By: Rani Helvey-Byers, PT, DPT, OCS Brazilian Jiu Jitsu demonstrates an extremely high injury prevalence, with 91% of practitioners sustaining at least one injury during training and 60% of competitive athletes injured in competition.1 For many practitioners, injuries are simply part of the journey, a minor blip requiring mild alteration to the training schedule. However,...
By: Rani Helvey-Byers, PT, DPT, OCS Ribs are a commonly injured site among Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) athletes. Movements such as heavy crossfaces, body triangles, knee-on-belly, and explosive scrambles can wreak quite the havoc on your ribs. Grappling style also affects the risk of rib injury. One study found that athletes who primarily played a top...
By: Mary Pezzella, PT, DPT Musicians spend hours asking their bodies to perform precise, repetitive movements while often holding the same position for long periods of time. Just like an athlete warms up before practice or competition, musicians can benefit from preparing their bodies before they start playing. A physical warm-up doesn’t need to be...
By Dr. Erica Tran, PT, DPT Pickleball looks gentle until your knees tell you otherwise. The quick split-steps, the lateral shuffles to cover the kitchen line, and the sudden stops and pivots on a hard court all add up to real demand on the knee joint. When a knee gets stiff, cranky, or just doesn’t...
The physical therapy practice is dedicated to helping cyclists combat both acute and chronic knee pain so they can ride stronger for longer. BOULDER, Colorado – Mend Colorado, a physical therapy clinic that sees patients in Boulder and Lafayette, proudly announces the launch of its latest resource. This one addresses a common concern among...
Previous research has shown exercise has a protective effect on knee cartilage and the development of osteoarthritis. Cartilage is a metabolic tissue dependent on loading and movement to improve its’ tissue health. Authors have found both sedentary individuals and high frequency marathon runners to be at an increased risk of osteoarthritis, but importantly active individuals...
Running remains one of our country’s most popular forms of exercise. This is no more evident than here in Boulder where our citizens have been consistently voted one of the fittest cities in America. Runners of all ages can be seen exercising on our city’s paths, trails, and sidewalks. In our previous blog post we...
In our previous posts we have detailed many factors leading to high injury rates experienced among runners. In our Boulder Physical Therapy practice, one of the most important factors to examine with any injured runner is their running gait. Most of us were instructed as beginners in our chosen sports with the exception of cycling...
In our Boulder Physical Therapy Practice, gait retraining is an effective intervention to reduce the abnormal forces which perpetuate many overuse running injuries. Athletes are videotaped by Physical Therapists for bio-mechanical faults including alignment, stride length, step rate, and running technique. The athlete is then given real time feedback to correct the faults associated with their...
The iliotibial band is a long track of fascia and connective tissue running from the lateral hip muscles including the tensor fascia lata down to the lateral aspect of the knee. Contrary to popular belief and utilization, foam rolling is ineffective at changing the length or flexibility of this structure secondary to its’ density and...
