Low Back Pain Background Information Low back pain is a common disorder affecting up to 90% of people in the lifetime and is the 2nd most common reason people seek medical attention(1,2). Our health care system spends an average of over $90 billion dollars on low back pain largely from increases in surgical procedures, injections,...
Arm Injuries in Throwers Throwing injuries among baseball players are on the rise with a 54% and 58% increase in disability and days missed, respectively, over a one year period.(5,6) Recent evidence suggests that up to 50% of professional pitchers and 47% of youth level players can expect an injury limiting their participation in baseball.(1,12)...
There are disagreements on how to best manage acute low back pain, see our prior blog post on physical therapy low back pain management (http://bit.ly/1JQDVfh), but one thing we all agree on is the harmful effects of bed rest on acute low back pain. Research has documented patients who rest have a higher degree of...
Lumbar Spinal Stenosis is a spinal diagnosis found in older adults and involves a narrowing of the canals in which the nerves exit the spine. It can be found in either the central canal of the spine or in the foramen where nerves exit on each side of the spine. Often these patients reports symptoms...
Shoulder and elbow injuries are on the rise among youth and professional baseball players. Our previous post on baseball injuries detailed the risk of future injury if an athlete has lost range of motion in his shoulder prior to the season. In particular, emphasis has been placed on the amount of internal rotation (hand behind lower...
Running is one of the most common forms of exercise due to its’ wide appeal, minimal equipment needs, and aerobic benefits. Around Boulder it is not uncommon to see runners of all ability levels and ages enjoying many of the great outdoor running paths and trails. Prior research has shown older runners run at slower...
Basketball has one of the highest injury rates in sports with articles reporting up to 7-10 injuries per 1000 athlete exposures (Dick et al. J Athl Train. 2007). As expected, the majority of these injuries occur in the lower extremity, in particular within the knee and ankle. Authors report both overuse (tendinopathy) and traumatic (sprain,...
When we began playing sports, our pre game routines consisted of a cardiovascular warm up, some agility work, followed by static stretching (sustained holds >15 seconds of the muscles). This type of stretching has fallen out of favor in the last decade because of the negative impact of static stretching on muscle performance. Research has...
Over the last few years there has been a spike in athletic injuries in our community’s youth and adolescent athletes. Authors believe the spike can be blamed in part on the pressure placed on young athletes by their parents and coaches to specialize in sports early in their childhood. Specialization is described as intensive year...
One of things I enjoy about the profession of Physical Therapy is its’ constantly changing nature of the medical evidence behind what we do. Often I come across a new article or research report, which challenges my previous line of thought about an injury or treatment and requires me to change. Achilles Tendinopathy is commonly and...
