Technical Skills Needed for Physical Therapy

[reborn4u]

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Hello,

I was wondering what technical skills were needed to become a physical therapist. Do Physical Therapists need to have great control over their hands like a surgeon? I only ask because I have good control over my hand but I cannot keep my fingers completely still when I try to. They tend to move a little, but it's not noticeable unless if your really paying attention. Would this be a problems? Also what other technical skills are needed? Thanks for your help.

 

[Akiramay]

Sounds like you'll be just fine! You need mostly gross hand skills and some fine hand skills, but not anything where you have to remain completely steady and precise (at least from what I know). You need manual skills to palpate, do soft tissue mobilization, perform joint mobilizations, etc. A lot of these techniques utilize the heel of your hand or whole hand, so it doesn't necessarily require great control. Plus you mobilize not just with your hand, but with your whole body in order to conserve energy and generate enough force. Other manual skills like limb wrapping for an amputation or for edema reduction, percussion and vibration for chest therapy, or measuring range of motion using a goniometer, I would consider 'gross' manual skills, though I can see using a goniometer you need to at least be able to hold it steady to get an accurate reading.

The only skills I can think of right now where you need more steady and precise hand control are for things like sharp wound debridement, where you have to cut out the necrotic tissue without harming the healthy tissue. Or perform suctioning on a patient with a tracheostomy because it needs to be done quickly and precisely. But don't worry about the 'hand' skills. You will be fine! And you definitely will develop good control with practice. Hope this helps.