Blog #4

Today, a patient came in and was working on exercises to help improve their balance. One of the exercises completed involved standing on an AIREX pad with both feet and catching and throwing a ball. The cushion of the pad made balancing a lot more challenging since it was unstable and not a hard surface, which is why it was used to help strengthen the patient's stability. I was able to assist in this process by catching and throwing the ball to the patient while they were being supported by other physical therapists so that they would not fall. To make the exercise a little more challenging, I was instructed to move farther away from the patient which caused them to have to use more force to throw the ball. This became harder for the patient since they had to focus on both throwing the ball with force and trying to maintain their balance while completing this. Another way that this exercise was made harder for the patient was to make their feet more narrow, which provided them with less of a base to stand on. This, in turn, made catching and throwing the ball harder. After this version of the exercise was completed, the patient did another one. Instead of standing on the AIREX pad, they stood with one foot directly in front of the other in a tandem stance. This stance helped to promote balancing, making it harder since both feet were not directly next to each other. Continuing with this stance I threw the ball back and forth with the patient as they tried to maintain control with each catch and throw. Once again I backed up, increasing the difficulty level for the patient as they had to throw the ball with more force so that it would cover the larger distance. Overall I found these exercises very interesting as I was able to engage with the patient and see how different alterations to exercises increased the difficulty level. 

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