ACL injuries are on the rise across the United States as more individuals participate in athletic activities. As described in prior posts, the majority of these ligament injuries do not involve contact but rather occur with deceleration and directional changes in sports. Athletes with decreased strength, balance, and coordination are unable to dissipate forces placing...
Knee osteoarthritis is a common condition in aging adults leading to pain and reduced performance of daily and recreational activities. Manual therapy and exercise remain a hallmark of conservative care for this condition and have been shown to delay or prevent the need for a total knee replacement. In addition to exercise, corticosteroid injections are often...
The internet is excellent at providing information on a multitude of subjects, but the application of this information is limited because of the existence of individual situations and people. An example of this would be the failure of a one size fits all approach to Physical Therapy. In this example, every patient with a certain...
Tears in the meniscus, cartilage within our knees, can occur due to injury or degeneration attributed to the aging process. The latter is a much more frequent scenario and often these tears are found on MRIs of patients without knee pain. These false positive results cast doubt on the direct correlation between a picture of...
In our experience, a sub group of patients who have successfully returned to sports after an ACL injury continue to be at risk for future injury. Physical Therapy interventions can significantly reduce the risk of future injury to either an athlete’s involved or uninvolved leg. Athletes who complete their prescribed Physical Therapy visits have both...
As ACL injuries continue to rise among professional and recreational athletes Physical Therapists will continue to rehabilitate these athletes in order to allow them to safely return to sports. In our practice in Boulder, we commonly see athletes over the course of 6-9 months post operatively as they develop the strength, balance, and sport specific...
The step down test is an important Physical Therapy test to determine the ability of our athletes to stabilize their lower extremity in single leg stance. Proper performance of this test requires adequate strength, balance, control, and mobility in the lower extremity. Often athletes with lower extremity or spinal pain have a significant asymmetry in...
In prior posts we have documented the impact of ACL injuries on our athletes. Unfortunately, these injuries are becoming more common especially among female athletes who are up to 8-10 times more likely to sustain an ACL injury compared to their male peers. The risk factors behind these injuries have been described in previous posts,...
In previous posts on ACL injuries we have discussed the rising incidence of knee injuries across multiple sports and events. As we enter ski and snow board season Mend will help manage an increased number of these injuries. The lower extremity is the most commonly affected body region for ski injuries with 1 in 3 injuries...
Knee arthritis (knee OA) is the most common form of osteoarthritis and affects many individuals in middle to older age. This condition can be found on x ray or MRI testing in both asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals. The high rates of false positive imaging findings require a thorough subjective and objective examination in order to make a...