Injury Prevention
Hormone replacement therapy tendon repair post-menopause
The Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which individuals with limited competence in a particular domain overestimate their abilities. It is when we lack competence that we are most likely to be brimming with overconfidence. The following is a description of how it applies to me. I know everything Early in my career as…
Read MoreMom’s words of wisdom make sense
Mother’s Day is a fun time to review some old wives’ tales that abound in the health and wellness arena. My mom used to say, “the difference between a man and a boy is that a man walks around a puddle and a boy plods right through them.” At the beginning of a walk or…
Read MoreUnderstanding the Nuances of Disease, Syndrome, & Uncertainty in Musculoskeletal Pain
Disease is a particular abnormal condition that adversely affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism and is not immediately due to an external injury. Syndrome is a group of symptoms that consistently occur together or a condition characterized by a set of associated symptoms. While disease and syndrome both involve…
Read MoreUsing symptoms &/or sign modification procedure to manage musculoskeletal pain syndrome
The symptom modification procedure is a clinical reasoning process and is a common practice in the Physical Therapy profession. The symptom modification procedure involves identifying the specific movement, posture, and/or activity that reproduces the patient’s symptoms. Typically, the symptom is pain, which can be weakness, falls, or other functional limitations. Then intervening to alter the…
Read MorePath of least resistance is not always the best option – sometimes it is better to have some stiffness
There are three possible relationships between movement and musculoskeletal pain syndromes. There is either too much movement, not enough movement, or an optimal amount of movement. When a muscle tendon unit and/or joint is flexible, hypermobile, or unstable there is too much movement. When a muscle tendon unit and/or joint is stiff or hypomobile there…
Read MoreIntellectual humility and tolerance for ambiguity
When dealing with musculoskeletal pain syndromes uncertainty and ambiguity can cause unease and frustration for both patients and clinicians. The goal is to stamp out uncertainty, but not to stamp out ambiguity. Ambiguity may contain uncertainty. But they are different. Uncertainty is something that is not clearly or precisely determined, something unknown. Uncertainty implies that…
Read MoreHow to improve the quality of a selfie video to facilitate motion analysis
In a previous article, I described how sharing selfie videos with healthcare professionals can facilitate motion analysis for the management of painful musculoskeletal syndromes, injury prevention, and performance enhancement. This article describes how to improve the quality and standardize the process of capturing selfie videos to facilitate the motion analysis process. I am a healthcare…
Read MoreUsing a selfie video for motion analysis
A selfie video can enhance motion analysis for the diagnosis and intervention of painful musculoskeletal injury, for injury prevention, and for enhancing movement performance. A selfie video is a video recording that you take of yourself, also called a velifie A selfie video can: Provide opportunities for reflective self-learning. Provide visual data regarding comparing…
Read MoreMuscle “stretch weakness” – How does the length of a muscle affect its ability to generate force/tension?
As a muscle contracts and shortens it can generate a greater amount of force/tension. However, as the length of the muscle becomes shortened or slack or lengthened or too long the muscle loses its ability to generate tension/force. The relationship between muscle length relative to a muscle’s ability to generate tension/force follows the Goldilocks principle.…
Read More“Deme Bones” – inter-limb deviation related to the musculoskeletal pain syndromes
“The toe bone is connected to the foot bone” is the common reframe from the old gospel song “Dem Bones.” The concept of mechanical connectedness or regional interdependence applied to musculoskeletal pain syndromes suggests that in addition to examining a patient’s local area of complaint examination of the adjacent joints above and below the primary…
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