Biomechanical Theory Journal

The Assignment: Use this area to Journal your thoughts concerning your life stages through discovery and understanding of the OT theories.

Background: The Biomedical frame of reference, as it relates to occupational therapy, is focused mainly on the physical deficits of the injured or disabled client. It is based on muscle, bone, and joint integrity, range of motion, strength, and endurance.

My Entry: Since I have never been injured any more seriously than a scrape on the knee, I initially had a hard time relating my life to the biomedical model. I wanted to think about it in terms of therapy. People go to get therapy when a bone, muscle, joint, or any combination therein is limited in motion in one way or another. Then I came across a statement made in Aaron and Tiffany’s power point presentation which noted that prevention is done by making the client aware of motions that could jeopardize the structure, strength, and/or endurance of the body segment in question. This is when it clicked: maybe I’ve never really been injured because I have avoided those types of motions that could cause damage to my joints all along.

In my life, I can see the prevention aspect of the biomedical model. I have been a swimmer since 5th grade. The low impact nature of the sport did not cause any wear and tear on my hips, knees, shins, and ankles that a sport like running would. It is also an individual sport where, as opposed to football, there is little to no physical contact that could cause breaks, tears, strains, cracks, and who knows what else? Swimmers, however, typically develop shoulder problems very quickly in their careers. Our coaches provided us with stretching and strengthening exercises, specifically for the shoulder, that would help to prevent injury and pain in the future. I also remember very vividly them telling us that we needed to take our breaths from both sides, as to prevent one shoulder from providing all of the extra strength needed to pull our bodies out of the water. I took this very seriously, and immediately formed the habit of breathing on both sides, something I still do today when I swim.

Another aspect of the biomechanical model that I can relate to is that working on endurance, strength, and range of motion can not only maintain a person’s performance in those areas, but continuous working of them can actually increase performance. When I started swimming in 5th grade I was TERRIBLE! I had no natural ability whatsoever. I couldn’t even finish my first 50 yard race; I got out half way through red-faced and sobbing. My parents have even told me before that it was “tough to watch” me swim. Over the years, I slowly gained coordination, endurance, and strength, from practicing hard and learning the technique. By the end of my high school career, I qualified for districts in the 500 and 200 yard races. On the other hand, “if you don’t use it, you lose it.” I found that out really quickly when college came along and I was no longer swimming. Today I swam for the first time in months, and I got out of the pool after an easy 30 minute work out. Needless to say, that is quite a short time compared to when I peaked in high school.

As much as I would love to get back into swimming, it is really difficult for me to get in the water and find out how out of shape I am. I want to be swimming 500’s in 5 minutes and 45 seconds like I used to. I can see how someone who has been injured would struggle with a loss and the therapy following. Even though the medical model takes the reductionistic standpoint that fixing the musculoskeletal issue will fix the functional deficit, complete restoration is not always possible. At least I know that I did this to myself, and that the structure and capabilities are still there. I just need to work for them!