Of the PT Persuasion: Commonly Misused Terms (Part I)
Have you ever wished for a resource that helped writers cut back on hours and hours of researching how to accurately portray injuries and medical conditions? Look no further. In this blog series, I’ll be discussing just that. What makes me qualified to do so? Well, I’m a Physical Therapist! Or, rather, I’m a writer…Of the PT Persuasion.
Get out your red editing pens, writers! We’re diverging from our usual pattern in this post to discuss a few medical terms that I often see misused in writing. Because this is a “mistakes” post, I won’t be referencing any authors or their books. For those of you who are noticing “Part I” in the title—yes, I plan to occasionally interrupt our scheduled Character Injuries programming to add additional posts for more Commonly Misused Terms.
Ready to find out what’s not making the cut? Carry on, writers.
1. Prone vs Supine
Oftentimes, I’ll see a writer use “prone” when they mean “lying down.” And here I am, a good little PT, envisioning the character face-down on the ground like a toddler throwing a tantrum. I usually then read on to find out the writer is envisioning the character face-up on the ground, usually after some grave injury or insult. “Ohhh…that makes more sense!” You see, “prone” technically refers to a certain position in lying down; it means when someone is on their stomach, or face-down. The term for lying face-up is “supine.”
2. Tendons vs Ligaments
Tendons (like the biceps tendon or the Achilles tendon), are the strong, rope-like tissues that anchor muscles to bone. Muscles, themselves, have one job: create force. Muscles pull on tendons, which don’t contract or stretch, and the tendons pull the bone to create motion. In short: tendons are the rope for the muscles’ pulley.
Ligaments are made of a similar type of tissue to tendons—they don’t contract or stretch, either. They’re very, very strong units that bind bones together. Ligaments are exclusively structural and are mostly found in joints. Think of the ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) in the knee, which connects the femur (thigh bone) to the tibia (shin bone).
Side note: I know a lot of you will think “meniscus” now that I’ve mentioned the ACL, but the meniscus is not a ligament or a tendon. Succinctly, it’s a cartilage cushion for the knee to absorb impact like the shocks on a car.
In summary: tendons are muscle-to-bone and ligaments are bone-to-bone.
3. Sprain vs Strain vs Pull
“Ow! I think I pulled my hamstring!”
Yes, your character might say that, and it would be completely fine for a non-medical voice. But, friends, take it from an ex-collegiate sprinter: you would know if you pulled your hamstring. There would be no “I think” about it. In short, pulling a muscle refers to the act of creating so much force that the muscle can’t withstand it, and it severs completely; think of it like stretching a rubber band until it snaps. This can also be called a ‘rupture.’ It can also be known as a Grade 3 Strain. Strains happen exclusively to muscle and tendon tissues.
Wait, back it up. A pull is now a strain?
Yes. It’s the most severe type of strain. So, let’s break it down.
Grade I: (mild strain) painful but without loss of strength. Only 5% or less of the muscle tissue is affected.
Grade II: (moderate strain) painful and with loss of strength. Greater than 5% of the muscle tissue is affected.
Grade III: (severe strain) painful and with complete loss of strength. 100 percent of the muscle tissue is affected.
Let’s talk about it this way: if your rubber band tears slightly, but doesn’t rupture, it would be analogous to a muscle strain (Grade I-II). It’s worth noting that strains can also be used for injuries to the tendons that connect muscle to bone.
So, where to sprains come in?
“Sprains” refer specifically to ligaments. Therefore, you’ll often see them associated with joints (i.e. bone-to-bone structures). “I sprained my ankle” or “I sprained my knee.” You cannot ‘sprain your hamstring.’ The hamstring is a muscle—its injury is a strain.
Sprains are also broken down into categories of severity. For more information on sprains, visit my post on Ankle Sprains.
In short: a “sprain” is for ligaments/joints, a “strain” is for muscles/tendons, and a “pull” is the worst kind of “strain.”
So, there it is, friends—some of my top medical term pet peeves in writing. I hope you find this post helpful and that you’ll also start cringing with me every time you read “prone” incorrectly.
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this installment to Of the PT Persuasion.
Disclaimer:
If you’re seeking medical advice for yourself or someone you know, you should speak to a medical professional. This blog is not intended for diagnosing or treating real-life medical conditions, only fictional ones.
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