The typical day in the life of a physical therapist goes something like this:
• Examine patients’ medical histories for the appointments that day.
• Test the measure of each patients strength, range of motion, balance, coordination, posture, muscle performance, respiration, etc.
• Determine the patient’s ability to be independent again. This meaning determining when the patient can go back to his normal routine, or back to participating in the normal activities that he or she is involved in.
• Do a small workout, or show examples of how to do the workouts that you are going to prescribe. Along with the workouts prescribed the physical therapist should communicate the strategy used to come up with those workouts, its purpose, and the anticipated outcome from them.
A small thing that is not too well known about a Physical Therapist is how much they have to do, and research, but along with how much they make. In 2008, there was a median annual salary of $72,790. If you are curious how much PT’s are making in the your city, or the city you would like to become a physical therapist in click Salary Wizard here and find out in seconds!
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Physical Therapy Career Tips
The definition of “Physical Therapist” looks something like this- PT’s help patients, including accident victims and individuals with disabling conditions such as low-back pain, arthritis, heart disease, fractures, head injuries, and cerebral palsy by providing services that restore function, improve mobility, relieve pain, and prevent or limit permanent physical disabilities. They restore, maintain, and promote overall fitness and health. Or in simpler terms, PT’s help people feel better when they have body pains. Many people don’t think much of physical therapy until they have to endure it.
For people who are just looking for some type of work to do to get them by, physical therapy is not the job for you. Here are a couple keys to helping someone who desires to by a physical therapist:
1. Get a bachelors degree. It does not matter what the major is however as long as you meet starting requirements for graduate school in physical therapy. Many times the requirements are two classes each in anatomy, physiology, chemistry, and physics. Sometimes students also need an exercise class and course work in psychology.
2. Choose a graduate school with a (preferably) very elite physical therapy department. Then you will find the requirements of your undergraduate courses and the number of hours you need to be exposed to physical therapy.
3. After step two, you will need to begin to volunteer at a rehabilitation center or hospital. “You will have to gain experience in both impatient and outpatient settings.” (Most times preferably at two different locations). For graduate school almost all schools require at least 50-100 hours of volunteer experience.
4. A step that is kind of a goof, but also helps a lot is to get along well with your physical therapy staff because you can uses them as references for future careers or employers.
5. When you volunteer, and once you are done, you need to be able to understand the role of a volunteer in the physical therapy setting. Many times as a volunteer you will be responsible for pushing people in wheelchairs and helping clean up.
6. As training or volunteering it is key that you do everything to keep patients comfortable. The main reason people go to physical therapy is because they have or had pain with a part of their body, so it is very important to try and make them as comfortable and relaxed as possible. With this however you need to be very careful that you don’t do anything that the physical therapist himself/herself is required to do. You can be there more for them as moral support.
7. A lot of physical therapist say that it helps if you workout. With a lot of patients you may need to be able to support all of their weigh, or have to bend/stand and stabilize patients with limited mobility. If patients are in wheelchairs, you may have to be able to pick them up (to help them get onto the bed, or to get back into the chair), while also being gentle on them.
8. Study effectively, not hard. If you study hard it is shown to wear you out and you won’t retain the information as well as if you had studied more effectively. An example of studying more effectively than studying hard would be if you studied for twenty minutes, than took a break. Instead of sitting down and cramming for an hour or two or even more! If you study for shorter periods of times and more efficiently, you will retain more information.
9. The last step is vital, get recommendations. Every time you volunteer as for a letter of recommendation that you can submit to the graduate schools that you are looking at.
For people who are just looking for some type of work to do to get them by, physical therapy is not the job for you. Here are a couple keys to helping someone who desires to by a physical therapist:
1. Get a bachelors degree. It does not matter what the major is however as long as you meet starting requirements for graduate school in physical therapy. Many times the requirements are two classes each in anatomy, physiology, chemistry, and physics. Sometimes students also need an exercise class and course work in psychology.
2. Choose a graduate school with a (preferably) very elite physical therapy department. Then you will find the requirements of your undergraduate courses and the number of hours you need to be exposed to physical therapy.
3. After step two, you will need to begin to volunteer at a rehabilitation center or hospital. “You will have to gain experience in both impatient and outpatient settings.” (Most times preferably at two different locations). For graduate school almost all schools require at least 50-100 hours of volunteer experience.
4. A step that is kind of a goof, but also helps a lot is to get along well with your physical therapy staff because you can uses them as references for future careers or employers.
5. When you volunteer, and once you are done, you need to be able to understand the role of a volunteer in the physical therapy setting. Many times as a volunteer you will be responsible for pushing people in wheelchairs and helping clean up.
6. As training or volunteering it is key that you do everything to keep patients comfortable. The main reason people go to physical therapy is because they have or had pain with a part of their body, so it is very important to try and make them as comfortable and relaxed as possible. With this however you need to be very careful that you don’t do anything that the physical therapist himself/herself is required to do. You can be there more for them as moral support.
7. A lot of physical therapist say that it helps if you workout. With a lot of patients you may need to be able to support all of their weigh, or have to bend/stand and stabilize patients with limited mobility. If patients are in wheelchairs, you may have to be able to pick them up (to help them get onto the bed, or to get back into the chair), while also being gentle on them.
8. Study effectively, not hard. If you study hard it is shown to wear you out and you won’t retain the information as well as if you had studied more effectively. An example of studying more effectively than studying hard would be if you studied for twenty minutes, than took a break. Instead of sitting down and cramming for an hour or two or even more! If you study for shorter periods of times and more efficiently, you will retain more information.
9. The last step is vital, get recommendations. Every time you volunteer as for a letter of recommendation that you can submit to the graduate schools that you are looking at.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Example of Physical Therapy on a Rotator Cuff
Rotator cuffs can be injured in three different ways. It could be an (a) chronic tear, (b) an acute tear, or (c) tendinitis. Chronic tears are most times found in a persons dominant arm, and is more commonly found in men 40 years or older. If it is a chronic tear it will seem noticeably worse at night and will prevent you from sleeping soundly. Also, if the pain gets worse, your shoulder will get weaker and weaker, and will get to the point where you can barely lift you arm up to the side.
If it was in acute tear you would feel a sudden tearing sensation followed by a severe pain shooting through your arm. Acute tears are normally small tears hurt because the muscle is bleeding and having spasms. The larger the tear is the harder it will be to lift you arm up, however it can be done with assistance.
Tendinitis is normally the early stage to a chronic tear. Most people get them between the ages 35-50. At the beginnnig it will feel like you have a deep pain in your shoulder, that will gradually get worse if not taking care of. If the tendinitis does get worse, that is how it turns into a chronic tear.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
For both physical and emotional well-being, touch is vital for babies. In many countries it is believed that baby massages help babies grow stronger. This has been proved in some research because premature babies who are massaged regularly have showed much more improvement in health than babies who have not been.
Beginning a massage on a baby you need to make sure of a couple things. You need to make sure that you are in a warm room, preferably by or near a fireplace to keep the baby warm. You should make sure that your hands are warm so that the baby can be as relaxed as possible. Along with a warm environment it is helpful if the baby is happy and is not tired or hungry.
The first step is to oil the front of the baby. Slowly and softly rub a little oil all over the baby's body, shoulders down to their feet while avoiding the baby's face. When spreading the oil, you should use your whole hand and/or forearm. After having oiled the baby, start massaging the baby's front so he/she is able to see you(This helps in keeping the baby calm and happy). You should start massaging the front by placing your palms on their hips, then gently but firmly pushing your hands up the baby's chest in a crossing motion (so that you arms end up crossed, hands end up on opposite side of the hips that they had originally started on). This technique is known as he "Hip to Shoulder Stroke."
After the hip to shoulder, you can move to the arms. The most common techniques in massaging a baby's arms are by "Squeezing and Wringing" the arms. You can start this massage by holding on of the baby's hands up in the air. Then put your other hand around the wrist that is being held up and squeeze all the way down the baby's arm to the shoulder, repeat this 3-4 times then change to a wringing motion. The trick to the wringing motion is that you should do it backwards, starting at the shoulder, and moving up to the wrist. You can then repeat the squeezing and wringing techniques on the baby's legs.
The hands are an easy and relaxing part of the body to massage, however it is the least common. With baby's you should move from the arms and wrists to the hands. The massage is simple, you just need to spread their fingers apart, and then use both your thumbs to squeeze the palm open to the sides. While doing this you should have their fingers rolled up, and after the palm massage, slowly move your palm out over their hand while slowly unfurling their fingers as you go. After the hands, while the baby is still on his back, gently rub the tummy. You can do this by placing your hands one on top of the other (one on the chest, and the other on the tummy), and alternate moving them back and forth.
Once moving to the back you should wring and stroke the back. After doing so you should move to working the back all the way down the back of the legs. In doing it can also help the baby stay calmer because now his legs are feeling touch or even warming up to the touch. The last massage you do is the baby’s face. You should start by massaging gently the forehead with your thumbs, moving the middle of the forehead about the nose, out to the temples. Then move down below the eyes, and massage out to the mid-jaw area. Then the last is to start below the nose, and around the baby’s mouth to his chin.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Top Ten Most Common Injuries of Athletes Part 1
1) Muscle Pull
A muscle pull is probably the most common injury any athlete can have. They can happen anywhere in the body, not matter how long and thoroughly you stretch. Most times a muscle pull can occur from fatigue, overuse, or taking a fall. Warming up, stretching, and cooling down are all ways to help prevent muscle pulls from taking place, however nothing is ever guaranteed. Many times physical therapy is used after severe muscle pulls or tears. More however stretching and massage therapy is used to loosen the muscle up.
2 ) Neck Pain
Neck Pain is another common injury in sports, but can also be a very serious one. Sometimes athletes can get what are called, "wizers" or a sharp pain or cramping in a neck muscle. Many times this occurs by a sudden whiplash movement to the neck and shoulder area causing a small muscle to tense up and pinch. However more serious neck injury's can mean serious physical harm, such as paralysis or even death. For the minor pains in the neck the main thing people can do for it is ice the muscle down. But many hours of physical therapy come with serious injuries.
3) Shoulder Impingement
The summer before between my sophomore and junior year at Washington High School I separated my shoulder, then preceded to break it a month or so later. Shoulder injuries most of the times occur in the shoulder joint, or into the collar bone. With my injury I had a grade two AC separation. I had come back to practicing where I received a pop directly to the shoulder again which causes the separation to turn into a break. The break snapped back into place so I only had to go to physical therapy. The therapy took a month or so, and I was able to start lifting again. That year, before I transferred to Kennedy High School, I was able to play with an extra pad strapped on to it.
4) Lower Back Strain
Almost all athletes who participate in sports experience a lower back strain. Most times it’s from quickly twisting your body in an awkward way or from lifting heavy weight. The treatment for back pain fortunately is quite simple, ice it, heat it, and don't do anything to strain it again! After about a week, normally, the back muscles are feeling better and you can begin to work slowly back into your routine.
5) Tennis Elbow
Tennis Elbow is another common injury in athletics. This can happen in really any sport, but is most common in tennis and golf. The injury is really an inflammation of the muscles of the forearm and the tendon that connect the muscles to the bone in your elbow. These muscles and tendons are what allow us to put our hand palm-side up. This is treated in physical therapy by icing, and slowly stretching and slightly straining the muscles to make them work a little. If a massage technique is used then you would rub your fingers into the deep tissue in you elbow, and into the muscle above (into the bicep) and below (into the forearm).
A muscle pull is probably the most common injury any athlete can have. They can happen anywhere in the body, not matter how long and thoroughly you stretch. Most times a muscle pull can occur from fatigue, overuse, or taking a fall. Warming up, stretching, and cooling down are all ways to help prevent muscle pulls from taking place, however nothing is ever guaranteed. Many times physical therapy is used after severe muscle pulls or tears. More however stretching and massage therapy is used to loosen the muscle up.
2 ) Neck Pain
Neck Pain is another common injury in sports, but can also be a very serious one. Sometimes athletes can get what are called, "wizers" or a sharp pain or cramping in a neck muscle. Many times this occurs by a sudden whiplash movement to the neck and shoulder area causing a small muscle to tense up and pinch. However more serious neck injury's can mean serious physical harm, such as paralysis or even death. For the minor pains in the neck the main thing people can do for it is ice the muscle down. But many hours of physical therapy come with serious injuries.
3) Shoulder Impingement
The summer before between my sophomore and junior year at Washington High School I separated my shoulder, then preceded to break it a month or so later. Shoulder injuries most of the times occur in the shoulder joint, or into the collar bone. With my injury I had a grade two AC separation. I had come back to practicing where I received a pop directly to the shoulder again which causes the separation to turn into a break. The break snapped back into place so I only had to go to physical therapy. The therapy took a month or so, and I was able to start lifting again. That year, before I transferred to Kennedy High School, I was able to play with an extra pad strapped on to it.
4) Lower Back Strain
Almost all athletes who participate in sports experience a lower back strain. Most times it’s from quickly twisting your body in an awkward way or from lifting heavy weight. The treatment for back pain fortunately is quite simple, ice it, heat it, and don't do anything to strain it again! After about a week, normally, the back muscles are feeling better and you can begin to work slowly back into your routine.
5) Tennis Elbow
Tennis Elbow is another common injury in athletics. This can happen in really any sport, but is most common in tennis and golf. The injury is really an inflammation of the muscles of the forearm and the tendon that connect the muscles to the bone in your elbow. These muscles and tendons are what allow us to put our hand palm-side up. This is treated in physical therapy by icing, and slowly stretching and slightly straining the muscles to make them work a little. If a massage technique is used then you would rub your fingers into the deep tissue in you elbow, and into the muscle above (into the bicep) and below (into the forearm).
Top Ten Most Common Injuries of Athletes Part 2
6) Runner’s Knee
ACL injuries are the most known knee injury; however the most common is Runner's Knee. The medical name for it is chondromalacia patella. Runner’s knee occurs due to a misalignment of the knee cap in its grooves. Normally, the knee cap goes up and down in the groove as the knee flexes or straightens out. If the knee cap becomes misaligned, the knee cap slides to the side and rubs on the side of the groves causing the cartilage (behind and on the side of the knee cap) to wear out. If wearing occurs, then fluid can build up and cause you knee to swell. In physical therapy you would mainly focus on stretching the quadriceps, and the massage the soft tissue all the way through the knee and quadriceps. Most times aspirin will be prescribed to try and reduce inflammation.
7) Shin Splints
Shin splints are most common in any sport involving running, most times track and field. The pain comes from the muscles near your shin bone, most times cause by running on hard surfaces or overuse. A lot of people get them at the beginning of a sport because their muscles are not accustom to training. Outside of occurring when a sport starts you can also get shin splints if you switch shoes or start to do more concentrated speed work. The pain comes from the inner side of the middle third of the shin bone where the muscle is actually being pulled away from the bone. For shin splints, most physical therapy will consist of icing and stretching. The part that feels the best however is the deep massages you can do. An effective massage to relax those muscles is simply run your thumbs down the inside of your leg, right down the side of your calf next to the shin.
8) Ankle Sprain
The most common ankle sprain in sports happens when the foot rolls to the outside and strains the ligaments on the outside of the ankle. This can cause the outside of the ankle to swell and throb. After a sprain, putting weight of it can cause a lot of pain and continue the swelling. An important fact to know about ankle sprains is that as long as it is hurting on the outside of the ankle it is most likely just a sprain, no matter how bad it hurts. However if you have pain on the inside of the ankle, then you should get x-rayed it check out the possibility of a hair-line fracture. Physical therapy would consist of icing on and off, then rolling the ankle all possible ways and stretching it out.
9)Achilles Tendonitis
Your Achilles is in the back of you foot and ankle, and is the largest tendon in your body! Tendonitis is inflammation of the tendon, usually due to overuse. Most the time when the Achilles is strained it is from not warming up properly for the activity you were participating in. Tendonitis on the other hand can occur from excessive wear on the ankle and foot, which actually cause the tendon to pull off center. If you were ever to tear your Achilles tendon, it is said to feel like a gunshot to the leg.
10)Arch Pain
Arch pain in the foot is most commonly due to over-stretching or partially tearing the arch pad. Some people go their whole life without ever having trouble with their arch. Some people though who have with rigid, high arches or seem to have flat feet can have a lot of trouble. They can feel the pain when they put weight on the foot or more when you push off with that foot. The interesting thing about this injury is that you don’t have to be active at all to get it. Young kids play sports can get arch pain, and so can middle ages people who just work and aren’t active. The main way to help arch pain in physical therapy is to stretch it and massage it. The best massage technique is to hold one foot at a time, and rub your thumbs into the deep tissue of the foot in circles. Next you can rub you thumbs up and down the foot, then start in the middle of the foot and pull the tissue with your thumbs outwards towards the inside and outside of the foot.
ACL injuries are the most known knee injury; however the most common is Runner's Knee. The medical name for it is chondromalacia patella. Runner’s knee occurs due to a misalignment of the knee cap in its grooves. Normally, the knee cap goes up and down in the groove as the knee flexes or straightens out. If the knee cap becomes misaligned, the knee cap slides to the side and rubs on the side of the groves causing the cartilage (behind and on the side of the knee cap) to wear out. If wearing occurs, then fluid can build up and cause you knee to swell. In physical therapy you would mainly focus on stretching the quadriceps, and the massage the soft tissue all the way through the knee and quadriceps. Most times aspirin will be prescribed to try and reduce inflammation.
7) Shin Splints
Shin splints are most common in any sport involving running, most times track and field. The pain comes from the muscles near your shin bone, most times cause by running on hard surfaces or overuse. A lot of people get them at the beginning of a sport because their muscles are not accustom to training. Outside of occurring when a sport starts you can also get shin splints if you switch shoes or start to do more concentrated speed work. The pain comes from the inner side of the middle third of the shin bone where the muscle is actually being pulled away from the bone. For shin splints, most physical therapy will consist of icing and stretching. The part that feels the best however is the deep massages you can do. An effective massage to relax those muscles is simply run your thumbs down the inside of your leg, right down the side of your calf next to the shin.
8) Ankle Sprain
The most common ankle sprain in sports happens when the foot rolls to the outside and strains the ligaments on the outside of the ankle. This can cause the outside of the ankle to swell and throb. After a sprain, putting weight of it can cause a lot of pain and continue the swelling. An important fact to know about ankle sprains is that as long as it is hurting on the outside of the ankle it is most likely just a sprain, no matter how bad it hurts. However if you have pain on the inside of the ankle, then you should get x-rayed it check out the possibility of a hair-line fracture. Physical therapy would consist of icing on and off, then rolling the ankle all possible ways and stretching it out.
9)Achilles Tendonitis
Your Achilles is in the back of you foot and ankle, and is the largest tendon in your body! Tendonitis is inflammation of the tendon, usually due to overuse. Most the time when the Achilles is strained it is from not warming up properly for the activity you were participating in. Tendonitis on the other hand can occur from excessive wear on the ankle and foot, which actually cause the tendon to pull off center. If you were ever to tear your Achilles tendon, it is said to feel like a gunshot to the leg.
10)Arch Pain
Arch pain in the foot is most commonly due to over-stretching or partially tearing the arch pad. Some people go their whole life without ever having trouble with their arch. Some people though who have with rigid, high arches or seem to have flat feet can have a lot of trouble. They can feel the pain when they put weight on the foot or more when you push off with that foot. The interesting thing about this injury is that you don’t have to be active at all to get it. Young kids play sports can get arch pain, and so can middle ages people who just work and aren’t active. The main way to help arch pain in physical therapy is to stretch it and massage it. The best massage technique is to hold one foot at a time, and rub your thumbs into the deep tissue of the foot in circles. Next you can rub you thumbs up and down the foot, then start in the middle of the foot and pull the tissue with your thumbs outwards towards the inside and outside of the foot.
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