Ergonomic Treatment Table Enhances Career Longevity for Physical Therapy Practice

Hi, my name is Danica Michel. I'm a doctor of physical therapy in Fort Myers, Florida, and this is my private practice, Lightning Recovery. I was making the decision of what type of table to buy. There were things I was looking for in the table that Spacious included, including all of the drop tables, cervical, thoracic, lumbar, pelvic, and the high-low function, as well as the passive intervertebral motion. Intersegmental being able to traction both the cervical spine and the lumbar spine, and perform movements on a patient of any size for someone of my stature who's five feet tall. And to be able to practice for as long as I can and help as many people, I knew that I needed the proper ergonomic table in order to provide this. So today I'm going to do a demonstration showing each of the functions of the table. on a live patient so you can see how easy it is to use the table. So the first functionality for relaxing the lower back can increase here and give her some, how's that Tool, is that milkable there? Good. So you can adjust the height; it comes all the way up or you can do less there. This handle piece comes on and off. It is really easy to use. true mechanism so that if it's in the way when someone's getting on and off the table, you can easily remove this piece. And then on the left-hand side of the table, there is a release mechanism for the lumbar spine. So if you pull that knob and twist it, then what you're going to see is I can easily distract the lumbar spine here and my energy Through the handlebar here allow me to use my weight shift to protect my arms and my back, but still be able to provide some distraction to the spine. So then, after you're done using the distraction mechanism, you can simply push up and then push the knob in. And now the table is again locked easily. The next portion has a handle. All you have to do is lift up. And then now I can perform some segmental distraction into flexion here at the lumbar spine. As you can see, really easy just with my right hand. I'm able to control the table. can put her in extension and I can come into flexion here. And my hand is free to treat the lumbar spine while my other hand easily controls the mechanism of the table. Prior to having a table with all these mechanisms, I would be performing this movement on the sidelines, and I would have to hold the patient's lower body weight and flex and extend the spine myself. And that only works if the patient is the right size. So this is very important to me. I'm five feet tall. I've had patients up to 300 pounds on this table. that I've been able to help with their lower back problems. What's important to me as a manual physical therapist is to be able to have my hands free because now I'm able to put all of my energy into feeling the segment of the spine that I'm working on, the tissue surrounding it, and talking to the patient. And I'm not exhausted by the end of the session and I can do this all day long. You want to be able to manipulate. spines and help people as long as you possibly can in your career. This is a game-changer for career longevity for sure. So that's how we can do some intervertebral flexion and extension. I simply have to push down and now the table is secured and locked. The next part of the mechanism that I'm going to release, you pull up on the mid portion lever and now I can control the lateral flexion of the spine. So again, really easy, you can see I'm able to move the spine left and right with just using one hand on the handle here. And then my left hand here is free to work on feeling each segment, massaging and helping the patient while we try to restore some motion. You feel very safe and secure at the table. The other thing that's difficult to find about tables like this is having a comfortable headpiece. And traditionally, tables that are built for biomechanical manipulation, manual therapy, they're not built for comfort. And I have not had one complaint yet from a patient about this, which is really hard on my face to lie here this long. I can make that patient very comfortable. So now that I've done all of the nice work in the lumbar spine and got her all loosened up. I find the center and I just put the lock in position and now everything is back in position. So the other thing that I think is interesting to see as well is the height of the table. And I'm going to lift the table up to its max position so you can see the speed at which it goes. It's not too fast. It's not too slow. And it goes really high. So for someone who is taller, it's probably going to be great for you. And then for the drop. portion, there are levers for each action. So I have now engaged the drop here for the sacral spine. So now all I have to do is put myself in position and release the drop. The drops are very sensitive so you can make them as strong or as weak as you want them to be. So easy to engage in the lumbar spine and we can engage the drop there. Then, for the thoracic spine, the same thing. I can come up and I apply a drop force there. Now in the cervical spine, we have the same distraction techniques that we do in the lumbar. So I have released the cervical distraction piece and now I can come in and I can gently slide to give some distraction to the cervical spine. And I can do that from multiple positions if I would like to do some manual therapy at the same time doing a little craning sacral release here and then, I'll lock that cervical spine and show the cervical drop here and there's how we can use the cervical spine. Now, the arm positions here, all we have to do is lift up and I can make this come up if I want to mobilize a shoulder in this position, or if she's on her back And we need her arm up overhead and supported. And then that easily drops back down. She's supported there. The headpiece also has a feature where I can help lift this club if the patient needs a little more cervical extension or cervical flexion. And I can also control the tilt. So I love this table. As you can see, it's easy for someone like me to utilize all of the different. Cervical, thoracic, lumbar, and pelvic features. Very easy for me to perform ergonomically and get myself in the proper position. I think this table is a great purchase. It has added to my ability to practice and put less strain on my body. Having a table that allows you to do so many movements from one position, minimizing position change, is a game-changer.