Physical Therapy Aide Module 6

Ambulation

To walk.

Axillary crutches

Crutches made of wood or aluminum and are generally used for patients who will need crutches for a relatively short period of time.

Cane

An ambulatory aid that is a convenient device for relieving one extremity of some weight-bearing load.

Crutches

Ambulatory aids that allow faster movement than walkers or canes.

Crutch walking

A gait in which the patient shifts about 50 percent of the weight-bearing load from his or her legs to his or her arms and crutches.

Four-point gait

A gait in which the legs and crutches move in the sequence of left crutch-right foot, right crutch-left foot

Hemiwalker

An ambulatory aid in which the patient uses a walker like a crutch.

Gait patterns

The way in which a person walks.

Swing-to gait

A gait in which the patient stands, places his or her full body weight down on the handgrip of the crutches, and thrusts the pelvis forward to place the center of gravity behind the hip joints.

Three-point gait

A gait in which the crutches are moved forward with the affected.

Two-point gait

A gait in which the right crutch and left leg move together and the left crutch and the right leg move together.

Walker

A device that consists of a frame with four adjustable legs.

Active range of motion

Occurs when the patient is able to move his or her limb by active muscle contraction on his or her own.

Flexibility

The ability of the muscles to stretch.

Mobility

The ability to move.

Passive range of motion

Occurs when the health care worker assists the patient through various ranges of motion.

Sensory input

The information about surroundings provided by the body's senses.

Skill

An ability to do a task competently.

Therapeutic

An action performed to help effect a cure or treatment.

Microwave

A machine that generates high-frequency electric energy.

Modality

A physical therapeutic agency.

Electromagnetic

Waves that range from electric power supply and radiowaves, which have a long wavelength, through the visible light spectrum to x-rays, which have a short wavelength.

Hydrocollator pack

Silica gel that has been encased in a canvas bag and can be contoured to the various body regions

Ultrasound

The process by which sound waves are used to produce deep muscle relaxation.

Whirlpool

A container filled with water and an agitator.

Achilles reflex

An ankle jerk that is similar to the patellar reflex.

Babinski reflex

A reflex test that is performed by using a blunt object to stroke the outside of the sole of the patient's foot.

Cast

A device used to hold a bone in place while it heals and permit early ambulation when a leg is broken.

Closed reduction

Placing a bone into position by a physician manipulating the bone into place without opening up the skin.

CT scan

Computed axial tomography, which gives a clear picture of the structure or organ being viewed by using a series of pictures of the cross-sections of the structure that were put together with a computer.

MRI

Magnetic resource imaging, which allows a look at the soft tissue rather than at the bones or blood vessels.

Lumbar puncture

A procedure performed to measure pressure in the central nervous system and to obtain fluid for examination and laboratory testing.

Patellar reflex

A knee-jerk reflex that is tested by striking the patient's knee just below the kneecap, or patella.

Traction

The pull provided by a series of weights, ropes, and pulleys that are connected to either a frame, wire, or pin or to straps applied over the skin of the patient.

X-ray

A machine that bombards a photographic film with radiation through the part of the body that is injured to view the bones.