Learning the Language

Physical Therapy in Pop Culture

Finding physical therapy in popular culture proved to be a daunting task. With all the popularity and buzz around doctor shows like House M.D. and Grey’s Anatomy, I was honestly surprised to find how little physical therapy is dealt with. I struggled to find any representation of the field that went far enough into detail to use physical therapy lingo, however there are small snippets of a few different popular TV shows that at least addressed the mere existence of a physical therapy field. The TV show Army Wives incorporates physical therapy into an episode to help understand the road to recovery after injuries the characters sustained. It was very brief and everything was unfortunately put in lament terms as the show focused more on the stubbornness of the character to do things his own way than on a real representation of the field. Another brief representation of physical therapy is in Grey’s Anatomy when one of the characters loses a leg and has to adjust to life without it. Like the first example I found, this was a disappointing attempt to introduce physical therapy into popular culture and didn’t use any physical therapy specific language.

Although I was surprised to find out physical therapy has received little screen time, I can't say I completely misunderstand it either. To most of us, "physical therapy" is a term we've heard many times before. Most people have a general idea of what it is and have probably received it at some point in their life whether they realize it or not. However, it's not something you often hear about in the media. Everyone always hears about things like cancer, car accidents, and injuries, but how often do we hear about the road to recovery? Our society places an emphasis on the initial incidents, but neglects to show the progress and growth the same way. Physical Therapists work with people to help them learn to adapt to the challenges life throws at them while teaching them how to use their body again. It's a concept we're all familiar with, but don't often actually see being carried out. I think this is definitely one of the main reasons we don't often see physical therapy portrayed in pop culture and therefore, don't really have any cultural representations based on the language pop culture uses to represent it.

Learning the Language

Physical therapy does have specific terminology that goes along with it. Most of the terms are medical terms for movements of the body and the list could go on and on forever, but a few of the most common are listed below.

PT - Abbreviation for Physical Therapy
ROM - Range of Motion, or the amount of movement any joint can make
Body Mechanics - the study of the movements of the body
Core - Primarily the abdomen and back, the core is often referred to as the center of the body
Distal - Farthest from the center of the body; opposite of proximal
Proximal - Nearest to the center of the body; opposite of distal
Adduction - Moving a limb towards the midline of the body; opposite of abduction
Abduction - Moving a limb away from the midline of the body; opposite of adduction
Supine - Lying on the back, face up; opposite of prone
Prone - Lying on the stomach, face down; opposite of supine

Works Cited

Dameron, Rebecca, T.J. Brady, and Rasheed Newson. "Onward." Army Wives. Lifetime. 9 Sept. 2012. Television.

"Glossary of Commonly Used Physical Therapy Terms." Alternatives4children.org. Alternatives For Children, n.d. Web. 18 Jan. 2013. <http://www.alternatives4children.org/glossary/physical-therapy-glossary.pdf>.

Rhimes, Shonda, and Austin Guzman. "I Saw Her Standing There." Grey's Anatomy. ABC. 25 Oct. 2012. Television.