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A LEADING Bahraini doctor has been given the green light to expand his current physical rehabilitation centre to help more patients’ combat stress and related ailments.
Dr Ahmed Rustam is a fitness enthusiast and former physical therapist for the Bahrain national football team.
In 1991, he established the Physical Therapy & Rehab Centre to help men, women and children of all ages fight stress and its physical implications. He said: “Stress is all around us as modern life is full of hassles, deadlines, frustrations and demands.
“For many, this condition is so common that it has become a way of life. And stress isn’t always bad, as long as it is in small doses.
“It can help you perform under pressure and can even motivate you to do your best. However, when you’re constantly running on ‘emergency mode’ then your mind and body will likely pay the price.
“It can cause heart problems, difficulty in breathing and make it difficult to concentrate at work, as well as cope emotionally. We face environmental, physical and nutritional (over or under eating) stress every day. For example, the summer heat outside right now is stressful on our bodies.”
The centre, located in Salmaniya, features a number of doctors and consultants treating around 70 to 90 patients daily with physical and emotional stress problems.
The establishment boasts a range of hi-tech equipment to test for problems surrounding breathing, anxiety, unresolved aches and even athletic injuries.
He explained: “We have equipment and software that can detect stress, breathing, heart rate and energy levels.
“Our software will determine whether you are breathing normally, or appropriately. It can affect your heart rate. When you are resting, your heart rate should be between 60 and 90 beats per minute. If you are resting and it’s below 60 or over 90 then that is abnormal and unusual.
“If you are overly-stressed we teach you how to control it through different breathing exercises. We also offer various treatments and physical therapy to our patients at our gym.”
Since receiving approval to expand, Dr Rustam is on the hunt for investors to help carry his goal forward and hopes to launch the centre in Adhari.
Dr Rustam says he was inspired to start up the centre after visiting various other sports centres around the world.
“I thought why don’t we have anything like this here? Our athletic organisations could truly benefit from something like this, as well as the ‘average Joes’.
“While our centre can currently handle many patients, we really do need a larger facility that can focus more on various other treatments.
“We plan to have more fitness amenities such as a bigger gym and a pool. I will also be bringing in a doctor from Germany who specialises in rehabilitation.
“Our aim is to detect any problems before they become serious issues and treat them.”
For more details call the Physical Therapy & Rehab Centre on 17252003.
