I got to experience a wide variety of patients in the outpatient rehab setting. The only place I have ever shaddowed before was in a pediatric develpment facility. There, the OTs worked with children with developmental disabilities, helping them to gain functional abilities that they may gain naturally as typically developing children do. Emily's patients were adults who have been injured or had surgery or both, and need to regain strength and/or range of motion, mostly of the joints. Some of the cases I saw yesterday include: tennis elbow (tendonitis), carpel tunnel, torn biceps, shoulder and knee replacements, and back injuries.
One of the treatments that I was able to watch Emily give to several of her patients is called ASTYM. Pronounced "a-stim," the treatment is designed to break up fibrotic tissue the body forms after injury. Normal muscle fibers run parallel, along the length of the muscle. After an injury, the new fibers and s
car tissue regrow "every-which-way" and can cause stiffness and immobility. During treatment, the provider runs the edges of different acrylic tools (pictured left) along the injured muscle. Where normal muscle tissue is, the instruments run smoothly, and where fibrotic tissue is, both the patient and provider can feel what Emily described as a "washboard effect." The edges of each instrument are designed to break up that "washboard" as they are run over of the damaged tissue. Emily, as well as some of the patients, told me that the treatment can be quite painful, and can cause bruising. However, many patients have seen results including decreased pain and increased range of motion.The most pressing issue I discovered yesterday is that I really need to brush up on my Anatomy. Emily used the specific terminology when talking with patients about their injuries. It all sounds familiar, but I wouldn't have remembered all that on my own. Looks like I'm going to have a lot of studying ahead of me!
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