Solving Patellofemoral Pain - It's All In The Hips

When we see patients with this common diagnosis, are we giving them a clear understanding of what could be leading to their knee pain?  

Many of my patients breathe a sigh of relief when they hear that there's nothing "wrong" with their knee that's causing it to hurt - and that strengthening their hip muscles can improve their mechanics, taking pressure off the knee.  

Our patients need to be educated to fully buy in to their treatment and, ultimately, to improve.  

Be their educator, their guide, and their encouragement...

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Jumper's Knee - How To Get Back In The Game

More than 50% of athletes with Patellar Tendinopathy, or Jumper's Knee, are forced to retire...  

The problem with Jumper's Knee is that any movement or activity can seam like it aggravates the knee even further...

Surprisingly, the best thing for Jumper's Knee is to progressively load your patellar tendon...

...and here's how to do it...

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ACL Surgery - Getting Back To Your Sport

ACL surgeries - We've all heard the success stories of pro athletes coming back to their sport after 6 months and dominating.

But for every success story, there's also re-injuries that can and do happen following ACL surgeries.  

That's why we need to look at the evidence of how long is best to wait before returning to sports...

If you work with athletes, you know that getting back as quickly as possible is usually priority #1, especially with the younger population.  

In addition to the time factor, motivation is another issue.  Although some athletes work really hard and get to where they need to be, others fade out after only a few months, losing motivation, figuring they'll be fine once they reach the date the surgeon told them they could return to their sport. 

In this week's article, we'll look at
- How long is best to wait before returning to sports
- How much time to spend in PT
- What physical requirements you should meet before returning to sports

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What You Can Do For A Snapping Hip

Patient Education for Snapping Hip...

Snapping Hip?  Good news: 2/3 of people with painful snapping hip improve with conservative treatment – this is why, even in athletes, conservative treatment is the standard.

First thing’s first – resting and avoiding activities that lead to painful snapping might be necessary to initiate the healing process. This often results in a major reduction of symptoms.

But this doesn’t guarantee that the problem won’t come back once you resume your activity. For help here, we must address the hip muscles themselves – gradually loading and progressively strengthening them.

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So You Strained Your Groin - Now What?

Groin strains are among the most common disabling problems in sports, comprising up to 5% of all sport-related injuries.

Rehab generally consists of gradually loading the muscle/tendon and then progressively strengthening the adductors. 

This week's article educates your patients all about groin strains and how to recover with some great exercise videos.  

Also, strengthening the adductors has been shown to significantly prevent groin strain injuries - with programs currently in place in the NHL and MLS that have seen major results.  

If you are treating or training athletes - especially in sports like hockey or soccer - adductor strengthening is key.  

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