The tools that we are equipped with
Hit it on the The Head
Bear with me as you watch the first "how to use a hammer" video.
Boring hammer - :55 sec through 1:25
And then, the same tool used very differently: Cool hammer tricks - watch the whole thing.
The point of the videos and this post is to show that even the most dull tool, a hammer, can be used in many ways. We use the knowledge that we have learned in PT school, continuing courses, residency, fellowships, etc to their fullest advantage when we take the tool for what it is, and once mastered its use at the basic level, transform it into another realm with creativity. The “Crazy Hammer Trick” guy could never have come up with his unique way of hammering the nail (upside down and while the hammer is being juggled!!!) if he didn’t have a basic knowledge of what a hammer does in the first place and had thousands of successful hits on the nail head to get the feel of the hammer and its capacity. The hammer is effective at driving the nail in the "boring way" or the "fantastical way"--the outcome is the same.
I know everyone gets really excited to take new courses, and we should be. But what I really want to encourage us with is that we ALREADY POSSESS some of the most amazing tools in the physical therapy industry having taken 1-2 continuing education courses say on soft tissue or joint mobilization techniques. As we begin to more accurately use that information and effectively apply the technique to each patient, incredible results follow. This “basic” knowledge from courses is truly revolutionary in its ability to transcend any patient population and diagnosis. There is not a single patient that doesn’t need that information soundly applied regardless of whether they are a pediatric, neurologic, orthopedic, or geriatric patient.
Let's become good at what we already “know". Challenge ourselves to move the information from our heads and the pages of the manual (boring!) to patients’ bodies during each treatment session (Exciting! Results!). Once we’ve done that, we get creative and take it to the next level (“I’ll treat this adductor tension in standing!”)
Pretty soon, we’ll be driving nails in overhead while juggling!
Happy treatments, Everyone!
April Oury, PT MS, IOC, CFMT, FAAOMPT
Visit WebsiteThroughout her career, Ms. Oury has sought to increase her manual therapy skills: she obtained her Integrated Orthopedic Certification in 2000 through the University of St. Augustine and the Institute of Physical Art. In 2003, she went on to complete her Functional Manual Therapy™ certification from the Institute of Physical Art. Then in 2009, after a year in Steamboat Springs, CO, she obtained her fellow status in the American Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy (FAAOMPT).
Ms. Oury’s passion is to improve movement patterns through unorthodox posture retraining and mechanical alignment correction of the joint, soft tissue, nerve, and organs. Her vision is to continue training therapists in comprehensive manual therapy techniques so that their patients can experience results they never thought possible. “I get really excited when a patient who has been suffering for 30 years makes physical changes and keeps them. His or her personality changes, they achieve motion they didn’t think was possible, and they feel better about themselves.” These scenarios “drive me to further my own skills and then train the PT’s that work for her physical therapy company Body Gears.
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