Physical Therapy Philosophy Statement

As a future physical therapist I would like to find the happy medium between new technology equipment and the old fashioned hands on physical therapy to maximally heal my patience injuries. I would like to treat a wide range of people such as athletes, elderly, middle aged and children. I want them to get as close to a 100% recovery as possible. I do not want to rush the recovery but use methods that facilitate for a faster recovery. Lastly I want them to enjoy therapy instead of see it as a chore or inconvenience.

I believe that the human touch is very important but I also believe that technology has really helped decrease the recovery time of patience. Depending on the injury there are different ways of going about your approach, for example I am on the Cross and Track team and when someone is injured they run on the Alter G. This is a treadmill that has an inflatable bubble around your waist; this takes a significant amount of body weight off your legs. Some girls with serious injury are stuck running on the Alter G for 5 months with very little improvements in their injury. Once they hit the ground again they re injur themselves all over again, because they are not able to adjust to full weight. The Alter G can be used very well in a case where an individual just has some minor aches and pains and needs a recovery run but not as a supplement for your daily running. Sometimes you really just need to rest, take time off, get worked on and then start up again. An example of technology helping injury would be ultra sound, this device creates little vibrations in your skin causing it to create heat and decreasing healing time significantly.

A good way to measure whether or not the method in which you chose to heal an injury is working would be to measure the progress of healing. Is it healing as fast as you think it should be? Is it healing at all? If the method isn’t working than you can always try another method whether it is a new technology or hands on method. The more you are exposed to similar injuries the quicker it will be to pin point the particular method in which is best suited. Everyone is different but there has to be at least a similar pattern in a healing process that can be an indicator. Knowing more about the different equipment and devices that are out there for helping patience is a huge part of the battle, knowing what the purpose of each one is and whom it is suited for.

Helping individuals heal their injuries is so important to me because it is giving them a better quality of life. Some people have been dealing with these issues for years and to finally be able to relieve their pain and struggles would be life changing. Feeling helpless and defeated from an injury is emotionally and physically draining. Everyone deserves a shot at being healthy and happy, I want to help people give their best shot at a great quality of life.