1. You have experienced an illustrious and diverse career in research, education and clinical work. What is the secret to your success in all of these disciplines? I have been very blessed to have such a great career in physical therapy – I firmly believe that the reason for any of the success that I...
Plantar fasciitis is the most common cause of plantar heel pain estimated to affect 10% of the general population through their lifetime. Proper nomenclature of the pathology is dependent on the tissue involved and how long the symptoms have been in existence. “Fasciitis” suggests an acute inflammatory response, where “fasciosis” illustrates a chronic degenerative response...
Lower extremity stiffness (“leg stiffness”) describes the resistance the joints and muscles in your lower body will have to movement when your foot contacts the ground during running. Think of your leg as a spring; the more tightly coiled spring will be stiffer, the more loosely coiled will be more deformable. A stiffer leg is...
Cadence, or the amount of steps taken each minute, is a common and effective running assessment. This assessment can be done in both healthy and injured runners, but its’ modification is most impactful in the latter group. In our Boulder Physical Therapy practice, we routinely utilize running gait retraining to reduce abnormal forces in the...
Strengthening the muscles of the hip, gluts, is a key component of rehabilitation for patients with low back pain, hip pain, and knee pain. These muscles help to optimize movement in the lower quarter improving joint mechanics and force distribution during life and recreational activities. In our Facebook posts, we have shown videos on optimizing...
In the achilles tendinopathy (artist formally known as tendonitis) research two main themes have emerged. First, there is little to no evidence to support the use of injections of any kind into an injured tendon. Authors have advocated against steroid injections due to the risk of tendon rupture outweighing any potential benefits. Studies have also...
Photo Credit: wikipedia.org Ankle fractures are a relatively common traumatic orthopedic injury involving the two lower leg bones and ankle joint. Among these fractures, the most common type involves a break of the outer lower leg bone (weber B). These fibular fractures are commonly allowed to weight bear early than tibia fractures because they are...
Achilles tendinopathy is the most common tendon injuries seen in our Boulder Physical Therapy practice. Patients often present with pain along the mid portion of the achilles tendon during walking, hiking, running, or jumping activities. The greatest risk factors for this condition include a loss of ankle flexibility (dorsiflexion) and calf weakness. Both of these...
Running remains one of the most popular forms of exercise due to its’ convenience, low cost of entry, and aerobic efficiency. It is difficult to replace the same health benefits you receive from a 30 minute run with another mode of activity. Unfortunately the rates of running related injuries have not been reduced with improvements...
The stability of a joint is determined by 3 main categories including passive structures (anatomical bone congruency, ligamentous support), active structures (muscles and tendons), and our proprioception or balance system. Together they create a powerful system of stability to support a joint in both healthy and injured or sprained conditions. Importantly, an injury to one...
