Time and money are two finite resources especially in today’s healthcare environment of rising deductibles and decreased access to primary care services. Thankfully in Colorado patients have a choice on who to see first for their muscle, tendon, and joint pain. State law enables Coloradans to see a Physical Therapist without a prior referral. This...
Arm pain referred from the cervical spine (cervical radiculopathy) often is the result of nerve root compression by either bone or soft tissue in the bony canals of the neck. These canals protect the nerve roots as they exit from the spinal cord, but can also compress these neural structures leading to pain, numbness, pins and...
Active adults have many health advantages over their sedentary peers. The effects of aerobic exercise are widespread across a trained individual’s emotional, physical, and mental health. Recent research has highlighted the beneficial effects of aerobic exercise on anxiety, depression, cognition, and memory. Many areas of the brain are sensitive to the effects of aerobic exercise...
Photo Credit: Scott, A. CMAJ. 2011. Mead, M. Transl Sports Med. 2018. Tendon injuries have previously been diagnosed as tendonitis and were believed to be marked by an inflammatory process in the tissue. Our current knowledge on these injuries has been improved by a better understanding of the disease process behind tendon pain. Current research...
Adhesive capsulitis or frozen shoulder is a painful shoulder condition hallmarked by acute pain and a progressive loss of shoulder range of motion. This diagnosis can have a lengthy recovery requiring up to 24 months in some patients. The medical evidence highlights the importance of early diagnosis (acute pain, loss of motion especially external rotation),...
The knee is a vulnerable joint at times due to its’ location adjacent to the two long levers of our thigh and leg bones. The length of the levers allows the ankle and hip to exert a high amount of forces across the knee. The importance of treating these adjacent joints in patients with knee...
Plantar fasciitis (fasciosis) is a painful diagnosis limiting a patient’s ability to stand, walk, or run. The -itis of the name is a misnomer because very few cases of plantar heel pain involve an inflammatory process. Instead, a breakdown of soft tissue fibers and cells is noted in the plantar fascia reflecting the sequential stages...
The gluteus maximus is an essential muscle for daily and recreational activities, but is often found to be weak among patients with musculoskeletal pain. In our Boulder Physical Therapy practice we frequently find hip weakness among patients with low back, hip, knee, and ankle pain. Improving gluteus maximus strength improves movement patterns, dynamic alignment, and tolerance...
The least injured and best performing runners training programs include both strength and sprint training. These complementary training programs reduce injury risk and improve running performance among trained distance runners. These programs target a different energy system in the body and have been shown to improve time to exhaustion, running time, and running efficiency compared...
When I first started seeing athletes in the early 2000s we often placed athletes in cold baths in an attempt to both reduce post workout soreness and facilitate recovery. Since this time we have moved toward more active recovery strategies including aerobic exercise, corrective exercise, static stretching, and foam rolling. A new study examined the...