Batteries, Slinkys, and Therapy

It's time to celebrate because.....it is PT Friday!  Yes, I know it is Thursday but our department does not have class on Friday (definite plus)!  That does mean we put in very long days Monday throughThursday but it gives us a day to study, travel, sleep in, find our sanity under large amounts of dirty clothes and dishes.....

Labor Day weekend was a lot of fun.  My friend Jessica and I (we met during freshman orientation many moons ago) went to "Santa-Cali-Gon Days" in Independence, MO.  No I didn't make that up....it is a celebration of the Santa Fe, California, and Oregon trails, which all started in Independence. We ran into one of my former Rockhurst roommates Katie, enjoyed a great concert and food.....AND got completely drenched in the rain while dancing to Eli Young Band's concert.  Amazing!

Jess, Me, and Katie drenched at Santa-Cali-Gon Days

This week we started learning how to use electrical currents as a way to help heal wounds, decrease pain, contract muscles, and even drive medicine into tissues.  Generally I will call it "electrical stimulation".  How cool is it that we can help people who are hurt or in pain with electrical currents?!  And by altering the different components of the current on the machine (seen in the picture), we can promote all the stuff I just mentioned. 

 

My roommate (Emily) and I also teach a physics lab on campus.  Ironically, this week we look at the properties of wavelengths using Slinky's and how things like amplitude (how high it travels), frequency (how many waves are sent out) and wavelength (the space in between each wave) affect each other.  Who doesn't love Slinky's?!

Pic to the right...my group practicing e-stim.  Derrick was making my quad muscle contract using electrical currents

Have a beautiful weekend!