A recent article in the Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy (Deering et al, June 2020) discusses the research currently available to guide a return to exercise (including competitive sport) after pregnancy and childbirth. The short answer is, there’s not much. The article proposes a 3 phase approach to postpartum recovery in athletes. Phases...
“Do your kegels.” How often do pregnant women hear that little phrase? These days, most prenatal apps, books, or health care professionals will tell a pregnant patient to do their kegels at some point during pregnancy. How many should you do, how often, should you really be doing them, and how do you even know...
McDonald’s remains one of our country’s top franchises with over 14,000 locations across the United States. Ray Kroc’s quote about not being in the hamburger business but instead real estate comes to mind as you review the numbers. Franchises are based on successful operational systems where new owners hope to achieve similar results despite new...
One of things I love most about Colorado is the ability to get outside anytime of year and participate in all the outdoor activities our great state has to offer. Especially in stressful times like today each of us needs the steam release valve only exercise can provide. The mental and emotional health benefits of...
One of the silver linings of the COVID 19 pandemic has been Americans increased attention to hygiene. In particular, their efforts to wash or sanitize their hands more thoroughly and frequently throughout the day. The history of hand washing is initially attributed to a 19th century Hungarian physician named Ignaz Semmelweis. Semmelweis was initially troubled...
Physical Therapy 101 requires the utilization of an assistive device (crutches, cane) for any patient who cannot walk without a noticeable limp or deviation in their gait. These interventions are designed to improve a patient’s pain, safety, energy expenditure, and most importantly participation in the activities they enjoy. In our Boulder orthopedic and sports medicine...
Testosterone is an important sex hormone in the body primarily secreted by the gonadal organs. It is an essential hormone for fat free or muscle mass, bone density, energy levels, libido, and even red blood cell production. Similar to many body systems, testosterone production begins to decline around age 30 with the rate of decline...
The pelvic floor consists of muscles, ligaments, fascia and nerves located within the bony pelvis of women and men. In physical therapy we often discuss the muscles of the pelvic floor and may simply refer to these as the “pelvic floor”. These muscles serve essential functions including: Support for pelvic organs (bladder, uterus, bowel) Control...
Exercise is a common consideration each day for most adults, but immediate and long term life, work, and family barriers routinely block our best intentions. Despite its’ well established benefits, only 1 in 5 Americans meet our national guidelines on exercise each week. Those who do meet these guidelines each week have made exercise a...
I first joined the APTA as a student when a Physical Therapy professor required us to show our student APTA membership card before we could return to class. At the time I had only a vague idea of what the APTA did for myself and the profession, but over the years I have come to...
