Patellofemoral pain, pain around the kneecap, is extremely common and impacts activities such as running, hiking and stairclimbing. In our previous posts on this condition we have discussed the efficacy of exercise in treating this condition. A recent study (Nunes et al, Phys Ther Sport 2019) assessed performance measures correlated with hip muscle strength in...
As the snows melts many of us will return to the amazing Boulder trail system for our training runs. This popular form of exercise comes with tremendous health benefits, but can also place some runners at risk for running injuries such as knee pain. Patellofemoral Pain (pain on the front of the knee) is the...
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...
The squat may be one of the best exercises for the development of strength and mobility through the lower quarter of the body. It is often used as the foundation of strength training by both recreational athletes and pro athletes alike. I often use the squat in our Physical Therapy practice with patients recovering from...
Mend Physical Therapy has previously written on the prevention and treatment of running injuries in multiple prior blog posts. Running is very common form of exercise in the United States and here Boulder County. The vast majority of runners will sustain an injury in the upcoming year which will prevent them from training or competing...
Our previous blog post detailed the differences in biomechanics between foot strike patterns in runners. There are clear bio mechanical differences between utilizing a forefoot and rear foot strike pattern and these are important for gait retraining and injury risk. Obviously, the foot is the first part of the body to strike the ground in...
Running Mechanics Running is one of the most common forms of exercise and has grown in popularity as evidenced by the wide range of age and ability levels running in Boulder County. Unfortunately, injuries effect a significant number of athletes with up to 90% reporting a prior injury(1). The vast majority of these injuries are...
Patellofemoral pain (pain in the front of the knee around the kneecap) is one of the most common types of knee pain that we see at Mend. Runners and jumping athletes are particularly affected by this condition. A common treatment approach includes specific strengthening exercises of the inner portion of the quadriceps muscle (VMO =...