Knee arthritis is a common condition affecting many middle to older aged adults. Its’ prevalence makes it one of the leading causes of disability in our country preventing these individuals from participating in their life, work, and recreational activities. Physical therapy including patient education, manual therapy, and exercise remains a first line treatment for this...
ACL tears are one of the most common sports injuries with over 100,000 ACL surgeries performed each year. In a given sport, females remain at a higher risk of injury than their male peers secondary to both non modifiable and non modifiable risk factors. Although Physical Therapy and conservative care have shown equivalent outcomes to...
Authors estimate over 100,000 ACL reconstructions are performed in our country each year. With equal incidence of early arthritis in both conservatively treated and surgically repaired ACLs the main reason for these surgeries would be to improve an athlete’s ability to return to their prior levels of sport. In prior decades, professional athletes who benefited...
In our Boulder Physical Therapy practice we still hear old wives tales on the harmful effects of exercise in patient’s with knee arthritis. For example, patients should avoid running to prevent worsening of their knee arthritis despite significant medical evidence to the contrary. Many of these theories are based in an outdated “wear and tear”...
Pain on the front of the knee (patellofemoral pain syndrome) is the most common diagnosis behind knee pain and one of the most common conditions found in sports medicine and Physical Therapy clinics. Although multifactorial in nature, symptoms arise due to abnormal contact between the knee cap and the thigh bone at the knee joint....
Imaging technologies, including MRI, continue to improve providing valuable insight into the human body. These advancements have made MRI scans extremely sensitive to identifying tissue pathology and the presence of disease within the body. In the musculoskeletal system, the MRI’s sensitivity reduces its’ ability to specifically detect symptomatic vs. asymptomatic pathology. For example, after age...
Knee pain remains one of the most common reasons patients seek care from a primary care physician and Physical Therapist. The knee is uniquely placed between two long levers in the thigh and leg bones. The levers significantly increase the effect of impairments in the ankle and hip joints on the knee. Commonly, patients present...
Patellofemoral pain, or pain around the kneecap, is one of the most common types of knee pain we treat at MEND. It impacts up to 23% of the general population and 40% of those people have persistent symptoms that can last for years! Exercise programs targeting the hip and the knee have been proven effective...
Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) is becoming a popular treatment for muscle strains, arthritis/cartilage injuries, and tendinopathies, but the evidence behind its’ use is limited. Specifically there is a lack of large human trials with randomization to both placebo injections and alternative treatments. Consistent with alternative treatments PRP’s clinical utilization is outpacing the evidence leaving many...
Knee arthritis will affect many older adults limiting their ability to participate in their daily, occupational, and recreational activities. Lost independence and function is one of the most common concerns among patients with knee arthritis who are treated in our Boulder Physical Therapy practice. In addition to manual therapy to the involved joints, exercise remains...