Day 4

Day 4

On Day 4, I was at Ragged Mountain Physical Therapy from 9:00–12:00 and 1:00–2:30. In total, I completed 4.5 hours. One patient I observed was a middle- to elderly-aged man with shoulder pain. He used to play football and also worked as a carpenter, which likely contributed to wear and tear over time. He has arthritis, and Diane’s goal is to calm down the joint and improve mobility. At one point, doctors believed he had a torn rotator cuff and were planning surgery, but on the day of the operation he raised his arm to wave at the doctor. They were surprised by how much range of motion he had, which changed their thinking about the injury.

I also saw the patient with the separated quadriceps tendon again. He was able to work for four hours, which showed significant progress compared to where he started earlier in recovery.

During the afternoon, I helped patients move through exercise circuits and observed how Diane performs cupping therapy. One patient had been knocked unconscious while skiing and suffered multiple compression fractures from T7–T11 and L1. Diane performed massage work followed by cupping therapy to loosen the muscles and surrounding tissue so the patient could eventually begin gentle exercises and movement again.

I also spent some time studying for the knee diagram test that Diane will be giving me and Elsa on Monday. I am starting to get the hang of where the different structures are located and whether they are on the medial or lateral side of the knee.

I did not get a chance to ask Diane about the research I did yesterday on the connection between the mind and body in relation to pain and recovery, but I am planning to talk to her about it tomorrow on Day 5.

One thing Diane said during the day that stood out to me was, “It’s nice to like your job.”

Hours today: 4 1/2

Total Hours: 18 1/2