Common Physical Therapy Questions

Common Physical Therapy Questions

 

As a Physical Therapist, I have heard certain questions frequently over the years.  This past week, I have been treating numerous patients following a Total Hip or Total Knee Replacement Surgery.  Many of these patients have trouble lifting their operative leg into bed when transferring from the sitting to the supine position.  My previous post explains how using the S.O.D. Stretch Strap can assist the patient with maintaining independence while performing this technique.  However, most patients do not have a strap so soon following their return home from the hospital.  They accept the fact that they can't lift their leg and rely on a family member to lift it into bed for them.  Even weeks after surgery, they may rely on someone else's help for this.  When the family asks me if this is normal, I tell them that the weakness is normal.  However, it is not only muscle weakness that is the cause.  The patient must begin to redevelop the motor pattern to lift their leg into bed by practicing it over and over.  Many times, if I perform the leg raise while cueing the patient to assist, after a few times, the patient is amazed at how quickly the movement returns.  It is as if they must re-establish the brain-leg connection in order to perform the task again.  I advise family members to assist only after the patient has made an effort first.  This will help the patient recover quicker and will prevent the family member from injuring themselves in the process of helping.

 

I have also been working with many Worker's Compensation patients who have injured their backs.  Most of them tell me that they bent over to pick something up and felt it "go out" at that moment.  After weeks of successful therapy, including core stabilization activities, body mechanics and lifting education,  I usually get the same question:  "When can I go back to lifting like I used to, without having to think about it?" 

 

And I answer them with: "Never.  You should have never lifted like that to begin with.  That's why I have been teaching you body mechanics and lifting techniques.  It is your goal to establish new posture and body mechanics so that you don't have to think about it the next time you are required to bend to lift something."

 



 



So although most of us have rarely thought about how we are to lift something off the floor, if we are taught the correct way to do it, and practice it repetitively, our new habit will minimize the risk of lower back injury in the future.  Just because we have been lifting a certain way all of our lives, does'nt mean that we have been doing it correctly.  The older we get, the higher the chance that poor lifting techniques will catch up with us.