Anyone concerned with injuries?

[DancerFutureDPT]

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As in your own injuries?

I'm not gonna lie...I'm a little freaked out that my body may not be able to make it through 3 years of PT school, and if it does that it'll crap out not long into the profession for me.

I had a chronic bone infection as a kid, which left a lot of scar tissue in my ankle and a bone spur in my heel. I've gotten PT for it several times, but every once in awhile it becomes really painful again (granted moreso when I was dancing, which I'm not doing anymore at this time, but I would like to start up again cuz it's how I relieve stress).

Now apparently my hip likes to pop and snap for about 72 hours randomly ever month or two...the last two times I've had this happen it's been triggered by sitting...as in while I was sitting in class and not moving for like an hour. If I can injure myself while seated and not moving, imagine the damage I can do while moving other people around 😱 I'm going to the MD in a few hours to get it X-rayed to make sure I don't have any residual damage from my bone infection in my hip, because it wouldn't surprise me.

But in all seriousness, I know they teach and emphasize the importance of proper body mechanics for the PT and that I'll be getting a lot of free PT as other students practice on me, but is anyone else who has a history of chronic (or even severe acute injuries) a little freaked out at the idea that you could become 100k+ in debt and then something could prevent you from finishing or practicing?

 

[Kyra4dpt]

Hey, fellow former dancer here. Yes, I do freak out from time to time, especially in the early days of observing PTs. I remember thinking that there was no way my body could hold up... I sustained several injuries as a dancer (hips and feet) and just from life (neck and lumbar back). I have chronic pain thanks to advanced Lyme & injuries: I have fibromyalgia and suffer from chronic headaches & migraines with associated vertigo. Do I worry, yes. Does it stop me? No. I just do my best to keep my body happy with supplements, yoga/pilates/spinning/ballet barre, plenty of rest, eating well and see my doctors when needed to keep myself functioning in tip-top shape.

Since I'm also an older student, I'm looking at programs that have research and teaching opportunities. If my body can't handle 40+ hour work weeks as a clinician, then I'll find employment opps where I can teach in higher ed/research/administration and reduce my clinical work to part-time. Maybe something for you to consider?

Just listen to your body and treat it well with a good diet, plenty of water and exercise. From what I've heard, it isn't those big transfers etc that hurt they body, it's the small, repetitive movements that can get to you. You'll find a way to practice PT that works for your body. Keep your mind open to developing skills in administration, research and teaching while in PT school. You're a dancer: you have the dedication, work ethic and perseverance needed to get through school and work in the field you love. I say...carpe diem!

 

[MotionDoc]

This is a very real concern, but I recently heard a story of a recent DPT graduate who suffered a car accident that left her a paraplegic soon after graduating. Well, she is currently practicing and has a special aide perform the maneuvers that she no longer can.

It is important to remember that, although there maybe a lot of physicality in the day to day life of a PT, we are not consulted, nor paid, to move people around. This can be done by a trained aide, a nurse, even a lay person if given guidance. Our real value lies in our ability to take the results of an evaluation (whether done by you or someone else), give a PT diagnosis in terms of the movement dysfunction, and then design a rehabilitation program aimed to restore function.

Even in the worst case scenario, a person can still be an excellent physical therapist.

 

[maxplanck]

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[maxplanck]

I am not a PT. I am applying to become one.

I have had a LOT of body pain problems in my life.. bad back pain, Carpal tunnel, foot pain, hip pain, leg pain, headaches, really the entire body but with different parts at different times.

I was getting milked by a chiropractor for years, then I said "fork this" and began doing my own research into treatment techniques. I started self-treating. I've been able to either solve or at least extremely improve every pain problem on my own by self treating, and much faster than things were improving through the chiropractor. Of course, it took a lot of experimentation, and it would have been much faster and better overall to have a PT hand the key information to me. There are still probably plenty of things which I haven't figured out, which a PT could tell me and which would be beneficial to me.


Books which I found useful:

Stretching by Bob Anderson (GREAT book, great illustrations)

Pain Erasure by Bonnie Prudden. As I understand it, her technique is basically the same thing as Myofascial Release and Shiatsu Massage (please correct me if I'm wrong.) I can sum up the massage portion of this book: Massage your muscles, find the knots. Massage the knots. Exerting steady pressure for ~10 seconds into a knot can be beneficial. Then stretch the muscles which contain these knots. Also, finding a way to exercise these muscles is important (the next two items in this list provide some good exercises which may not be obvious). With regular massage, stretching, and exercise, over time, hard knots become softer, then smaller, and eventually disappear, along with the pain. Sometimes it can be quite a puzzle to figure out how to stretch a given muscle, but the result is always worth the effort.

Pain Free by Pete Egoscue (contains simple exercises which work well to relieve and prevent pain, in my experience)

Pain Free Workout by Pete Egoscue (This is a DVD which contains other exercises not appearing in his book)


Here is one of the best tips that I have: For easy self massage, get a lacrosse ball, put it on your bed, then lie on the bed with the ball between your body and the bed. Slowly move your body to control the ball's position, allowing gravity to push your body against the ball, thus massaging your muscles. You can cover an area faster with multiple balls, but using a single ball gives a deeper penetrating massage b/c a single ball will exert greater pressure than multiple balls. Other types of balls (tennis, golf, soccer, basketball) may work better for you in certain areas and for certain types of massage, I have not experimented with other types of balls yet. If you really want a penetrating massage (I find it absolutely necessary sometimes), then put the ball on the floor instead of your bed.

Foam Roller is another very useful self massage tool. It's good to have a variety of tools for self massage, because some work better in certain situations than others.
http://www.amazon.com/Elite-Molded-Roller-Round-Popular/dp/B000HLLREA

This device really comes in handy if you are lazy or busy, since it can massage while you're sitting at a desk, or while resting, etc. Since it's only a pair of rotating balls, it only gives a "dumb" massage which is less effective in my experience than the self guided ball-bed or foam roller massage. But for when I feel pain and can't or simply don't want to break away from my activity for a ball-bed or foam roller massage, this device is a lifesaver.
http://www.amazon.com/Homedics-Therapist-Select-SP-10H-Shiatsu/dp/B000QTVR84

I've read that there was a study which demonstrated inversion to be ineffective at resolving back pain. However, I read many reviews online where people claimed to have obtained benefit from inversion. So, I decided to try it. I bought this inversion device last week, and it has helped me to achieve a stretch in the muscles which lie along the bottom of the rib cage which I had previously not been able to figure out how to stretch. It's definitely improving my quality of life.
http://www.amazon.com/Teeter-Hang-Ups-Decompression-Extension/dp/B000QSOSEA

Finding a chair which fits my body is my next step. I am going chair shopping tomorrow. Here is an article by a PT about this subject, these are the guidelines which I'm going to use for chair selection:
http://www.physicaltherapyplus.org/ask_q4.htm


Massaging muscle knots can be painful, but it is a sort of "good" pain that brings release from chronic pain. It doesn't feel like injury, but it can be quite intense.

I have prereq classes starting next week, and had "let myself go" for a while (I've been busy), so I've been in some pain. I wouldn't be able to concentrate while studying in pain. So, I've been using the last week and will use this week to spend at least an hour a day working on myself. In my experience, the sort of self-treatment that I've described is cumulative, meaning that I can spend extra time getting myself into very good, pain-free shape if I need to. This will give me a buffer to "let myself go" a bit during the coming school weeks/months if need be, without falling into a very painful state which would be very time consuming to get out of.