Ariel Case Study

Ariel is a student athlete who plays on the Blake High Schools varsity team. During their first home game she goes in for a hard tackle where her body goes one way and her right knee goes the opposite direction. She falls immediately and is unable to get up. While taking her off the field she mentions to the Athletic trainer how she cannot put any pressure on her right leg, she is unable to walk normally. According to Ariel, before she fell she heard two loud pops and felt her knee slide towards the sides. She went to the orthopedic and they confirmed that she had torn her right ACL. She was unable to walk properly, unable to hyperextend her knee, and unable to bend it. Her flexibility with her right knee had decreased.
Right after the injury
happened Ariel’s knee got very swollen. The week after she was able to get surgery and was in bed rest for a couple of weeks. Not being able to walk on her right leg or be active caused her muscle mass to decrease dramatically. A few days after her surgery she started physical therapy where she worked on getting some movement back in her leg. Not being as active as she was before, Ariel gained a couple of pounds. This being her first time in crutches was a hard experience too, she was not use to them and they where hurting her armpits.
Ariel was always playing soccer year round whether it is for school or for her club teams.
This was something she didn’t expect to experience. She attended the practices and games for her school team and club team but she could only sit and watch. Being unable to play soccer left Ariel feeling depressed. She felt like she wanted to give up and not play anymore because of this injury. This wasn’t just for soccer but for school and friendships as well. Her grades dropped because she was never in a good mood to do the work and she became very anti social. But when she attended physical therapy she realized that this injury could motivate her more than anything to recover faster and get back on the field better than before. That started with attending and working hard in physical therapy by building her muscle mass back to where it used to be and getting full movement in her knee.
Tearing her ACL during the first game of the season meant Ariel would have to be out for the whole season. Ariel had everything planed out, she was a starter for sure and this year was going to be a good year since they had a good talented team. Since she got injured she was no longer able to play and sat out for the whole season. Instead of attending every practice after school she had to go to physical therapy and work on recovering faster.
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Blake High school was a very big school.
It was easy to get around if you where un-injured and able to walk normally. Ariel being on crutches had a hard time getting from one class to the next. She had to be careful not getting hit on her right leg in the crowed hallways. During her first few weeks back in school Ariel had to be accommodated more in class than other students. Her leg had to be elevated at all times while sitting down or else she would feel great pain. She hated her school experience because of this injury.
Both structural and functional constraints play an influence in athletic training and physical therapy. In both careers I would have to make special adjustments for different people regarding strength, height, body mass and so on. Different exercises might be easier for different people. Another example might be that some clients might be more motivated than others in the recovery process. When dealing with low motivation type people I would have to talk more with them and push or motivate them a bit
harder.