Total knee and hip replacements are among the fastest growing surgeries in our country. Physical Therapy remains the first line treatment for patients with knee and hip arthritis, but in patients with severe osteoarthritic pain and loss of function joint replacement remains a good surgical option. In prior research among patients undergoing these procedures there is...
ACL injuries are on the rise across the United States as more individuals participate in athletic activities. As described in prior posts, the majority of these ligament injuries do not involve contact but rather occur with deceleration and directional changes in sports. Athletes with decreased strength, balance, and coordination are unable to dissipate forces placing...
Marathon running is a challenging event requiring substantial amounts of endurance and strength training for optimal performance and injury prevention. The race distance of 26.2 miles requires high mileage training, often >75-100 miles per week at the elite level, placing the athlete at risk of a running related injury (Saragiotto et al. 2014). In addition...
Knee osteoarthritis is a common condition in aging adults leading to pain and reduced performance of daily and recreational activities. Manual therapy and exercise remain a hallmark of conservative care for this condition and have been shown to delay or prevent the need for a total knee replacement. In addition to exercise, corticosteroid injections are often...
As the snows melts many of us will return to the amazing Boulder trail system for our training runs. This popular form of exercise comes with tremendous health benefits, but can also place some runners at risk for running injuries such as knee pain. Patellofemoral Pain (pain on the front of the knee) is the...
The internet is excellent at providing information on a multitude of subjects, but the application of this information is limited because of the existence of individual situations and people. An example of this would be the failure of a one size fits all approach to Physical Therapy. In this example, every patient with a certain...
Tears in the meniscus, cartilage within our knees, can occur due to injury or degeneration attributed to the aging process. The latter is a much more frequent scenario and often these tears are found on MRIs of patients without knee pain. These false positive results cast doubt on the direct correlation between a picture of...
Patients have a choice for where they attend Physical Therapy even if directed to a single PT practice by their physician. Unfortunately, physician owned physical therapy practices, either on or off site, are on the rise around the country and referrals are being driven to these practices due to financial incentives. These practices often utilize...
As ACL injuries continue to rise among professional and recreational athletes Physical Therapists will continue to rehabilitate these athletes in order to allow them to safely return to sports. In our practice in Boulder, we commonly see athletes over the course of 6-9 months post operatively as they develop the strength, balance, and sport specific...
The step down test is an important Physical Therapy test to determine the ability of our athletes to stabilize their lower extremity in single leg stance. Proper performance of this test requires adequate strength, balance, control, and mobility in the lower extremity. Often athletes with lower extremity or spinal pain have a significant asymmetry in...