On July 12th 2005, Heather Tice’s life changed forever. Heather was in the passenger seat of a car driving down a steep hill with her seatbelt unbuckled. The next thing she knew she was laying on the ground, covered in blood, unable to feel her own legs. Heather would later find out that she had received an injury to the C7 section of her spinal cord, which is located in the neck. Heather’s injury was incomplete, so despite the height of the injury she retains the use of her upper body (Car accident causes). Every year approximately 12,000 people are newly affected by spinal cord injuries, and approximately 229,000 are living with an existing spinal cord injury (Spinal cord injury). Spinal cord injuries are a complex type of injury that is difficult to treat, but there are several methods through which physical therapy and technology can help patients with a spinal cord injury. A spinal cord injury refers to any traumatic injury to the nervous tissue that runs throughout the spine. Spinal cord injuries can be in one of two basic types, incomplete, or complete (A brief overview). In a complete spinal cord injury there is a total loss of function in everything below the area of the injury. In an incomplete spinal cord injury the patient retains some function. In some cases, with a minor injury the patient may even suffer no loss of function at all. Other effects of spinal cord injuries include lack of ability to regulate automatic bodily functions, such as body temperature and blood pressure, muscular and bone degradation, and kidney stones (A brief overview). Muscular and bone degeneration is something that also occurs in people who spend long periods of time in a low or null gravity environment, such as astronauts, and for muc... ... middle of paper ... ...July 2010. Web. 18 Jan. 2012. . Lam, Tania. Et al. "Using Robot-Applied Resistance to Augment Body-Weight--Supported Treadmill Training in an Individual With Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury." Physical Therapy 91.1 (2011): 143-51. Print. Shute, Nancy. "Spinal Implant Spurs Motion In Paralyzed Man : NPR." NPR : National Public Radio : News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts : NPR. 20 May 2011. Web. 18 Jan. 2012. . "Spinal Cord Injury Facts." Foundation for Spinal Cord Injury Prevention, Care & Cure. June 2009. Web. 20 Jan. 2012. . Valent, Linda J.M. Et al. "Effects of Hand Cycle Training on Physical Capacity in Individuals With Tetraplegia: A Clinical Trial." Physical Therapy 89.10 (2009): 1051-060. Print.
Based upon previous knowledge of spinal cord function, what results from the testing were consistent with a spinal cord injury?
Downing uses the strength from her competitive athlete days to help her learn to live with paralysis on her own terms. From an early age, the author became involved in sports, competing on the swim team, diving and gymnastics; however, in her early twenties cycling became her beloved sport of choice. During a conversation with her physical therapist, Downing quickly found out the hardest part of her injury is
Huang C, Hsieh T, Lu S, Su F. (2011). Effect of Kinesio tape to muscle activity and vertical jump performance in healthy inactive people. Biomed Eng Online 10; 70. Kase K, Wallis J, Kase T. (2003) Clinical Therapeutic Applications of the Kinesio Taping Methods.
Scientists are on the brink of doing the unthinkable-replenishing the brains of people who have suffered strokes or head injuries to make them whole again. If that is not astonishing enough, they think they may be able to reverse paralysis. The door is at last open to lifting the terrifying sentence these disorders still decree-loss of physical function, cognitive skills, memory, and personality.
Not all people born with spina bifida have the same needs, so treatment will be different for each person. Some people have problems that are more serious than others. Therapeutic recreation services can be used to strengthen the upper body, help increase postural alignment, and prevent obesity. Excersizes like chair aerobics, strength training, swimming, and archery can help develop shoulder and arm strength. Aerobic activities such as swimming to control body weight and activities that require full range of motion (such as tossing a ball) can also be used to help people. Some may need to maintain upper body strength when a wheelchair is the primary method of getting around. Through play, sports and recreation experiences, TRSs encourages friendship development and social relationships. TRSs can assist young people to adapt to their means of mobility and the strength they need to maintain the ability to move on a daily basis. (Carter p. 204
People have created a hectic and busy world, that includes careers and daily activities that require physical activity. While attempting to attain the required physical conditioning, people often take chances with their personal health as they try to stretch their physical limits. Sometimes, people can surpass their current limits and form new boundaries; however, other times people are not so fortunate. These unfortunate times often lead to injury, including workplace accidents, sporting incidents, disease afflictions, as well as others; any or all of which could bring about the need of rehabilitation services. Many of these require physical therapy, which includes assisting injured or otherwise impaired patients as they recover to their pre-injury status or to recover as much as is physically possible. The field of physical therapy is a choice career for those who enjoy helping people recover from injury, and the following text will provide reason for choosing this profession.
Physical therapy is a fairly new practice of rehabilitation. The treatments were not widely practiced until after World War I when soldiers returned home with injuries that were able to be rehabilitated by this therapy. The profession immediately began to grow and has been popular in the U. S. since that time. The vocation is also expected to c...
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"The Physical Therapist: A Professional Profile." American Physical Therapy Association. Online. Internet. 8 April 1997. Available: http://www.apta.org/pt_prof/professionalprofile.html.
Opening my eyes to this concept has completely turned my treatment techniques upside down! I mean this quite literally. I find I usually get my best results by treating the opposite end of the body from the symptoms. To say this approach is “unorthodox” in the world of physical therapy is an understatement. I am hopeful the observations, ideas, and concepts I present in this text will help us approach rehab more holistically through the conventional vehicle of exercise, but with a new intention.
As an occupation in the medical field, physical therapists have a very long strenuous list of duties. That list includes working with patients with limited use of their bodies due to injury or disability and improving mobility while reducing pain. Physical therapists provide care to people of all ages who have functional problems such as sprains, strains, fractures, arthritis, amputations, stroke, cerebral palsy, other injuries relating to sports, other injuries relating to work, other neurological disorders, and various other conditions. Some ways that physical therapist go about reducing pain levels of their patients is by using exercises, stretching, hands on therapy, and special equipment that is designed to help increase their mobility, prevent further injury, and smooth out the...
Gabboth, Tim. "Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins). Feb2012, Vol. 26 Issue 2, P487-491. 5p." N.p., n.d. Web.
2. Fitzgerald, GK.; Piva, SR.; Gil, AB.; Wisniewski, SR.; Oddis, CV.; & Irrgang, JJ. Agility and perturbation training techniques in exercise therapy for reducing pain and improving function in people with knee osteoarthritis: A randomized clinical trial. Phys Ther. April 2011;91;4: 452-469.
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a medically complex and life-disrupting condition. SCI is one of the most severe injuries which bring sudden and profound life changes that have global effects (Somers, 1992). According to World Health Organization (WHO) report (2011), word wide 20-40 people per million of populations acquire spinal injury every year. It is estimated that in the United States (US) each year there are about 11,000 new cases of SCI and there are currently about 250,000 persons alive with SCI, because of lack of improvements in medical care and survival. The prevalence of people living with SCI has increased, and it is predicted that there will be greater and greater numbers of older patients with SCI (Spinal cord injury: facts and