Since I wasn't on site at CAP, I did research regarding the average timelines of physical therapy patients with specific knee and hip injuries. I found the Mayo procedure details for ACL reconstruction and hip arthroplasty (replacement), which explain what causes the injury, what's expected from the surgery, and the steps to be taken post-operatively. Additionally, I looked at some discussion boards where physicians from different practices share their own "timelines" for recovery. Almost always the process is divided into different phases, where the times vary per surgeon. Here's a general recovery timeline provided by the Game Ready company:
Similar to this week-based timeline, many physicians break the recovery into phases from I up to VI. What I found is that for ACL reconstruction it takes 24 weeks on average until full recovery. For hip replacement it is 36 weeks and knee replacement it's 9 weeks. LCL reconstruction is 28 weeks until recovery, while the time is only 5 weeks for LCL sprains. For IT band injuries not requiring surgery, the recovery time is 6 weeks.
Additionally, for non-surgically repaired injuries the average number of days per week spent in physical therapy to fall in those recovery times is 2 days. However, for surgically repaired injuries, patients are in physical therapy on average 3 times a week until full recovery.
This quantitative research helped me to wrap up my project and finish up my presentation. I've been so happy to have been working in the "real world" the past ten weeks, researching kinesiology and physical therapy, and hunting down the perfect dog gifs. My on-site mentor, Dr. Jeschien, and all the other physical therapists and techs were beyond welcoming and always open to my questions regarding the field, and I am so thankful I was able to complete my project with them.
To really wrap up this blog and my project, here's a string of dog gifs! Thanks for reading and following my research. :)
I always remember that I'm a BASIS student when I have to sit down in front of a computer and read dense papers for over an hour. And the dog gifs, as always, are wonderful--as well as your photography. I'm looking forward to your presentation.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like you had a very good experience regarding physical therapy! I am looking forward to your presentation
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed learning about your SRP. Everytime I read your post, it reminds me that I have to be careful when I play sports. Thanks for the awesome project!
ReplyDeleteI have really enjoyed reading your posts. It sounds like you had a great experience and learned a lot from this project. It was very interesting to learn about the different aspects that go into physical therapy. I am looking forward to your presentation and good luck!
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you were able to communicate to and impress other people your senior research project! I hope that you were able to grasp and get a better understanding of what PT is really like. Did this overall experience change the way you saw PT as compared to when you first started?
ReplyDeleteFollowing your project was super interesting and allowed some insight into the PT world. I think it is really great that you got to talk to a professor about your project. Was there any feedback that he/she gave you that stood out in particular?
ReplyDeleteHello Carla! Congratulations on finishing ten weeks. I loved reading about your experience and about the things you learned. What was one of the most memorable moments you had during the ten weeks? I wish you good luck on your presentation.
ReplyDeleteI didn't have much knowledge on Physical Therapy, but your blog posts really helped me expand my knowledge on that. Congratulations on completing 10 weeks, and I hope your presentation goes well!
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