Physical therapist Sahrmann receives APTA lecture award

Honor recongizes lifetime achievement

Shirley A. Sahrmann, Ph.D., professor of physical therapy at the School of Medicine, has received the Mary McMillan Lecture Award from the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). The award, the highest given by the APTA, recognizes lifetime achievements of an individual whose work will have a lasting effect on the profession of physical therapy.

Sahrmann: Renowned therapist

In accepting the award, Sahrmann, also professor of cell biology and physiology and associate professor of neurology, addressed the association's membership at its 1998 Annual Conference in Orlando, Fla., where she shared professional perspectives and projections for the future of physical therapy.

She graduated from Washington University in 1958 with a bachelor's degree in physical therapy and joined the medical school in 1959 as a staff physical therapist at the Irene Walter Johnson Institute of Rehabilitation. She received a master's degree in neurobiology in 1971 and a doctoral degree in neurobiology in 1973 from the University.

Sahrmann initially studied stroke patients suffering from hemiplegia, a paralysis of one side of the body. She became interested in their hyperactive muscle reflexes. In a landmark study, she showed that the hyperactive reflex of hemiplegia is not the primary cause of the inability to move but is merely a symptom. This finding forced physical therapists to rethink treatment techniques directed at alleviating muscle hyperactivity.

Sahrmann analyzes movement patterns and muscle imbalances and has determined that corrective exercises can eliminate many people's musculoskeletal pain problems. She is concerned that movement problems tend to be cumulative leading to major trauma and pain syndromes. Therefore, she has developed stretching and strengthening exercises to correct the alignment and improve the flexibility of the trunk and lower half of the body.

Sahrmann also advocates the development of generally accepted classification and diagnostic systems for each condition physical therapists treat. Currently, she is establishing systematic ways to classify lower back pain.

Sahrmann has received numerous other awards, including the 1997 Henry O. and Florence P. Kendall Practice Award, also from the APTA. She has been recognized locally by the Missouri Chapter of the APTA, nationally through invited lectureships and presentations across the country and internationally as keynote speaker at the national congresses of the Canadian and Australian Physiotherapy associations.