I have been following The PT Project for sometime now since there is nothing good on tv tonight I figured now would be a good time to write about them. I mean I’m sooooooooo busy normally.

What makes the PT Project cool and unique is that the majority of their content comes from volunteers, which brings a nice mix to articles they publish.

They cover a variety of topics ranging from things related to clinical practice, practice management, stuff for students, stuff for patients, continuing education, videos, and so much more!

Below is a little excerpt from their about page:

The Physical Therapy (PT) Project is a unique initiative dedicated to the development and advancement of physical therapy professionals within the United States, as well as throughout the world.

The PT Project was developed to strengthen and improve the entire physical therapy industry by creating a resource where quality information, case studies and medical research is shared among those professionals within the industry that are dedicated to providing the best quality care for patients. This is about physical therapists teaching other physical therapists so that everyone, including the public, benefits from the expanded knowledge and information.

I read something on their facebook awhile back that I feels like should be repeated.

[The PT Project] Needs help with the running of the website. We always need good content, editors, and help rounding up content and formatting the monthly newsletter. Email jon@theptproject.com – if you could help. We don’t sell ads on the site to preserve integrity – that means there’s no money to keep it going – and we rely on volunteers.

I think it’s safe to say we have a decent amount of visitors each month, so hopefully this little shout out helps a bit! If not I will buy them a cupcake. A cupcake you ask? Yes, that’s right! Why you then ask? Because they are so delicious and I am tightwad.

Their facebook page has a ton of useful stuff as well and can be found here

I definitely think The PT Project is a site that should be bookmarked!  So do it! Peer pressure!!!!

Recently I have just finished reading a book entitled Body By Science which was written by Doug McGuff M.D. and John Little. All of the chapters within the book are backed by research and the research articles are listed at the end of the chapters.

This was a very interesting read for anyone interested in the fitness realm. We have all been taught the basic strategy of weight training a body part every other day and mix in some cross fitness cardio somewhere in between. Well these guys take the latest research and really put some theories to the test. Lets dive in and take a closer look to see what kind of gold nuggets we can dig up. Continue Reading

Normally when I review something I will usually give it “x” number of donalds out of 5, but when something is free I don’t feel like it needs a rating. If people are nice enough to give it out freely then it automagically gets 5 donalds!!

Anywho enough of the blaaaaaaaaaah, on to the good stuff.

I spent the last week trying out f.lux to get a better understanding of how it works and whether or not it does in fact work.

Let me start by saying, during the day or in a brightly lit room you shouldn’t notice anything at all. It’s when the sun starts to set is when this thing starts to work its magic. It creates a reddish hue to your screen that cuts down on the eye strains and I think it makes a computer screen  more comfortable to use in a dimly lit or dark room.

After you download and install f.lux, once you start it for the first time you need to set it up.

The first time I ran f.lux I wasn’t given the initial settings options so if that happens to you just look in your taskbar by the clock if you are using Windows.

So as you can see you set the lighting to fit your needs, then you set your location and finally choose how fast you want the screen to change.  At the very bottom there is a check box to disable for one hour. This is if you are working on pictures or photoshop or something else that require you to see the true colors.

That’s it! So like I said early I spent the week using f.lux and I can honestly say I will continue to use this program. The biggest change I noticed is when I finally turned off my computer to go to bed I was able to fall asleep much faster and easier. I know that is a subjective statement, but I felt like I was able to unwind while I was still on my computer since the screen wasn’t so harsh. Some people would say why not just turn down the screen brightness. Well you could, but there is something about dimming my screen I don’t like. To each their own I say!

f.lux is available for Windows XP/Vista/7, Mac OS X, and Linux

Check out and download f.lux here

During my most recent clinical rotation at an out-patient ortho clinic I noticed Ryan (another student) using this brass knuckle sort of contraption on a patient. So me being like a small child who needs to know everything I handed my patient the ultrasound head and told her to take over for me and I wandered over to see what was going on. After pretending to listen (I have a short attention span…) to Ryan explain what the Fibroblaster is and what it does he finally let me play with it!

Amazing is all I can say! I have used it on several patients as well as had it used on myself to work out a trigger point in my rhomboid region. Our PT program didn’t really go into depth on instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM) tools and I haven’t really looked into the science of it all, but I think they work great!

Fibroblaster

“Make it easier on your hands to work on muscle, tendons, ligaments and fascia. By utilizing the various shapes morphed into the Fibroblaster a therapist will be able to work on soft tissue all over the body.”

Fibroblaster Misc Info

This soft tissue mobilization tool has an approximate size of four by four inches.  It will fit into your pant pocket, a nice way to keep it warm if you will be using it with a patient or client.

Full time students of a health care profession, if you are thinking of purchasing a Fibroblaster, let me sweeten the deal.  Use the contact page or email fibroblaster@gmail.com with your name, major, expected date of graduation and your department’s contact information so I can verify you are a student.  Once verified, I’ll give you a student rebate for up to 2 Fibroblasters per student name. Your end price will be $75 per tool.  You will receive a check for the difference within 4-8 weeks of purchasing.  In the future, I hope to be able to offer a direct discount at the time of purchasing.

Orders of 3 or more Fibroblasters will qualify for free ground shipping.

Laser engraving is available for an additional $17.50 per tool (shipping times will vary with this option).

If you have any questions please use the contact page or fibroblaster@gmail.com.  Thanks!

I (Donald) give the Fibroblaster 5/5 Donalds! I think its THAT good!

You can read more about and order the Fibroblaster here.

This article I was emailed by a professor of mine takes a look at three questions related to ankle instability and proprioception.

1. Is loss of proprioception or loss of motor control related to functional ankle instability?
2. Are proprioception and motor control related?
3. Is there any difference in proprioception or motor control between ankles with different severity of functional ankle instability?

This could change the way you treat someone post ankle sprain. Goodbye BAPs board!

Link: Loss of proprioception or motor control is not related to functional ankle instability: an observational study
Version: 1.0
Downloaded: 266 times
Description: Is loss of proprioception or loss of motor control related to functional ankle instability? Are proprioception and motor control related? Is there any difference in proprioception or motor control between ankles with different severity of functional ankle instability?

As most of my close friends know I have no sympathy for anyone who loses an important file because their computer died or for some other crazy reason. You might say geez Don’s a real a-hole! But I say no sir/ma’am! I have and always will continue to say those 3 little words every nerd knows and loves, “backup your stuff“. There are free services out there that do it automatically so there is no excuse!

For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about just sit still and keep reading because you soon will!

Let me start off this review by saying I currently use both services and love each one in their own special way. So think of me like a parent who tries not to favor one child over another but secretly I do…. but I will never admit which one! There are plenty of services out there similar to these two, but I just happen to only use these two on my laptop (running windows 7)

www.dropbox.com

Dropbox is the easiest way to store, sync, and, share files online. There’s no complicated interface to learn. Dropbox works seamlessly with your operating system and automatically makes sure your files are up-to-date. Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

To get started you need to download and install the client on each of your computers and then login or signup if you do not already have an account.  After that the installer will create a single Dropbox folder on your computer, you do have the ability to choose where that folder is located. Any folder or file placed in this Dropbox folder will be synced online and across any other computers linked to your account. It does not say if there is a limit to how many computers can be synced so I take that as saying there is no limit.

Dropbox has 3 different plans:

• Basic which is free and comes with 2gb of storage (you have the ability to get up to 16gb of storage free by referring friends)
• Pro 50 which costs $9.99/month and comes with 50gb of storage
• Pro 100 which costs $19.99/month and comes with 100gb of storage

I am very much a cut and dry give me the facts and no fluff, so for those of you like myself here are the important highlights.

• 2GB of online storage for free, with up to 100GB available to paying customers.
• Sync files of any size or type.
• Sync Windows, Mac and Linux computers.
• Undelete files and folders.
• Automatically syncs when new files or changes are detected.
• Shared folders allow several people to collaborate on a set of files.
• 30 days of undo history, with unlimited undo available as a paid option.
• Online access to all of your flies.
• Dropbox application for iPhone, iPad, and Android. (a mobile version of the website is available for blackberry phones)

www.syncplicity.com

Syncplicity delivers powerful, easy to use file management in the cloud. Syncplicity automatically syncs your files across all your computers, backs up your data, and makes sharing files and collaborating easier than ever before.

The initial setup is very similar to dropbox with the exception of what files are backed up. With syncplicity you choose which folders and files will be backed up without having to move them to a designated folder like with dropbox. Once your files are synced and backed up, you can then view them online or on another computer you have installed the client software on. It is worth noting that in the free version they have a limit of only 2 computers that can be synced.

Syncplicity has 3 different plans with too many additional addons to mention:

• Personal Edition which is free and comes with 2gb of storage (you have the ability to get up to 5gb of storage free by referring friends)
• Personal Edition w/support which costs $15/month and comes with 50gb of storage
• Business Edition which starts at $45/month and comes with 50gb of storage with 3 users (unlimited users and storage are also available)

Important highlights

• 2GB of online storage for free, with up to unlimited storage available to paying customers.
• Sync files of any size or type.
• Sync Windows and Mac.
• Undelete files and folders.
• Automatically syncs when new files or changes are detected.
• Shared folders allow several people to collaborate on a set of files.
• Online access to all of your flies.
• Link your google docs to your syncplicity account.
• 30 days of undo history, with unlimited undo available as a paid option.

Obviously they share a lot of similarities and some people will like one while others like another. I think these two are both great products and best of all free!

Physical Examination of the Spine & Extremities (1976) by Stanley Hoppenfeld is an oldie but goodie. Yes, this book really was written in 1976. The fact that it is still used today both by physical therapy programs and clinicians nationwide is a testament to the quality of the material within its pages. This text features only 276 pages and 8 chapters, but every retro-looking page is crammed with great information that is used every day in the physical therapy clinic.

What’s great about this book is that it is very direct and to the point. There is not much flowery verbiage to have to sort through to find what you are looking for, unlike many textbooks which are thousands of pages long. Hoppenfeld did not include any photographs in this text, however very detailed illustrations can be found on nearly every single page, which becomes very useful, especially when discussing complicated special tests or complex human anatomy.

This book is a must-have. It is one of those texts you wish you bought on your first day of PT school and kept in your backpack every day since. It wil be a great reference for you not only during school, but throughout your professional career.

So, if you feel the urge, put some disco music on the record player and click here to add it to your library.

Its no secret among my friends how much I love anything google and especially my moto DROID. I am all about technology and anything that helps me organize my scattered mind, so enter 3banana. The company that owns 3banana is snaptic.com, I am not really sure how they came up with the name 3banana but hey its not my call!

You can either signup for an account at snaptic.com OR OR OR use your google.com login, which is what I did.

It’s a super simple programs with a nice user interface. The main screen has a text box to enter in whatever your heart desires with an option to take a photo. Another feature is the ability to tag your notes. The # with text next to it makes it a tag. So for example I took a picture of this interesting bottle of wine I wanted to research later, I would just tag it #wine #research or whatever else I wanted to tag it with.

3banana also includes a widget for quick access to add a text and picture note. I use the widget on my home screen, it makes note taking dead simple and super fast.  For those of you who really need a reminder constantly in your face you have the ability to pin a note to your home screen.

Continue Reading

Therapeutic Exercise: Foundations and Techniques (5th Ed., 2007) by Carolyn Kisner and Lynn Allen Colby is a textbook that can be found in many PT and PTA classrooms around the country, and has become a go-to reference for  practicing clinicians as well. Within it’s pages you will find almost any topic you can think of; from Active-Assisted Range of Motion to Zygapophyseal Joints. Featuring 928 pages split into 24 chapters, this book is filled to the brim with a wealth of physical therapy know-how.

This book is very easy to use.  Topics are split into headings and subheadings for easy navigation. Long lists are broken up into bulleted items, and very important information (such as contraindications for an intervention) are placed in clearly marked boxes separate from the rest of the text.  Hundreds of high-quality photographs and images are found throughout, making concepts which are difficult to visualize become clear. Also throughout the whole book are sections entitled “Focus on Evidence” which reviews results of studies and further solidifies the profession’s commitment to provide evidence-based practice.

Because of the widespread use of this textbook, I am willing to wager that several NPTE items will come directly from its pages. If that isn’t enough to convince you to buy it, I don’t know what is.