Physical Therapist Assistant
Physical Therapist Assistant
The human body has 206 bones and about 320 pairs of muscles. Nine hundred ligaments connect bones to other bones; tendons connect muscles to bones; and an intricate system of nerves connects the muscular and skeletal systems to the brain. Injury and illness can affect our ability to move naturally, interfering with basic life tasks, exercising and jobs. Physical therapists help patients regain their range of motion and learn how to move safely and efficiently. Physical therapist assistants work with them.
Did You Know?
- Heat is not helpful in acute recovery from surgical procedures. It increases swelling.
- The human foot has 33 joints and 26 bones.
- Goniometry is the study of range of motion in your joints. Physical Therapy professionals use a “goniometer” and compare the results with normal ranges for similar people.
- Articulation is another word for a joint.
- In Great Britain, Australia and Canada, among other countries, physical therapists are known as “physios,” which is short for “physiotherapist.”
- The physical therapy profession evolved from the polio epidemic and war injuries of U.S. soldiers in the late 1800s and early 1920s.
- Tennis elbow is known as “lateral epicondylitis.” Extending the wrist while hitting a backhand in tennis can cause inflammation in this area of the arm (humerus) bone. Golfer's elbow is “medial epicondylitis. ”