Could you do PT if you were older and had Fibromyalgia?

[OTStudentSept2014]

Hi,

I chose OT school because I thought I didn't have the stamina/strength needed to work as a PT long term. I have Fibromyalgia, which flares up when I have disruptive sleep or repetitive motion. I've heard from various sources that performing manual therapy/deep tissue becomes difficult later on, and that there are a lot more transfers. Only near the end of my OT grad school applications did I find out that there was a dual OT/PT option with St. Augustine. That would be my dream program because I like the foundations for both.

I'm somewhat frustrated with my OT classes because I think there is a lot of fluff that isn't useful. Not enough work with quantitative subjects. When we do get into research methods/math or biomechanics, the problems are dumbed down because they think OT students can't handle it. The professor teaching the quantitative methods said that one reason that there isn't much quantitative research is because not enough OTs know how to do it and are comfortable with the math involved.

What are/were the oldest students in your PT classes, and do you know anyone who has gone through PT school with health issues that potentially could limit some of the physical work they would do after graduation?

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[Azimuthal]

The oldest PT student was in her 40's. She left the program in good standing due to health issues that surfaced due to the stress incurred from the demands of the program.

Have you looked into hand therapy? Its open to OT and PT's and a respected specialty (CHT). No heavy transfers required for the most part.

http://www.htcc.org/

 

[OTStudentSept2014]

I've heard that Hand Therapy involves a lot of working with your hands, and that is where most of my fibromyalgia pain occurs. Edema/scar massage, demonstrating hand exercises... I'd say I probably need hand therapy myself. I was diagnosed with cubital tunnel syndrome after years of ignoring hand pain that I attributed to the fibromyalgia. The hand therapist that came to talk to our class said that it is a bit of a pressure cooker environment and that people who end up in hand therapy tend to be Type A's. I left the field I was in previously because I was trying to avoid extremely demanding jobs with long hours.

 

[Azimuthal]

What exactly did you expect from careers based on movement? How do you fare with typing up evals and progress notes?

What about the safety field or consultation role? Many PT/OT in the neuro sector work research or perform interdisciplinary consults for patients with MS, Parkinson's, ALS, etc, but those are usually senior level positions.

 

[OTStudentSept2014]

What exactly did you expect from careers based on movement? How do you fare with typing up evals and progress notes?

What about the safety field or consultation role? Many PT/OT in the neuro sector work research or perform interdisciplinary consults for patients with MS, Parkinson's, ALS, etc, but those are usually senior level positions.

I was looking for a field where I'd do a variety of gross motor physical tasks. OT appealed to me because I'd be going around doing a variety of tasks, walking, demonstrating actions/exercises...

In the career I came from, I would spend 6-10 hours per day at a desk at a computer without doing much movement. 2-3 hours a day of typing evals/progress notes (particularly if I added Tiger Balm/Biofreeze to my hands if they hurt) wouldn't be an issue. 2-3 hours of providing manual therapy would be an issue, but 15-30 minutes a day I could probably handle, particularly if I had some flexibility as to which days I would do that.

I'm guessing that in PT school, there might be times when students need to practice some type of manual therapy for a couple hours a day for several days in a row.

 

[Bones26]

Consider what's required just to go through PT school:

- 3-hour anatomy labs which require students to dissect using a scalpel
- 3-hour ortho labs where students are practicing evaluation and manual skills on each other
- hours of lectures which require students to take notes
- the time spent practicing skills. My friends and I would meet every Saturday morning and at night leading up to a practical just to hone our manual skills

I don't say this to discourage you, but I was a healthy person in my late 20s through PT school, and I thought that it was physically exhausting at times. I also developed arthritis in both of my wrists and dominant 1st CMC joint. If stress is a trigger for your fibro that's most likely going to be an issue.

 

[DesertPT]

If your already a good way into OT school, I would stick it out and at least graduate. That would be a huge waste not too, unless maybe you just started or something.