I'm interested in becoming a Physical Therapist and would like to know the type of injuries I would have to deal with.
#physical-therapist
2 answers
Kim’s Answer
Heber,
The answer to this is "everything!" Think about all the joints and muscles in the human body. If it exists, someone can hurt it. I have been sent to PT many times. I have seen a lot of other patients. Common injuries include the larger joints, such as wrists, ankles, knees, shoulders, hips, elbows. Lots of others, including neck, back , fingers. Patients range from children to very elderly. It's not just injuries, but sometimes after surgical operations, such as a rotator cuff repair. You try to help them restore range of motion with the joint, and build up the strength of the muscles around it. Sometimes patients have other medical conditions. such as amputations, burns, or neurological conditions. The combat soldiers present some pretty complex cases, as do car crash survivors. Sometimes you help a person to have better balance to help prevent falls. Sometimes you will be teaching them to walk all over again. The therapists I have had love their jobs, and do a good job. I think it is an exciting field to get into, and wish you the best!
Samuel’s Answer
Answer really is EVERYTHING. But to go little more into details, it depends on which field you are in. One of the most exiting things about being a physical therapist is that you are able to work in different settings such as hospital (acute, post-acute, rehab, even ICU!), outpatient orthopedic clinics that you see such as ATI and Novacre which primarily deal with orthopedic injuries such as back pain, ankle pain etc. You can also be a pediatric physical therapist where you work with toddlers and even infants for their development. There are many other aspects that PTs work with so type of "injury" varies and I think it is more "conditions" you work with, not just limited to injuries.
Feel free to ask any further questions!
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