Mechanotherapy

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Therapy that relies on mechanical apparatus or physical force to treat injury, disease or impaired movement
2. A form of treatment carried out through machines, devices or manipulative physical means to restore health and function
3. Medical or rehabilitative care delivered by mechanical equipment and forces applied to the body to ease or cure a condition

Etymology: Mechanotherapy is a compound built from two Greek-derived parts: "mechano-", from the Greek "mēkhanē" meaning "machine" or "contrivance", and "therapy", from the Greek "therapeia", meaning "healing" or "medical treatment". Put together, the word means treatment carried out through mechanical means rather than drugs or surgery. The English term follows a Swedish model, "mekanoterapi", so the word was shaped by that Scandinavian coinage before it appeared in English. Its meaning is literal: the healing comes from physical devices, machines, or the application of mechanical force to the body, such as apparatus for moving or resisting the limbs. The word is transparent once its parts are known, so the most useful thing to understand is that "mechano-" works as a combining form in many medical terms, and "-therapy" is the same suffix found in words like physiotherapy and hydrotherapy.

Synonyms: mechanical therapy, kinesitherapy