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Mend Physical Therapy Blog and Injury Information

The 3 inevitable events in our society include death, taxes, and low back pain. Many of us will experience a significant episode of low back pain in our lives but the vast majority of these symptoms are not associated with serious pathology such as fracture or cancer. In our previous posts on low back pain...

ACL injuries are one of the most common sports medicine injuries encountered in a Physical Therapy practice. These injuries can be treated successfully with either conservative or surgical interventions depending on the athlete’s presentation and athletic goals. In addition to the post injury management of these athletes, researchers and clinicians have also focused on reducing...

Non contact ACL injuries remain one of the most common traumatic injuries encountered in sports medicine.  The most common mechanism of injury involves a sudden twisting motion at the knee with the foot planted.  Many factors are at play in this scenario including shoewear, field and court conditions, and the athletes ability to resist the...

Death, taxes, and low back pain are three of the certainties of life with over 90% of individuals reporting low back pain at some point in their lives.  Our previous posts have described the ability of Physical Therapy to both accelerate a patient’s recovery from low back pain and reduce its’ risk of recurrence.  A...

Reducing Hamstring Strains in Sprinters

Hamstring strains or pulls are a common injury among acceleration sports including rugby, soccer, and sprinting.  Our previous blogs have written about the causes and treatments of these muscle injuries.  One of the common causes of injury involves a lengthening contraction (eccentric) of the muscle during these explosive sports movements.  If the muscle is unable...

The functional movement screen was designed to screen athletes and individuals on both upper and lower body movement tasks in order to identify those at risk for future injury.  As participants move through the 7 movement tasks, Physical Therapists are able to identify areas of weakness, tightness, or decreased coordination.  Based on these results exercises...

Ankle sprains remain one of the most common orthopedic injuries seen in both physician and Physical Therapy offices.  The majority of these injuries occur when the foot and ankle roll inward under the shin.  Previously, a program of P.R.I.C.E. (protection, rest, ice, compression, and elevation) was prescribed but new research has shown this strategy may...

Achilles Tendinopathy is a common injury to the lower leg found in runners, jumping athletes, and sedentary individuals.  In our previous blog posts on Achilles Tendinopathy we have described the impact of this diagnosis on the active population.  Physical Therapy remains the gold standard for conservative care focusing on restoring joint mobility and strength to...