This case study is of a male patient that was observed while interning at Action Potential Physical Therapy clinic. The patient was being seen for pain in his right shoulder and diagnosed with poor rotator cuff muscle strength. He was referred so that the physical therapist can help reduce his symptoms and get him back to his quality of life. Back in 2004 he had a rotator cuff repair and initially began receiving physical therapy. The patient however did not finish his treatment and always felt slight discomfort. It was not until recently that he began feeling more troubling and sharp pain in his shoulder. His symptoms have been chronic but mild, he did not seek out professional help until 2/7/17. He experienced discomfort when he slept on …show more content…
“These agents are thermal [heat and cold], electrical, sound, light and mechanical, they are used to reduce pain and joint swelling, reduce muscle spasm, restore functional joint mobility, increase local blood flow to injured tissues and deliver medications subcutaneously in conjunction with other procedures” (Pensavalle n.d.). The modality the physical therapist chose to use was called an ultrasound. “Ultrasound uses high-frequency acoustic (sound) waves, rather than electromagnetic energy, to elicit thermal and nonthermal effects in deep tissue to depths of 3 cm or more” (Prentice 2011, p.364). The physical therapist uses this modality to start him with so that he may be more relaxed and comfortable when performing his exercises. When his time was over for the ultrasound, she had him pedal on the arm bike for 6 minutes. Once he finished that exercise, she showed him a stability exercise. He had to roll the ball on the wall with his hand flat on the ball making a circular motion doing 3 sets with 10 reps. He performed shoulder internal and external rotation with a rubber band doing 2 sets with 10 reps. His next exercise was the shoulder side lying external rotation with a 5 pound weight doing 3 sets of 10. The last exercises he did for the afternoon was the shoulder serratus punch with a 5 pound dumbbell performing 2 sets of 10 reps. When finished with all his exercises he …show more content…
The physical therapist no longer uses kinesiotape on his shoulder but he still receives the same modalities from the beginning at the start and end of his treatment. In addition to his previously given exercises he now performs bicep curls with a 40 pound weight doing 3 sets of 10 reps, and triceps extension with a 20 pound weight doing 3 sets with 10 reps. His time on the bike increased from 6 minutes to 10 minutes, and the band used for mid rows and internal and external shoulder rotation went from a light band to a thicker one. The patient experiences no pain or muscle fatigue when doing his exercises at this