, massage …… in fact, it is not. Rehabilitation therapy is treatment, not exercise, and not health care. Misconception 1. Rehab = exercise Wrong May cause damage! “Rehabilitation therapy is about teaching people to move around and exercise, with absolutely no technique to speak of.” Such a view is very wrong. People who hold this view think that rehabilitation is simple, and that they can just exercise by themselves, without the need for technology, and even less willing to spend money. Expert opinion: Rehabilitation is a medical field, not a physical activity. The clients of rehabilitation are not normal people in the strict sense of the word, and their conditions may change at any time. Training a patient by someone without medical knowledge may cause undue damage to the patient. Formal and effective rehabilitation training should be under the professional guidance of a rehabilitation team consisting of rehabilitation physicians and therapists in order to help patients recover as soon as possible. Myth 2: Rehabilitation = Acupuncture, Tui Na, Massage …… Wrong Only part of it. Due to the late start of rehabilitation medicine in China and the lack of popularized knowledge of rehabilitation medicine, the concept of rehabilitation medicine is still stuck on therapeutic means such as tui na, massage and acupuncture. On the other hand, physical therapy, including the use of electricity, light, ultrasound, magnetism, force (including movement, pressure) heat, cold, etc., has a long history and a wide range. The predecessor of many hospitals’ rehabilitation medicine departments was the “physiotherapy department”, and some hospitals even retain this title. However, physiotherapy is not the same as rehabilitation treatment, but is only one of the components of rehabilitation treatment. Expert opinion Acupuncture, massage and acupuncture are only part of rehabilitation therapy, which is called traditional Chinese rehabilitation therapy. The main treatment method of modern rehabilitation medicine is the use of modern anatomy, kinesiology, neurodevelopmental theory, functional compensation theory and motor in learning theory, etc. It is a variety of functional restoration training based on motor therapy. There are many modern rehabilitation therapies, including physical therapy (exercise therapy and physiotherapy), occupational therapy, speech therapy, psychotherapy, rehabilitation bioengineering, etc. Modern rehabilitation therapy and traditional rehabilitation therapy should be combined with each other to complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Misconception 3: Rehab = something late Wrong It should be done together with clinical treatment. When it comes to rehabilitation, many people mistakenly think that this person is not going to make it. It is also true that there are many medical professionals who, in the process of providing treatment to patients, only focus on the treatment of the disease without paying attention to whether the patient can successfully return to society in the future. Expert opinion Rehabilitation is not the same as good care. Rehabilitation should be carried out in parallel with clinical treatment to minimize the rate of disability and to help patients regain function and return to daily life as soon as possible. According to relevant surveys, 80% of cerebrovascular patients can resume independent walking and 40%-50% can resume their original work if they can undergo rehabilitation in time, but in fact, the vast majority of cerebrovascular patients cannot take care of themselves due to the lack of rehabilitation treatment. For cardiovascular patients, the best recovery period is within one month after the onset of the disease, and the golden recovery period is within 4 months, so tertiary general hospitals must pay attention to early rehabilitation intervention. Misconception 4: Rehabilitation = exclusive treatment for the disabled Wrong The purpose is to restore physical function. In addition to people with disabilities, rehabilitation also includes chronic and geriatric patients, as well as chronic cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, tumors, cranio-cerebral trauma, spinal cord injury and other diseases that cause hemiplegia, amputation, cognitive impairment and other dysfunctions. Expert opinion The purpose of rehabilitation medicine is not only to cure patients, but also to restore their physical functions, so the service targets of rehabilitation medicine are not only patients with various injuries and diseases, but also people with various functional disorders who still have barriers to self-care or partial or complete loss of employability after general medical treatment in various clinical departments.