20 Time Final Post

Overall wrapping up this 20 time project, I think my TED talk went very well. Public speaking is not one of my strong qualities, especially without note cards so I was super nervous. I rehearsed so much and I was confident in the material but when it comes to actual presentations, I seem to forget it all. With my TED talk I did not feel this like I normally do. I felt confident in my project and I was proud of my progress and final product. It took me quite awhile to prepare for it, I think I spent almost 5 hours just on the slides themselves to make sure that they were clear and concise. I practiced a lot and overall just put a lot of effort into it. I would definitely grade myself an A- for my TED talk based off of my performance compared to previous ones. I went over about a minute, and  If I had done anything differently, it would be to try and condense my slides to about 10-12 and make them more to the point. Besides that I think this has been a very valuable project and a test of self motivation and I am grateful for the experience.

20 Time Reflection

When we were assigned a 20 Time project, I was excited to create my own project but also unsure as to what I was supposed to do with my new found freedom. Throughout school, I have always learned to do assignments word for word as outlined by the directions, and so it was a great chance to branch out and do something that I found interesting. I wanted to explore a topic which I could learn from and apply to real life. I have been very involved in weight training, which coincides with my passion for kinesiology and physical therapy.This interest pushed me to develop a project that I could personally grow and improve from. I grew up as a gymnast, which required a lot of physical strength and balance. I never understood how solid balance becomes so solid, it was just a given that everyone accepted. Land on two feet, bend your knees, stay focused and practice, but why? Over the years I continued to occasionally wonder what exactly balance was, but never had the chance to answer it. So in order to test out the complex inner-workings of the human body’s balancing abilities, I decided to re-learn an elementary gym hold called a straddle-press handstand. This involves relying on only arm and core strength to lift your legs up into a handstand from a straddled position.

Initially, my project was intended to be solely self-help based, and to apply my research in real life situations. I started to explore what it means to balance and how complex it really is. Basically, balance is dependent on a few different sensory outputs: vision, muscles and joints, and the vestibular system, which includes the cerebral cortex. I planned to do exercises every day that targeted each component; I thought it would be simple. I would stand on one foot and do some crunches, and it would come back to me right? Well, it wasn’t quite that easy as I found out. I started integrating different strength exercises into my daily workouts, and practicing fine hand eye coordination drills (tossing a tennis ball against a wall, catching it in the other other hand) to learn how our bodies balance and how it is improved. Having pre-existing wrist injuries, I had to make sure that I was properly warming up and stretching safely. I took progress videos every so often to see if I could actually improve my balance by narrowing in on these different components that help us to stay stable. I did a lot of exercises like standing on one foot with a BOSU balance ball, single leg kettlebell deadlifts and one arm planks. In a short amount of time, I noticed a significant difference in my ability to balance on one foot, and my core stamina. This all helped me to practice my straddle press handstands up against a wall.

My gymnastics inflicted wrist injuries have affected me even after quitting the sport. Specifically, because of a past dislocation, my left wrist becomes very swollen and sore with excessive weight placed on it. I go to physical therapy often and work to regain mobility in my wrist, but after 7 years, I still do not have the same strength I used to. I was talking to my physical therapist about my project to re teach myself this handstand, and he shut it down quickly. He told me that it is not a good idea to keep practicing my straddle press because of its intensive strain placed on the hand and wrist joints. I was pretty disappointed; I was really excited to apply my research to my own life, and it was stressful knowing that I would have to start over. However, I knew he was right and that it was time to shift my project in a different direction. I started thinking about how my original goal to improve balance could benefit other people as well. I decided to see how well my friends and family could balance and recorded data. I timed them standing on one foot with their eyes closed, both with shoes and without shoes. Footwear plays a big role in balance, as it is designed to provide extra stability and could affect the results. I then categorized this information by the sports that people are involved in, to see how each activity compared. After averaging all of the data, I found that dancers/cheerleaders, and marching band members have the greatest balance which was slightly surprising. I wouldn’t have expected marching band to build strong balance, but after learning about the brain’s visual output, I was able to understand what made them such good balancers. Although they may not have as much strength as a bodybuilder would, marching and playing an instrument requires coordination to walk in sync while focus on performing a piece. Similarly, a dancer is trained to move in rhythm with music, which requires both strong visual cues and balance to stay centered while moving.

Averages:

Sport	Left w Shoe	Right w Shoe	Left w out Shoe	Right w out Shoe	Shoes on or off?	Type of Shoe
Football	00:18.95 sec	00:39.08 sec	00:10.37 sec	00:33.57 sec	80% say on	80% Sneakers 20% Skate shoe
Basketball	00:17.01 sec	00:47.12 sec	00:17.12 sec	00:43.85 sec	66% on	100% Sneaker
Dance/Cheer	00:27.14 sec	1:01.87 sec	1:11.79 sec	00:37.72 sec	60% say on	60% skate shoes 20% Flip Flops 20% sneakers
Lacrosse	00:21.38 sec	00:33.51 sec	00:09.47 sec	00:24.38 sec	100% say on	100 % sneakers
Soccer	00:32.90 sec	00:16.33 sec	00:19.73 sec	00:12.87 sec	100% say on	100% skate shoes
Instruments/School activities	01:07.49 sec	00:35.95 sec	00:17.54 sec	00:50.96 sec	50% say on	50% skate shoes 50% flip flops
General Weight Training	00:12.25 sec	00:27.77 sec	00:20.15 sec	00:13.88 sec	33% say on	33% sneakers 33% skate shoe 33% flip flops
Highest average times?	Instruments and school academic activities 1:07.49	dance/ cheer 1:01.87 sec	dance/ cheer 1:11.79	Instruments 00:50.96	Lacrosse and soccer say that its easier with shoes 100% of the time Weight training lowest

To finalize this project, I created an infographic which informs people about balance and how they can improve it. In the future, I still plan to use many of these exercises in my workouts because of their effectiveness. I personally have learned so much from this project and I am glad that I was forced to think outside of myself, and ultimately help others.

Although I struggled at first to find the motivation to initiate my project, as I developed a more concrete plan I got very involved. It was hard to step outside of my workout plan comfort zone to try new exercises because we all get very comfortable with what we are good at. Having to shift my project in a new direction was very stressful, but I dealt with it in a very productive and effective manner.

Overall, I would evaluate my work as an A-, because of my thorough research and effort put into it. I incorporated a lot of information from past units.  I even decided to do my better joints project about wrist dislocation since it affected this project as well. I enjoyed doing it and handled the change productively and even created a better project for myself.

20 Time Final Product Infograph

Unit 8 Reflection

 This unit was all about the muscles of the body and how they move, and the joints that connect them. There are many different movements that muscles perform, and there is an opposite reaction for every contraction. Antagonist muscles relax in order for agonists to flex. There are over 600 muscles in the body making it difficult to remember all of them, but by knowing the generic shape, size, action, origin and location, it is easy to make an educated guess. Muscle contraction starts at the axon terminal, which triggers an action potential. The vesicles release Ach into the cytoplasm which then bind to receptor sites. The shift in energy causes a second action potential, and allows the sarcoplasmic reticulum to open. As it opens, it is flooded with Ca2+ ions which attach to the troponin of the TT complex and changes its shape, which in turn pulls the tropomyosin in charge of protecting the myosin binding sites away. ATP energy then attaches to the myosin cross bridge and splits into ADP+P. As P flies off of the head, it causes it to shift forward. After ADP is pushed off, the head returns to its resting state.
Knowing this, muscle twitch fibers were easier to understand. There are three types of muscle fibers, slow twitch, and fast A and B twitch. These allows activities such as marathon running (slow), sprinting (fast A) and weight lifting (B).

We did several projects which helped us to see how these components worked. First we did a chicken lab, in which we dissected a supermarket chicken to examine its muscles, tendons and ligaments. We were able to compare many of the muscles to our human bodies. We also did a project in which we redesigned a joint to avoid common injuries that it may sustain. I chose the wrist joint because I have experienced a lot of injuries with it and wanted to see what could be improved.

Although this was a challenging unit, it was very interesting as well. the human body is a very complex system and the muscles are what allow us to move and function. It was helpful because I tied in this unit with the skeletal system unit which made learning about this much easier.

Balancing our Senses

As I continue this 20 time project, I have been able to incorporate what I've learned in class into this research. The proprioceptors sit in nerves at the end of joints and relay messages about balance and body movement to the spine. Also, there are two types of balance; dynamic and static balance. Dynamic balance involves the body's ability to maintain center of gravity while moving, and static balance is the body's ability to maintain its center of gravity while standing still.
I have continued to survey people's balancing abilities, by timing how long they can stand on one foot with their eyes closed both with and without shoes. I also am recording which test was easier for them. This will give me a better understanding of what types of people have better balance. For example, what sports increase balance or mentally strenuous activities such as speech and debate can help the vestibular system's stability.
As we begin to wrap up our 20 time project, I will be collecting all of my data into graphs that will help easily describe my results. to prove these outcomes in my own life I will record more videos that show how I have personally improved my balance through strengthening activities and mental improvement.

"What Happens When You Stretch" Relate and Review

"What Happens When You Stretch" from people.bath.ac.uk/masrjb/Stretch/stretching_2.html#SEC13

"The golgi tendon organ records the change in tension, and the rate of change of the tension, and sends signals to the spine to convey this information. When this tension exceeds a certain threshold, it triggers the lengthening reaction which inhibits the muscles from contracting and causes them to contract"
- Our bodies are constantly reacting to the environment to maintain homeostasis and protect our internal organs. An example of this would be the lengthening reaction which prevents overstretching or "pulling" muscles. The pain you might feel in a deep stretch is an indication from your body to not push much further.

"You also want to relax any muscles used as synergists by the muscle you are trying to stretch. For example, when you stretch your calf, you want to contract the shin muscles by flexing your foot."
- Stretching contracted muscles is ineffective as the fibers cannot lengthen, and in order to do this you need to encourage the antagonist muscles to relax because of the contraction that occurs in the agonists. For example, when performing a splits stretch, you must contract the glutes in order to allow the groin muscles to relax and lengthen.

"One of the reasons for holding a stretch for a prolonged period of time is that as you hold the muscle in a stretched position, the muscle spindle habituates and reduces its signaling. Gradually, you can train your stretch receptors to allow greater lengthening of the muscles."
- Flexibility can be improved, and it is evident through forms of exercise like yoga which encourages isometric positions that become much easier with practice. Over time, you will not feel the pain that once held you back from reaching a deeper stretch.

Relate and Review
Sarcomeres are the basic unit of muscle contraction, and cause area to increase/decrease overlap with contraction/relaxation. At maximum resting length the sarcomeres have stretched out fully, and collagen fibers within muscle fibers align with each other and straighten themselves out; scar tissue and disorganized fibers can heal with physical therapy and stretching. To prevent excessive stretching, the muscles react in order to relax/ contract fibers that are overly strained. This is the basic function of the golgi tendon organ.

A Better Joint Project

Kaitlin Rhind

Anatomy/ Physiology

Mr. Orre

5 May, 2017

Abstract:

I chose to do my project on wrist dislocation. A dislocation, or subluxation occurs when a bone moves from its normal position within a joint due to trauma.

As I explored this injury, I realized how complex the wrist is and how many joints work together in order to connect the hand and forearm. I read into the anatomy of the wrist further and chose a specific joint that stood out to me, which is the radiocarpal joint. I learned about the different tendons and muscles associated with it before trying to think of improvements to avoid this common dislocation. My goal was to find a solution to hyperextension and excessive movement which can cause abnormal movement of the wrist. I wanted to understand how this dislocation is treated, and researched different surgeries and treatment options in order to gain a better sense for the support structures that can be inserted for rehabilitation.

Main Body:

The Tendons and Ligaments of the Hand

The radiocarpal joint of the wrist sits between the distal radius, articular disk and proximal carpals. This synovial ellipsoid joint is composed of a convex bone fitting into a concave bone, and aids in movements such as extension, abduction and adduction. It is an incongruent joint, and has an unleveled surface, which allows for a greater range of motion. The radiocarpal joint absorbs about 80% of force placed on the wrist. The distal radius and articular disk are separated from the proximal carpals by synovial fluid which lubricates the joint, and an articular capsule, a fibrous connective tissue that provides additional support and reduces any excessive movements. The articular disc is also a tough connective tissue that provides shock support and stability between the bones. Muscles that are involved in flexion and radial deviation are the flexor carpi radialis and flexor carpi ulnaris which attach to the palmar side of the metacarpals. The anterior side of the wrist is composed of a flexor retinaculum, which protects the median nerve and flexor muscle tendons. The palmar extensor retinaculum tissues are much thinner than the flexor retinaculum, and prevent herniation, or excessive movement in the direction of least resistance. These tissues work together with the palmar radiocarpal ligament, the largest ligament in the wrist, to prevent extreme extension. There are 8 carpals in the hand that helps with free movement, and 5 metacarpals; the Radiocarpal ligament connects the dorsal end of the radius and carpals, and the ulnar collateral ligament resists extreme radial deviation.

Muscles of the Hand

Radiocarpal dislocation is caused by a high energy impact and is often occurrent with additional injuries such as fractures. Although it is not a common dislocation, as the joint impacted from the ulna side shifts towards the thumb in an upward direction, the chance of dislocation increases with the severity of impact. In gymnastics, the excessive load placed on the joint in floor routines and vault passes can result in wrist injuries. An outstretched hand absorbing a fall can cause the ligaments and capsule protecting the radiocarpal joint to rupture and dislocate the carpals from the radius. After sustaining this injury, one treatment path is to surgically insert a distal plate that connects from the diaphysis of the radius to the metacarpal of the long middle finger, forcing a lateral realignment. In order to prevent the dislocation of the radiocarpal joint, the ovial surface of the ellipsoid joint needs to be congruent. The difference of size between the ulna and radius creates an uneven socket for the carpals to sit in. By removing the first row of carpals, including the scaphoid, triquetrum, pisiform, and lunate, the radius will no longer sit higher than the ulna, however, there will still be a row of carpals to connect to the metacarpals. This reduces the number of interjoint spaces, and creates a stronger joint. In order to reduce the chance of ligament rupture, the distal radiocarpal and ulnar collateral ligaments will connect to the capitate and trapezium carpals instead and have much denser connective tissue. Although this will slightly reduce the flexion and extension range of motion of the wrist with four less joints and stronger ligaments, the chance of dislocation will decrease drastically.

Radiocarpal Dislocation of the Right Hand Anterior View

Realignment of the Radiocarpal Joint

The recreated joint without 4 carpals  creating a smoother surface for the joint to fit within.

Discussion:

I chose to improve the wrist joint because as a gymnast, I sustained a lot of injuries to my wrists. A lot of the exercises require you to bear all of your body weight onto your hands which can easily cause stress fractures and dislocations. I was young when this happened, and did not understand the wrist or the many components and dysfunctions that can occur, and so I wanted to understand its anatomy in-depth. There are many different conditions under which radiocarpal dislocation can occur, and even though I am trying to prevent this particular injury, it will not protect against all dislocations. In addition, by adding stronger ligaments to the palmar and anterior sides of the wrist, range of motion is reduced due to the higher tension, which can be undesirable. Since it is not possible to naturally redesign this joint, it is important to take precautions to avoid overstressing joints or allowing extreme deviation from natural anatomical position. Weight lifting requires wrists to have a large range of motion while flexing, extending and hyperextending the hands when picking up barbells or weights. Also, uneven bars in gymnastics places heavy strain on wrists when hanging because of the firm grasp it takes to hold on to the bar. To prevent dislocations and fractures during high intensity activities such as this, athletes will wear wrist wraps that support the hand from over extending or flexing and keeps the bones and ligaments aligned.

Works Cited:

https://www.epainassist.com/joint-pain/wrist-pain/wrist-joint-dislocation

https://www.epainassist.com/joint-pain/wrist-pain/understanding-wrist-joint-or-radiocarpal-joint

http://www.mccc.edu/~behrensb/documents/WristBIG.pdf

http://www.coa.org/docs/2014annualmeeting/presentations/GhiassiRevised.pdf

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Medical_X-Ray_imaging_VNH07_nevit.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sobo_1909_203.png

https://clinicalgate.com/forearm-wrist-and-hand-2/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4208958/

Anatomy of Movement by Blandine Calais-Germain