Weekly Cup of Joe - Episode #11 - THR/TKR - Gait Training
Read the transcript for this video:
Good day everybody! And actually happy Tuesday today. I apologize for being a little bit delinquent on this one but had some things to take care of. And they're actually going to get to this coming week and we put one out Tuesday, and they're going put one out this coming Friday as well. So welcome to your Weekly Cup of Joe, I'm without my coffee cup today, I'm sorry about that. I forgot it. I'm in the clinic and I forgot to bring one in, so I apologize for that as well. But this week we wanted to talk about the upcoming workshop we got going, it's on Total Hip Replacements and Total Knee Replacements. I've had a couple of people, write in about what it's all about and everything. So one of the big things about our Total Hip and Total Knee Replacement Workshop coming up on, Tuesday, the 29th at 6:30 PM, is that Shay Phillips is one of our therapists is going to be leading.
Just going to talk about an overview of it, what to expect before and after and everything else. So one of the things that might be covered or probably is going to cover is that walkie and one of the biggest things our clients don't like to do a lot of times, is especially for surgery is using an assisted device; using a Walker and or a cane. And they don't like to sometimes even use it after surgery. So wanted to give you a demonstration rationale for it. Using a cane or an assisted device, a Walker, whatever rolling Walker or a regular Walker is used to decrease stress on the joints, whether it be the hip, the knee, maybe it's not the bad hip, maybe it's taking pressure off of the good knee or good hip. So if we can promote correct walking mechanics and unify the muscles correctly by using the assisted device, then more than likely what we're trying to prevent is you walking with a hitch and your giddy-up. So we're just trying to promote those normal mechanics and you look like it used to look before things went bad and got really painful.
So if you're using an assisted device, as shown here, I've got a nice single-point cane. So whether you're using a cane or a Walker, if you're standing with your hands at rest, that height of that cane or Walker should be right at your wrist. You can see that it's right at my wrist height, my watch height. So the height of the Walker or cane should be right there and that allows you to keep your arms in a good walking posture. So what we're going to do is that you put it in the opposite leg. So if my left hip, which is facing you is the hip that hurts me and that's the one that's going to get replaced here in a couple of weeks or a month or whatever it's going to be you put that cane in the right hand because the right hand and the left leg are dancing partners. So we take a step with the left leg and we put the cane down with the right hand so you can walk normally; left leg, right hand. And I want to show you as we walk down the aisle here. So right hand left leg, coming back, right hand and left leg, put it down the same time. And you can put weight then on this and you don't have to put all your weight here. You don't have to be totally leaning over like, oh, or the biggest thing is what most people do is when they're walking. So we're trying to avoid those bad mechanics. And when you're putting weight on the leg now, so when you're putting weight on that left leg, you're putting weight on that right hand. You want to think about firing your butt cheek, think about firing your quadriceps and your hamstrings, and engaging your abdominals as well. So tighten up all those muscles as you put that injured leg down, even the good leg too. So just tighten everything up as you put the weight on it. So that is your tip of the week. Is about walking and using assisted devices. Whether it be a Walker or whether it be a cane, that doesn't really matter.
So hope that helps, thinking about positivity, and thinking about gratitude is something we've talked about before. And if you are a list doer like myself and like the write a whole bunch of things that you want to do for the day and check it off, I get a lot of satisfaction at that, but I have to always step back and realize. And one of the biggest things that I can do is actually think of the three biggest things that I want to accomplish for the day. So what are the three most important; the biggest things that I can accomplish today that is going to move me forward and make me really feel good. So maybe I've got a list of 10 in my head and I want to write all 10 down so I can check them all off. But really what are the three most important things I want to do for the day that is going to move me forward? So if you can think about that, slowing yourself down and joining everything, think about being positive and being of gratitude.
Once again, we're doing the total knee and total hip workshop. Shay is going to be doing that on the 29th in the evening at 6:30. We're doing it here in the clinic, about eight or ten people is all we can have in the clinic here comfortably. And then, we'll do it via zoom as well. So it's first come first serve for the first eight to 10 people. I think there are a couple of slots left, so call the clinic at (630) 892-8003. Or there's going to be a link right below this, here to click on it, to register. Thank you very much guys, and have a great rest of your week. And I will see you this coming Friday than for a catch-up Weekly Cup of Joe. Bye.