Heartburn or GERD can Kill

Heartburn is a common annoyance. The busy lifestyle, quick meals, fatty or spicy foods all contribute to the occasional need of a chewable pain reliever. The acceptance of heartburn as an inconvenient, but natural, part of the daily grind can blind you to the warning that a severe heartburn symptom can bring.

Heartburn as a Disorder

Heartburn can be a symptom as well as a disorder. Simple heartburn or GERD can be controlled and dealt with. However, heartburn can signal the presence of a much more serious problem. If it’s heartburn, you will have a burning sensation in the chest usually after eating. There may be a spread of the burning to the throat, sometimes accompanied by a bad taste, difficulty in swallowing, belching, coughing, hoarseness and/or wheezing.

It can become worse by lying down or bending over or by eating. Relief can come from an antacid. While the more severe heartburn symptoms may be mistaken for a heart attack, simple heartburn is usually not made worse by exercise. If there is any concern that the pain may signal a heart attack, get help quickly.

Monday, August 3, 2009

The Joys Of Traveling Physical Therapy

By Lance Anderson

First, before we discuss the joys of travel therapy, let's talk about what that is exactly. A traveling therapist is someone who signs up with a company that works in placing physical therapist into a job where there is a need of a qualified therapist, but there is a lack of qualified candidates locally. The physical therapist can choose jobs to be assigned to temporarily, usually around 13 weeks long.

Travel pt jobs (physical therapist) come with a lot of advantages for the therapist and their family. First, the opportunity to travel is one of the main benefits of the job. This can be a great way for the therapist, and is some cases the therapist family, to see the nation for a very low cost to the therapist and their family.

Another benefit of being a travel therapist is the chance to see many world class facilities in the medical field. In addition to seeing those facilities, there is the chance to work in them. This gives the therapist valuable work experience to improve their skills and expand their knowledge in the field.

A common mis-belief about the industry is that there is a lack of insurance in a travel pt job. This simply is not the case. Insurance is one of the major benefits of becoming a travel therapist. Medical insurance is offered along with life insurance and long term disability insurance. These are all part of the insurance packages typically offered. Hopefully, this bit of information can help everyone understand that travel therapy jobs are very competitive with other forms of therapy jobs when it comes to insurance benefits.

There are ways to make extra cash without any extra work. Just signing up for a job, in some cases, can bring a sign on bonus to the physical therapist. Also, selected jobs offer a completion bonus for completing a job (staying for the whole time requested). Another way to make extra cash is through referral bonuses'. These are offered to therapist for referring other therapist to the company.

A physical therapist on the road will have their meals and incidentals covered, either through an allowance or reimbursement of receipts. This really helps a therapist to save money and helps them and their family to get ahead or to catch up on old debt by reducing their living expenses.

Another benefit for a traveling therapist is the opportunity to have additional education paid for. Some companies will reimburse up to $1000/yr. for the continuing education efforts of their therapist. This not only saves money for the therapist, but it also helps to increase their knowledge and skill.

There are many advantages to becoming a traveling physical therapist, as we have discussed. Perhaps none is more important for the long term success of a therapist than the chance to build their resume with the experience. Travel therapists have the ability to add a long list of experiences on their resume in a much shorter amount of time than typical. This can make them stand out in any jobs that they apply for in the future, giving them a leg up on long term stability.

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