treatment

today i was treating a patient trying to get him 70 degrees active knee flexion. lying supine on a plinth the patient started actively flexing, but only reaching 50 degrees. i then got him to practice passive flexion by putting a sheet around his foot so that he could pull with each hand and achieve knee flexion. this is a standard technique that is often used. however he was still not quite getting to where i wanted. so i tied a pulley to the cage over the top of the bed and put a sling under his knee. he would then pull on the handle and the pulley would cause the sling to pull up under his knee. this took the knee into full flexion and he actually achieved 80 degrees. i found it really effective and i think the pt was really happy aswell. i have also discovered some effective techniques to improve quads lag also. moving the knee cap on the good leg and telling the pt to stop you moving it causes them to go into quads firing. get them to incorporate this into the operated leg at the same time so they can get a feel for the co-ordination. once they wake up quads then chuck the quads wedge under the knee and off you go. i found this really effective. also try beginning quads treatment with some eccentric lowering. it strengthens the muscle to allow it to get higher ranges.

running the ward

well this week i will be running the ward at kaleeya which will be challenging and exciting. this will involve me discharging patients, filling out all the paper work, handing over to doctors and nurses and basically taking control of all the physio roles on the ward. this gives me the initiative to prioritise which patients to see so that i can discharge them. this gives me a great sense of responsibility and i feel like i am ready to take on this challenge. im really happy with where im at with placement atm however id be lying if i said im not looking forward to friday when i can actually work and earn some coin. over the last few weeks i have been taking on more and more responsibility so hopefully i can put it all into practice this week....

Aborigine-me

i had some experience dealing with Aboriginal pts the other day. An aboriginal lady from fitzroy crossing in whoop whoop presented with a broken ankle. im comfortable with the routine treatment for post surgery ankle ORIF, so it was just the pt that i needed to become familiar with. she seemed pretty traditional so i took on board what i have learnt.... things such as little eye contact and speaking in a dialect they are familiar with. i must admit i do find it challenging not to shy away from judging a pt such as this, not because of race but other things such as they havent discovered the wonderful essence of rexona, or their bed habbits arent particularly pleasant. but i think to my credit i handled myself very well and did what i needed to do. you get your pts that are easy because they are clean, have a good attitude and comply really well with treatment, however its not always roses and happy days and in saying that im glad i got the chance to test my character with a more difficult pt. i think you just had do what u have come to do, dont get off topic and be happy that our sense of smell can accommodate to even the more potent smells in a matter of minutes. happy days