Meeting the Challenge of Multiple Limb Loss - December 2017
Feature
The New Normal: Meeting the Challenge of Multiple Limb Loss
By Betta Ferrendelli
By all accounts Sue Stull should have died August 12, 2014 . Stull, then 41, was experiencing flu-like symptoms Wednesday evening, August 6, including a sore throat and soreness all over her body, particularly in her neck. She continued to feel il...
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Will Rising Tides Improve Outcomes in Multiple Sclerosis Patients?
By Phil Stevens, MEd, CPO, FAAOP
The phrase "a rising tide raises all boats," with economic implications, was first introduced to the nation by President John F. Kennedy, and made even more popular by President Ronald Reagan. However, the implicit message of the phrase resonates...
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Healthcare Issues Take Center Stage in Congress
By Peter W. Thomas, JD; Leela Baggett, JD; and Leif Brierley, MPH
Throughout the last half of 2017 there have been extensive debates on healthcare issues, from massive reforms like repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to O&P-specific legislation such as the Medicare Orthotics and Prosthetic...
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Academy Society Spotlight: Gait-optimized AFO Selection
By David Knapp, CPO
Custom-fitted carbon fiber AFOs are commonly prescribed for foot drop and transmetatarsal amputations. The application for foot drop addresses weakness of the dorsiflexors during swing phase, while transmetatarsal amputation requires accommodating...
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Conducting a Biomechanical Evaluation, Part I
By Séamus Kennedy, BEng (Mech), CPed
" You know my methods, Watson. There was not one of them which I did not apply to the inquiry. And it ended by my discovering traces, but very different ones from those which I had expected." —The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan D...
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Data-driven Growth Strategies for O&P Practices
By Ryan Ball
Many O&P professionals and practice owners I talk to don't have a sales team; most don't like making sales visits or calls, and virtually all say they don't have the time to do more business development. As competition between post-acute healt...
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Fabricating a Crow Boot With a Toe Filler
By Travis Petersen, BOCP, COA
A patient who has a transmetatarsal amputation and severe inversion supination on the affected foot came into the office for a CROW boot (Figure 1). He was wearing a soft dressing and it looked as though he was walking on a softball. We determined...
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PT and Podiatry Resident Education in O&P
By Matt Calendrillo, DPT, BOCO, BOCP
My dual training as a physical therapist and as a prosthetist/orthotist has given me the ability to see patients through two overlapping lenses. In 2010, I was contacted by my alma mater, Springfield College, to spearhead a curriculum change in it...
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Letter to the Editor: Standout September Issue
Our team always looks forward to receiving The O&P EDGE. Your September issue was a standout for us, with John Brinkmann's article "How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse." We are becoming more strategic with our clinical referral strategies, and it'...
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Rising Tides Lift All Boats
By Andrea Spridgen
For many, the end of the year is a time to reflect on the joys and challenges of the previous months and pause to celebrate the triumphs and assess the trials that we've experienced. With that in mind, this issue of The O&P EDGE provides an...
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Christine Lentz: Living a Full Life With Multiple Limb Loss
Thanks to medical advancements, more people are surviving infections such as meningococcal septicaemia and necrotizing fasciitis, but survival can come with multiple loss. An article in the December issue of The O&P EDGE, “The New Normal: Meeting...
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