December 12th, 2024 By: Amanda Mills, PT, DPT
Our Patient
After being ejected from the ATV, our patient experienced nerve damage due to an incomplete spinal cord injury. This means that the spinal cord has not been completely disconnected. This nerve damage will be assessed during physical therapy. The goal is to have our patient have complete nerve regeneration. For our patients, they hope to focus on developing a stronger system to distribute more nerve signals. This is called muscle recruitment.
Our patient also has poor balance or proprioception. Balance doesn't only affect standing, but everyday life. Even when you are sitting, balance is in action keeping you sitting upright. This was demonstrated to us by the use of a yoga ball. One of my classmates, Arianna Ori, sat atop a yoga ball and lifted one leg. This made balancing extremely difficult. Another demonstration she showed us was attempting to balance on a foam block with our eyes closed. This was super hard for me, but it was familiar to me. I used to do this in my own physical therapy for my ankle. This was super cool to experience and actually feel what our patient would be feeling on a daily basis.
DAY 1:
On the first day of physical therapy for our patient, she will have to follow certain safety precautions. There will be no weight bearing, no spinal flexion, and no lifting. This is also when the physical therapist will assess the patient. They will test the patient's sensation in thier lower body and thier active and passive motion. For this patient, the physical therapist will test mostly passive motion due to lack of sensation.
Physical Therapy
Physical therapy's goal is to restore normal function and mobility. It can help through assessment, interventions, and treatment. Before class started, we all tested our grip strength. Mine was 81.9, this was in the "strong" range for your average female seventeen-year-old. This is how physical therapists assess the patient's damage to a "normal" scale. Physical therapists will assess thier patient's range of motion, strength, and balance and relate this all to a "normal" scale. The physical therapist will also test active and passive ranges of motion. Active range of motion is when the patient can control thier motion, passive range of motion is more forced motion.
Most patients who have been injured for an extensive period of time will have tightness in thier joints and muscles. Therefore, a physical therapist will help them stretch passively. Due to the lack of movement, these patients will also have muscle weakness. To strengthen the muscles in a recently injured patient, they will start with more intermediate exercises. They help increase muscle fibers' ability to produce or resist force. They will use items that seem to be random to help with PT. For example, foam boards, yoga balls, etc.
There are multiple different forms of treatment within physical therapy. This includes cupping, dry needling, running, and even yoga.
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