By Jonathan Martinez/reporter
Students had the opportunity to show off what they have learned about the roles of physical therapy and rehabilitation from certain diseases at a learning lunch for faculty and staff earlier this month on NE Campus.
Jill Pool, physical therapist assistant program coordinator, organized the event and said she wanted to inform the public of how physical therapy affects rehab of some diseases and conditions.
“Last semester, each student was assigned a disease or condition and required to write a semester paper about it,” Pool said. “This semester, they were required to create a poster presentation.”
For the assignment, students talked about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, carpal tunnel syndrome, fibromyalgia, spinal stenosis and complex regional pain syndrome.
NE Campus student Tabitha Crumpton’s poster showed that smoking and fumes from a welder, for example, are two leading causes of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, but so is low body weight.
Another student’s poster illustrated carpal tunnel syndrome.
“There are many tests available to test patients to find out if they have carpal tunnel syndrome,” NE Campus student Yolanda Garcia said. “Prevention is the best treatment, which involves stretching, taking breaks and good posture. Medications and injections are typically used as a last resort.”
Natalie Snitker is interested in fibromyalgia and spoke to some of the faculty in attendance about her research. She said that the main treatment is exercise and that this disease is often misdiagnosed.
“Symptoms appear mysteriously out of nowhere,” she said.
Another NE Campus student, Beth Schrock, talked about complex regional pain syndrome and said that if it is caught early, it can be cured.
“There are also various methods of treatment including desensitization treatments, which involve desensitizing patients to touch,” she said. “This involves touching them with something very light and soft at first like a feather and then moving on to using something like sandpaper.”
