Week 8 Prompt Post: Practicing Knowledge

This week we were instructed to try something hands on within our field. It was perfect timing that this is the week that we had to do this post. In my foundations of Kinesiology class we have lab every week. This week we had the chance to learn about the uses of a goniometer and then we got to try it out in a group of people and see what it's used for in physical therapy.

A goniometer is used to determine what the range of flexibility is on a patient. It's kind of used as a tool to show how much the patient has progressed since the beginning of physical therapy. The actual goniometer looks similiar to a protractor that you use in math and it's also measured in the same units. The goniometer measurs angles in degrees to determine the range of motion. Gradual improvement in the range of motion and flexibilty is a good sign and shows that the patient is takint steps in the right direction.

In my class we learned about the different areas of a body that you can use a goniometer and where it's used in physical therapy. You can use it on the knee, foot, shoulder, etc. When it's used right you can get a fairly accurate reading of the degree of motion.

At first, I had trouble using the goniometer because I didn't know how to place or which way to move it to get the correct reading. I didn't know where exactly to place the middle of it so I was gettting some readings that were off. After a while I finally was starting to get the hang of it though. I really liked being able to do something hands on with phyiscal therapy because it was so different than just researching online and reading books about it. This part of the research project gave me the opportunity to physically do something directly related to physical therapy. It's so much different for me because at first I had no idea what I was doing with that thing and I started to second guess myself thinking things like I can't even use this tool, how am I supposed to be a physical therapist. But like everything, things take time and practice makes perfect I guess. It was nice to be able to see first hand something that I might be doing in my future and it after I finally figured out how to use the gonimeter it started to feel a little more natural for me.





CITATIONS

"Baseline Plastic 360º ISOM Goniometer 12"." Photograph. 3B Scientific, 2014. Web. 12 Mar 2014.