Blog

Medial Elbow Pain with Weightlifting or CrossFit

Pain in the elbow is very common among weightlifters and CrossFit. It often causes individuals to lower the lifting load or ultimately modify the WOD. The most likely areas of pain are in the lateral elbow or medial elbow. Keep reading to learn more about the symptoms, causes, and treatment options for elbow pain. Medial...

Evidence Does Not Support Utilization Of Surgery Over Physical Therapy For Most Musculoskeletal Conditions

The vast majority of musculoskeletal conditions and diagnoses are not life threatening or time sensitive and allow for conservative treatments, including Physical Therapy, to be utilized prior to surgery. In our Boulder Physical Therapy practice we commonly see outcomes consistent with the current research on the utilization of Physical Therapy instead of surgery for common...

Utilize Shoulder Strengthening to Decrease Elbow Pain for Rock Climbers

Make sure you’re incorporating shoulder strengthening into your elbow rehabilitation! The elbow is one of the most common sites for pain in rock climbers. Lateral elbow pain (tennis elbow) is a limiting condition causing pain with repetitive movements including crimping or pinching while rock climbing. This condition was previously thought to occur secondary to inflammation...

Medial Elbow Pain in Rock Climbers

Pain to the elbow is very common among climbers and is one of the leading causes of time away from the sport. The most likely areas of pain are to the lateral elbow or medial elbow. Keep reading to learn more about the symptoms, causes, and treatment options for elbow pain.   Medial epicondylalgia (also...

Treating Lateral Elbow Pain in Rock Climbers

Pain to the elbow is very common among climbers and is one of the leading causes of time away from the sport. The most likely areas of pain are to the lateral elbow or medial elbow. Keep reading to learn more about the symptoms, causes, and treatment options for elbow pain.   Lateral epicondylalgia (also...

Early sport specialization where our youth athletes focus on a single sport year round has become more popular over the last decade. The 10,000 hours reference (original study in violinists not athletes) reinforced this concept despite the adverse events of early sports specialization include burnout, depression/anxiety, lower athletic performance, and sports injuries. Research into high...

Manual therapy, including joint mobilization and manipulation, is a Physical Therapy intervention designed to reduce pain and improve mobility.  These interventions have been shown to accelerate a patient’s recovery compared to usual care or exercise alone.  Although mechanisms behind its’ effectiveness are still being researched, manual therapy unique ability to reduce pain allows an individual...

Lateral elbow pain, tennis elbow, is a limiting condition causing pain with repetitive movements including gripping.  This condition was previously though to occur secondary to inflammation within the wrist and fingers tendons insertion into the arm, but current researchers have not found inflammatory cells in patients with this condition.  Instead, cells of the injured tendons...

Tennis elbow or lateral epicondylalgia is a painful condition affecting the wrist and finger extensor tendons as they attach into the arm.  Breakdown of the tendon at its’ insertion and weakness in the forearm muscles lead to pain and reduced tolerance for gripping and hand movements.  Physical Therapy treatments including manual therapy to the spine...