Stay in Your Lane?
Understanding another profession doesn’t mean trying to do their job. It helps clinicians recognize problems sooner, communicate better, and get patients to the right expertise faster.
When the Road Closes
Protocols can give clinicians a clear route to follow. But when the patient doesn’t respond the way we expected, understanding the bigger map becomes a lot more useful.
A Sweaty Patient Is Not an Outcome Measure
A patient leaving sweaty and exhausted can make a session feel productive. But fatigue alone doesn’t tell us whether we actually addressed what that patient needed.
Fall in Love With the Work
Patients need goals, but they also need to understand the process that helps them reach those goals and keep building once they get there.
The Work Nobody Sees
When patients see someone thriving with limb loss, they may only see the polished outcome. The real story is often the work, setbacks, repetition, and process that happened behind the scenes.
The Basics Aren’t Boring. You Are.
Social media rewards the shiny stuff, but good amputee rehab is often built on fundamentals done with attention, intention, and enough repetition to actually improve.
PubMed Won’t Treat Your Patient
Published evidence can guide clinical practice, but it cannot fully recreate a real treatment session with a real person. In amputee rehab, clinical judgment still has to be part of the game.
Our Patients Don’t Live in the Clinic
A flat clinic hallway can tell us something, but it doesn’t tell us whether a patient’s strength, balance, mobility, and prosthetic skills are translating into real life.
PT/Prosthetist Collaboration Is Easier Said Than Done
“Just call the prosthetist” is good advice, but making PT/prosthetist collaboration happen in real time is not always simple.
Should You Give Clinical Advice on Social Media?
Sometimes social media gives clinicians just enough information to want to help, but not enough context to know if they should.
What Patients With Limb Loss Want From Their Physical Therapist
What do patients with limb loss actually want from their physical therapist? A research study identified three major themes: therapeutic alliance, specialized limb-loss knowledge, and collaboration with the prosthetist.
Pause Here First
When prosthetic gait assessment feels overwhelming, mid-stance on the prosthetic side gives you a high-yield place to start. It can reveal a lot about loading, alignment, socket fit, confidence, and where to focus your interventions.
One Year Down. A Lot More to Build.
ampuPTee officially turned one. Year two is focused on building more practical education, tools, and resources for clinicians working with people living with limb loss and limb difference.
It's Not If. It's When.
More PT students are seeing patients with limb loss during clinical rotations than ever before. The question for the profession is no longer if physical therapists will work with this population. It is whether they will be ready when they do.
This Is What PT and Prosthetist Collaboration Can Look Like
A gait issue showed up during lab, and the right people got involved quickly. This is what direct PT and prosthetist collaboration can look like in amputee rehabilitation.
I Used to Think Being an Amputee Would Make Me a Better Therapist
I spent years thinking being an amputee would make me a better therapist. Over time, I started wondering if there may also be an advantage to not fully experiencing the same emotional weight as the patient.
Limited PT Visits in Amputee Rehab: Better Outcomes?
When PT visits are limited, outcomes don’t have to suffer. Scarcity can actually improve patient engagement and clinical decision making.
To Discharge or Not to Discharge? A Clinical Decision Challenge in Amputee Rehabilitation
When does continued therapy help, and when might it create dependence? A clinical dilemma many therapists face when working with individuals with limb loss.
How Long Should We Chase Perfect Technique in Prosthetic Gait Training?
Perfect technique matters, but so does forward progress. Learn how to balance movement quality and momentum during prosthetic gait training.
How Too Many Cues Can Make Prosthetic Gait Training Worse
Trying to fix everything at once during gait training can actually make things worse. Here’s why focusing on one cue at a time leads to better outcomes.