I am currently treating two different patients who work in a hospital setting. One is a patient transporter, pushing wheelchairs around and one pushes around carts full of surgical equipment. Neither of these patients can swing their arms during their work day. What kind of problems does lack of arm swing cause and what would be your recommendations?
We actually had a long discussion about arm swing and the importance of gait and reciprocal activity last week. Lack of arm swing indicates the patient’s inability to shift into AF IR and also the position that the spine is oriented in. If someone demonstrates no arm swing on the right, you know that their spine is oriented to the right. With a patient like this, we would go after Left AF IR…a lot! Once you can get them to shift into their left hip, you know that they will regain motion in their arm. After we have established left AF IR, we would teach them alternating reciprocal gait. With this type of patient, your best treatment will center around their gait activity. This handout will help a lot!
