August 14, 2009, Newsletter Issue #53: On the Back of a Horse with a Wii...Cool New Physical Therapy Breakthroughs

Tip of the Week

Hang on to your hat and grab the stirrups; there’s a new physical therapy treatment in town. Within the next five years, allied health care professionals in physical therapy assistant jobs will be using horses as treatment options for their patients. This revolutionary model of therapeutic treatment (called “hippotherapy”) will put some patients on the backs of therapeutic horses. If you’re horrified by an image of injured patients clutching the backs of horses for dear life as they gallop around a field, you can relax. People working in physical therapy assistant jobs will be responsible for guiding their patients through a gentle gait. It’s thought that by gently controlling the three-part movement of the horse, the patient will benefit from the correct alignment and movement of his or her own pelvis. Horseback riding is so much more than just sitting down and enjoying the ride. It takes a fair bit of sensory acknowledgement, core strengthening, muscle conditioning, and joint motion.

Physical therapy assistant jobs are becoming more and more exciting with all of the creative new ways of administering therapy to patients being introduced. For example, physical therapists are finding that by having their patients practicing their gaming skills on the Wii, they’re able to develop and fine-tune motor skills which is excellent for people who’ve suffered a stroke, brain injury, or for orthopedic patients.

If these innovations sound like something you want to work with but don’t have the opportunity where you currently work, you might want to consider being a travel therapist. Travel therapist jobs are available all over the country, but it’s placed like California and Orlando that are leading the pack with these innovative treatment options.

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