Espinoza 1

Nicolas Espinoza

Peter Foote

Senior Capstone

March 19, 2019

Physical Therapy

When someone is living their life to the fullest, there is always the possibility of getting

seriously injured or hurt to where their body can’t heal on its own. A doctor will may tell their

patient that they either need surgery or physical rehabilitation (known as physical therapy).

Surgery may seem like a more direct solution, but physical therapy is virtually always

recommended afterwards if the surgery causes weakness in the area that it is done. They aren’t

limited to only injuries or surgery. If there is a loss of function in a person’s musculoskeletal

system, physical therapist can be of assistance​. Physical therapists are valuable to those in

need of rehabilitation and the public because of how efficient they are in restoring function,

because of what people learn during the experience, and because of how much they are

needed.

Generally when people learn that they are in need of physical rehabilitation, they

understand that if they want to get better, they need to follow their therapists instructions and

routines. In moments, patients may begin getting lethargic and just tell themselves that they can

skip an exercise or stretch because they think they’ll manage without it. What they don’t know is

that they won’t recuperate at the rate that their physical therapist set them to. As mentioned in

Wendy Solomon’s article, consistency helps to achieve better results. In an interview with

physical therapist Julianne Smith, she said that she had a patient that couldn’t walk without
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feeling excruciating pain. She said that after doing 4 sessions a week for a few months she was

able to help restore normal function to the person. The patient didn’t suffer from the horrible

pain that they had been experiencing before rehabilitation. This proves that physical therapy can

have a powerful effect on people who are living day to day with preventable pain. Physical

therapy is also very effective post operation, since it can help return the original functions to the

part of the body operated on. For example, after total knee replacement patients are unable to

walk and can hardly bend their knee. Patients start by using the muscle groups around the legs to

get used to using them again. From there, leg strength training and range of motion is added.

With consistency, the knee should heal at the pace set by the physical therapist (Mayo Clinic).

Not only can physical therapy work on the musculoskeletal parts of the body, it can also help

with other areas, such as the nervous system. A condition such as multi sclerosis, which

deteriorates the outer covering of the nerves in the body. If it is caught early enough, surgery and

physical therapy can reduce pain, and keep range of motion and movement as best as it can be

(Baudo, Nico, and Frederick Belluci). As amazingly efficient the work of physical therapy is,

there are more good that comes out of it.

Whenever people are involved in an event or activity on multiple occasions, they tend to

learn a few things. In this case, people learn from their different weekly sessions with their

physical therapist. When Physical Therapist Will Ingerly was interviewed, he said that he wanted

his patients to learn from their many sessions. He said that he wants to expand their knowledge

of their own bodies. To understand what they are capable based on how well they can progress in

their routines. Smith had also gave her opinion saying that she wants people to learn about their

bodies process and how to manage their pain. They both want their patients to learn from the
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pain that their body is experiencing. Learning the causes of it and what can be done to help treat

the pain. The different sessions teach things such as how the body moves and functions with

itself. For example, a cause of back pain can actually be the result of tight hamstrings. It doesn’t

seem to make sense at first, but after going to multiple sessions, people begin learning about how

the body works together to work properly.

As current generations of people get older, technology will continue to improve and as a

result, people will live longer lives. Because of this, the older age groups will grow in numbers.

According to United states Census Bureau, as the generations continue to retire into the future,

the relative age of our population will increase. It is projected by 2050 that there will be 83.7

million people over the age of 65. Even in today’s world, there is much use for physical therapy.

When a phone survey was done, it was discovered that about 33% have gone through physical

therapy in the past year and 31% have in years prior to the interview (Finlayson, Marcia,

Matthew Plow, Chi Cho). There will be a need for physical therapist because when people get

older, their body needs assistance with functioning. Their muscles begin to weaken which can

make living their life a much harder task. They are likely to development muscular or skeletal

conditions or diseases that can limit how they live on a day to day basis. Because of this, they

will require more assistance from others in order to complete simple tasks such as walking up

and down stairs or taking a bath. Physical therapy can help make an older person less reliant on

others.

To conclude, physical therapy is a growing career choice that has many benefits for those

in need of physical rehabilitation. Firstly, the career has been proven to efficiently restore

function to those who struggle to live life with periodic or chronic pain. Secondly, it is also a
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learning experience to those going through the sessions since it teaches them about how there

body functions and how the different muscles and bones work together. Finally, it is shown to be

needed in the present and the future because of the growing population.
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Works Cited

Baudo, Nico, and Frederick Belluci. ​Advances in Physical Therapy Research​. Nova

Science Publishers, Inc, 2014. ​EBSCOhost,​ search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=e000 xna&AN=665654&site=ehost-live.

Clinic, Mayo. “Physical Therapy.” ​YouTube​, YouTube, 7 Aug. 2014,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy1qjQomD8Y.

Finlayson, Marcia, Matthew Plow, and Chi Cho. "Use of Physical Therapy Services among

Middle-Aged and Older Adults with Multiple Sclerosis."​ Physical Therapy,​ vol. 90, no.

11, 2010, pp. 1607-18​. ProQuest,​ http://grcc.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search-

proquest-com.grcc.idm.oclc.org/docview/762729552?accountid=11183.

Ingerly, Will. ​“Re: Physical Therapist.”​ Recovered by Nicolas Espinoza, 21 Mar. 2019.

Ortman, Jennifer. “An Aging Nation: The Older Population in the United States.” ​Census.gov​, 8

Mar. 2019, www.census.gov/prod/2014pubs/p25-1140.pdf.

Smith, Julianne. Phone interview. 25 Mar. 2019

Solomon, Wendy. "St. Luke's Expands Physical Therapy Offices in Region." ​Lehigh Valley
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Business, 2017. ProQuest​, http://grcc.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search-

proquest-com.grcc.idm.oclc.org/docview/1924457149?accountid=11183.