Blog

The Role of Dry Needling for Postpartum Women with Low-Back Pain

By: Maggie Gebhardt, PT, DPT, OCS, FAAOMPT While the joys of a new baby are unmatched, the physical toll of pregnancy—ranging from core weakness to pelvic and SI joint pain—often leaves postpartum women grappling with persistent low back pain. Nearly one-third of women continue to experience lumbopelvic pain a full year after giving birth. This...

The Top 4 Exercises For Bulletproof Shoulder In Climbers

By: Rani Helvey-Byers, PT, DPT, OCS As climbers, we like to torture our shoulders by placing them in extreme positions and then asking them to generate an immense amount of force in said positions. Because of this, we can’t just train our shoulders in one plane. If we want resilient shoulders, we need to at...

Reducing Your Risk For ACL Injury

ACL injuries continue to rise prompting stakeholders to look more closely at injury prevention.  Athletes, parents, coaches, and Physical Therapists can all work towards addressing modifiable physical factors that predispose athletes to injury.  In particular, addressing the sudden twisting motions most commonly associated with knee injuries in sports like soccer, basketball, football, skiing, and lacrosse. ...

Using Aerobic Exercise To Improve Your Pain Tolerance

Exercise has tremendous effects on our physical, mental, and emotional health.  It also remains one of our most powerful strategies to reduce pain.  We can all attest to the overall great feelings that occur after a challenging workout or activity.  This reduction in mental, emotional, or physical pain after a single bout of exercise is...

What is an ACL injury and what are the common symptoms?

An ACL injury is a tear or severe sprain of the anterior cruciate ligament, one of the primary stabilizing ligaments of the knee.  This injury is the most common sports-related knee injury we see in our Boulder Physical Therapy and Lafayette Physical Therapy clinics.  Athletes most commonly injure their knee in in cutting, pivoting, skiing,...

Creating A Resilient Lower Back

By: Lucas Glomb, PT, DPT, OCS In this video you will see a variety of exercises targeted at the low back that build strength throughout a full range of motion.  In physical therapy, I find that low back pain rehab is consistently and significantly under-dosed. In life, the lumbar spine is exposed to significant compressive,...

Lead Leg Internal Rotation Loss and Low Back Pain in Golfers

By: Maggie Gebhardt, PT, DPT, OCS Low back pain is one of the most common injuries in golfers, and according to physical therapists Maggie and Hope at MEND Colorado, the issue often starts far from the spine itself. In golf, proper lead leg hip internal rotation (left hip for right-handed golfers) is essential for efficient trunk rotation and...

Treating Tension Headaches And Myofascial Pain With Dry Needling

Half of all individuals experience at least one headache a year and 15% of the population reports a headache on any given day.  Headache causes are multifactorial but can be divided into groups such as cervicogenic (driven from the neck), migraine, and tension.  Tension headaches remain the most commonly diagnosed headache sub group associated primarily...

Treating Low Back Pain In Golfers

In our Boulder Physical Therapy and Lafayette Physical Therapy clinics we commonly work with golfers who are limited by back pain.  We focus on addressing both the mechanical stresses of the golf swing and the underlying physical limitations that contribute to symptoms. Golf’s repetitive rotation and asymmetrical forces place significant demands on spinal mobility, hip...