Writing in Physical Therapy

Writing in Physical Therapy

Northeastern University
ENGW 3306: Laurie Edwards

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Physical therapy is an ever growing and changing field that
focuses on the movement of the human body. Treatment of patients is
concentrated on reducing pain while also increasing functionality and
mobility. Physical therapists are required after most surgeries as well
as every day injuries, such as straining a back or breaking a bone.
Physical therapists are extremely involved with a patient in both
treating and educating them on their injury. Education is a large part of
the profession and arguably one of the most important. In order for a
patient to improve, they must first know how to prevent their injury in
the first place. Physical therapists also value patient care and the
treatment of patients. They want them to feel comfortable expressing
their concerns and also feel that they are being given the best care
possible. Many that go to physical therapy are in a large amount of
pain and are looking for any sort of relief. In order to treat, a physical
therapist might first cause pain. A patient needs to trust their PT and
be able to communicate with them in order for their treatment to be
effective. One of the reasons I chose this particular field as my future is
the love for the idea that I will see a patient at their worst possible
state and only improve them from their. I value getting to educate a
person on how their body works and how to operate it while also
treating them and improving their condition.
With every patient, there is a team of medical professionals that
work together in order to ensure that patient gets the best care and

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treatment possible. Communication is critical between these
professionals as well as in the physical therapy field of study. On a dayto-day basis it could include talking with patients about their condition
as well as writing a plan of action for their recovery. SOAP notes
(subject, objective, assessment and plan of action), are a useful tool for
physical therapists, which aid in creating a course of recovery for the
patient. Every day calls for constant communication with patients,
doctors, nurses, and physical therapists. Physical therapists must also
explain to their patients their diagnosis as well as what there recovery
involves such as what they can and cannot do in the following weeks.
In the physical therapy field writing is also involved in research, such
as published findings. Communication with doctors is also necessary
and can be one of the trickiest parts. You must be sure that you are
respectful of their opinion and follow their suggestions but also must
be firm if you believe they missed something or misdiagnosed the
patient. Arguably the most important form of communication for
physical therapists is the intercommunication between therapists
themselves that occurs online. This platform offers a rare way to reach
a wide variety of people in the field all over the world. One way this is
done is through resources such as blogs and in particular In Touch
Physical Therapy blog. This blog is used as a medium for conversation
between therapists over anything and everything in the field. This use
of technology in the physical therapy field is extremely important for

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communication within the community as well as for the continuous
progression of ideas.
One of the largest subjects talked about between physical
therapists is over new and upcoming research. With the advances in
technology, there are new articles being written every day. Physical
therapy is a relatively new field and the subjects under which it covers
are ever increasing. New ways of treatment are constantly being
discovered as well as ways to improve the old. Technology has also had
a huge impact on the discussions occurring between those in the field.
Some prefer traditional methods while others are quick to jump on any
new techniques. This causes many different opinions in regards to the
treatment of patients and the care that one will get from different
physical therapists. While articles about physical therapy can be
informative, they also can be extremely formal. Opinions can be
overridden by facts and figures and while those can say a lot, real
experience can say more. In Touch Physical Therapy blog is a website
in which a practicing PT speaks informally to his audience and
expresses opinions about many areas in the field. He promotes others
to write about their experiences as well as how they would handle the
situations he writes about. The ability to have informal, constructive
conversations is essential to the progression of the field.
In Touch Physical Therapy blog is written by Harrison Vaughan; a
practicing physical therapist who specializes in treating

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musculoskeletal injuries, movement disorders and spinal pain, both
acute and chronic. The author started blogging due to my interests in
learning, writing and expressing personal experiences that I find to be
positive (and sometimes negative!) in the field of physical therapy.
(Vaughan, Harrison). He writes to both inform and communicate with
other physical therapists and healthcare professionals all over the
world. He wants all to be able to improve their techniques and skills for
the better of their patients. The website includes a about the author
section as well as a link to his other website titled Pain and Specialist
Site. On this website he gets into the specifics of his specialty in
osteopractic physical therapy. His blog also includes a link to another
website in which he and other physical therapists post pictures of
patients and different treatment techniques. This particular website
gives a more concrete picture to what physical therapists do on an
everyday basis. Yet it was made with the intention of being viewed by
current physical therapists. The captions of the pictures use language
that is field specific and would not be familiar to those outside. The
blog itself has many posts that are in order by date but not subject.
This makes it difficult to navigate the website if one is looking for a
particular subject.
The authors audience is intended to be both practicing physical
therapists as well as anyone in the healthcare field. His blog is
certainly not meant for beginners due to the advanced language he

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uses. He also discusses subjects that one would have to be previously
informed of to be able to read and comprehend his opinions about it.
There is very little preface to his posts because he assumes the reader
knows what he is speaking about. This can make his posts hard to
follow for somebody with little background in physical therapy. Yet this
blog is written with intent for conversation. It is not a one-way street
and the author looks for responses. He ends many of his posts with a
question for the reader and encourages all opinions to be written.
Not only does the author discuss common topics and issues in
the physical therapy field, but he also talks about his current and past
patients in order to get opinions from other professionals about the
case. He specifically talks about the problems he runs into with
patients and how he approached these problems. This gives the reader
a total view of what the topic of discussion is and the problems he
encountered when treating them. He relates research to his own
patients, which helps give the reader something to go off of when
contributing to his posts. For example, he writes about the relationship
between pain and sleep in a post called Assessing sleep with pain; A
quick case using Fitbit (Vaughan). In this post, he shares a patients
Fitbit sleep results from before and after treatment. This provides the
reader with a solid representation of how sleep and pain relate and
how both can impact a patient. Relating his patients to the subject of
his posts is an important tool the author uses to involve his readers in

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his blog. This also provides a space for other physical therapists to
discuss their experiences with this topic. For example, one particular
post titled How would you treat this chronic low back pain? literally
asks the reader for a response in the title. The author writes about the
case and any related details in order to get a response from readers.
One particular reader writes Based on your initial evaluation she has
an S1 radiculopathy on the right. (Diminished reflex, loss of strength
and sensation all correlated to that spinal level.) (Vaughan). The
reader then proceeds to explain how they would treat the patient and
any complications that might occur. There are many other comments
in which readers give their own opinions on the case and Vaughan
responds. This provides an opportunity for physical therapists from any
location to have an informal conversation about the things they run
into on an everyday basis. They are able to give one another advice
and share the knowledge they have gained over their careers. Having
a wide range of opinions from different specialists is how techniques
progress and solutions are created.
This blog includes the authors opinions on both old physical
therapy techniques and the new. His content is relatively specific and
each post concentrates on a different topic in the field. Some posts are
specifically about research articles while others are about random
thoughts he has on a day-to-day basis. This gives the blog a wide
range of subjects and while some posts are in depth and serious,

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others are open ended and light. For example one post titled Why are
muscles called liters/leaders is about how patients and colleagues
speak differently at the clinic he works at in Virginia than they do in
other locations. They use the word liters to describe a muscle or
tendon. He came up with several reasons to why they would use this
term such as Maybe the origin came from the heart (although not
skeletal muscle) pumping out 5 liters of blood each minute.
(Vaughan). It turns out, after some fellow physical therapists
commented to give their ideas, that he was actually just
misinterpreting his patients and they were actually using the phrase
leaders which is a common term for muscles and tendons. This post
is more for entertainment purposes and not for any informational use
but still brings the community together to talk about every day things
in the field.
The author also posts about more serious topics. In one
particular post he writes about an article he read which involves a case
about a woman and her history in dizziness. The title of the article,
Would vascular testing trump + vertebral artery test in this case?
(Vaughan), would confuse many not familiar with the article and
subjects in which he writes about. He then proceeds to discuss the
manner and ends the post with a question for his reader. He asks If
this patient arrived to your clinic with the above symptomology and
vascular examination unremarkable, in other words, blood pressure not

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elevated, negative bruits-yes, this is a broad statement-would you
make the decision to proceed to a manual examination to confirm or
refute your hypothesis that the symptomology is arising from a
rotational vertebral artery dizziness condition PRIOR to having duplex
ultrasound results? (Vaughan). As one can imagine, this illustrates
how the language of this blog is meant for experts in the field. His
purpose is to get opinions from others and to have constructive
conversations with any who choose to participate. His language leaves
his posts open for discussion and also provides room for interpretation
so that in the end, many opinions are expressed. These types of
discussions can be hard to have in a work environment with fellow
physical therapists and rarely will one get the chance to reach such a
broad audience. Ending his post with a question helps lead the
conversation and create a starting point that could go in many
directions.
While this blog is a bit advanced for a reader outside of the
physical therapy field, it is a great platform of communication for those
in it. It is informal and promotes conversation to occur in al subjects.
This type of communication is important to have in a field that is
constantly changing. One professional might have experience in an
area that is new to another and sharing that type of information is
essential. Also, with constant research emerging, real experience and
cases can help focus the discussion so that ideas are effectively being

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portrayed. The use of this type of technology in the field is extremely
important for the discussion of ideas, research and everyday problems
in the field of physical therapy.

References
APTA. (n.d.). Retrieved January 31, 2016, from https://www.apta.org/
Vaughan, H. (n.d.). In Touch Physical Therapy Blog. Retrieved January
31, 2016, from https://intouchpt.wordpress.com/
Vaughan, H. (n.d.). Harrison N. Vaughan, PT, DPT, OCS,
Dip. Osteopractic, FAAOMPT. Retrieved January 31, 2016, from
http://www.painandspinespecialist.com/

Reflection
While I find it helpful to look at ways in which people in my discourse
community communicate, I do not think this piece fits into my
professional portfolio. It is focused on the blog (which I find extremely
interesting) but does not focus on any particular subject in my field. I
think it is a great introduction into the ways I can communicate with
those in my field and how I can begin to get involved in conversations.