Running Mechanics Running is one of the most common forms of exercise and has grown in popularity as evidenced by the wide range of age and ability levels running in Boulder County. Unfortunately, injuries effect a significant number of athletes with up to 90% reporting a prior injury(1). The vast majority of these injuries are...
Lateral Elbow Pain and Lateral Epicondylalgia Lateral epicondylalgia, also known as tennis elbow, is an overuse injury involving the common origin tendon of the wrist and finger extensors. Patients with this condition often report pain in the lateral elbow exacerbated by gripping, lifting, or manipu- lating objects with their hands. Previously thought to be a...
Currently, consumers have many choices of where to obtain Physical Therapy services for their pain and sports injuries. One option includes a clinic owned by the physician, often an orthopedist or physiatrist, who refers the patient to the clinic in which he/she has financial ownership. This arrangement, described as a physician owned physical therapy service...
After hearing a patient’s history, Physical Therapists decide on known tests and measures to assess for impairments such as a loss of joint range of motion or muscle weakness which either precipitated or perpetuated a patient’s symptoms or injury. The foot and ankle are commonly assessed as a contributing factor to lower quarter injuries and...
Low Back Pain Background Information Low back pain is a common disorder affecting up to 90% of people in the lifetime and is the 2nd most common reason people seek medical attention(1,2). Our health care system spends an average of over $90 billion dollars on low back pain largely from increases in surgical procedures, injections,...
Arm Injuries in Throwers Throwing injuries among baseball players are on the rise with a 54% and 58% increase in disability and days missed, respectively, over a one year period.(5,6) Recent evidence suggests that up to 50% of professional pitchers and 47% of youth level players can expect an injury limiting their participation in baseball.(1,12)...
There are disagreements on how to best manage acute low back pain, see our prior blog post on physical therapy low back pain management (http://bit.ly/1JQDVfh), but one thing we all agree on is the harmful effects of bed rest on acute low back pain. Research has documented patients who rest have a higher degree of...
Lumbar Spinal Stenosis is a spinal diagnosis found in older adults and involves a narrowing of the canals in which the nerves exit the spine. It can be found in either the central canal of the spine or in the foramen where nerves exit on each side of the spine. Often these patients reports symptoms...
Neck Pain Background Information Neck pain affects 10-15% of the population at any one time, with a lifetime incidence of 22-70% (1). Only 6% of patients with neck pain report resolution of symptoms at one year (2). A recent systematic review demonstrated the prognosis from idiopathic neck pain is poor (3) and 50-75% of patients with neck...
Shoulder and elbow injuries are on the rise among youth and professional baseball players. Our previous post on baseball injuries detailed the risk of future injury if an athlete has lost range of motion in his shoulder prior to the season. In particular, emphasis has been placed on the amount of internal rotation (hand behind lower...
