W#10 Health Assessment (replies)

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Respond to your peers’ post and include the following:

· Insight on a solution to an identified peer challenge.

· Resources that may be helpful related to your peers’ post.

POST # 1 Woudelyne

(Woudelyne’s initial Post)

Reflect on the focus area or system(s) for the week.

· What challenges might you anticipate in completing this assessment?

· What differences might you anticipate when assessing patients across the lifespan?

· Share findings from scholarly resources that help in the performance of this assessment.

The musculoskeletal system, the reason why we move. The system is composed of muscles, bones, joints, and the other connective tissue components that join these structures; it is the main mechanism by which the body performs all mechanical functions guided by our brains (Se Won Lee, 2017). This system can be very complicated when it comes to dealing with the joints, muscles, tendons, bursae and bones. For example, did you know that there are approximately 18 bursae in the hip region (Putukian & Miller, 2020). It is important to understand the anatomical location and function of each. The main musculoskeletal complaints that patients have is pain, and because pain is subjective, it can be very challenging for practitioners to manage effectively. Thorough examination and screening will aid in determining the correct diagnosis for treatment. This week, the most challenging part for me will be to remember all the appropriate maneuvers that comes with the musculoskeletal assessment and apply them appropriately. I often get confused with the terms such as adduction, abduction and many other musculoskeletal terms which I plan to familiarize myself with this week. 

When it comes to assessing patients across the lifespan, it is of utmost importance to assess the elderly population for risk for falls, because a child can fall and recover, however a fall can be detrimental and deadly to an elderly with multiple comorbidities. As practitioners, be aware of the musculoskeletal changes that occurs in our bodies as we age. We lose bone strength and volume, articular cartilage degrades, and intervertebral discs narrows which contributes to increase pain and loss of mobility in the aging adult (Roberts et al, 2016). 

I find this book by Se Won Lee (2017) very precise and helpful in aiding in the assessment and diagnoses of musculoskeletal system and would recommend it for practitioners to have on hand.

References

Se Won Lee, M. (2017). Musculoskeletal Injuries and Conditions: Assessment and Management. Demos Medical.

Putukian, M. & Miller, M.G. (2020). Musculoskeletal examination of the hip and groin. UpToDate. Retrieved from  Musculoskeletal examination of the hip and groin - UpToDate (oclc.org)

Roberts, S., Colombier, P., Sowman, A., Mennan, C., Rölfing, J. H. D., Guicheux, J., & Edwards, J. R. (2016). Ageing in the musculoskeletal system. Acta Orthopaedica, 87, 15–25.  https://doi.org/10.1080/17453674.2016.1244750