That’s a Stretch: Why Stretching May Not Always be the Solution

It’s good to stretch a dollar. It’s bad to stretch the truth. But what about stretching your calves? That might depend on whether you believe Dr. Google every time a search result says to stretch sore calves. Calf stretching aims to increase the range of motion (ROM) for ankle dorsiflexion. “Dorsi” is a prefix meaning…

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Keeping the Spring in Your Step: Ankle Joint Power & Aging

  As we amass more birthdays and get older we tend to walk/run slower, take shorter steps, and fewer per minute. Why do we seem to have less spring in our step the older we get? Kids move fast and crash elderly move slow and crash. One factor is kids have good ankle power elderly…

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Lateral Pelvic Tilt Sitting

When oriented normally, the pelvis appears level and symmetrical. But in individuals with a lateral pelvic tilt (also called pelvic obliquity), one side of the pelvis appears lower than the other side. Lateral pelvic tilt can both cause and compensation to avoid musculoskeletal pain. It can be a contributing factor to jaw pain, headaches, shoulder,…

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Musing on Empathy and Pain

Empathy is more than compassion and caring. Empathy is putting oneself in another person’s shoes and actually feeling what that person feels. Recently, I experienced a flare of rheumatoid arthritis with significant disabling hip pain. Deep in misery, I searched for the positive side of my suffering. I thought: “This means I will have more…

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IT Band Syndrome – Controversy Regarding Stretching Exercise

The Iliotibial (IT) Band is a tendon on the lateral aspect of the hip/thigh/knee. It is a large, wide, thick tendon. A tendon is a structure that attaches muscle to bone. IT band syndrome is a typical injury occurring in runners. A commonly recommended treatment for IT band syndrome is stretching exercise. Searching Google for…

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Can Isometric Exercise Help Plantar Heel Pain: What is Best Joint Position?

Anyone who has had tendon pain will tell you it is a frustrating problem to resolve.  Common repetitive use tendon problems include: plantar heel pain; Achilles; patellar (knee) tendon; hamstring tendon; gluteal (buttock pain) tendon; rotator cuff (shoulder) syndrome; and tennis elbow. Tendon problems take a long time to heal. Understanding the continuum of tendon…

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Woman’s One-Sided Worries

Over the years, I’ve noticed that my female patients experience unilateral hip and/or knee pain (pain on one side of the body) more often than my male patients do. This predisposition has been observed by others as well Lateral hip pain is typically called bursitis, piriformis syndrome, or gluteal tendinopathy. Studies have shown the incidence…

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Orthopedic Surgery vs Orthopedic Medicine: Considerations Regarding Elective Surgery

There is a difference between someone who practices orthopedic surgery and someone who practices orthopedic medicine. Orthopedic surgeons are interested in surgical treatment of musculoskeletal problems. Orthopedic medicine practitioners are interested in non-surgical treatment of musculoskeletal problems. Dr. James Cyriax, author of “Textbook of Orthopaedic Medicine,” emphasized this difference. While some orthopedic problems improve with…

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Shoes too big for foot contributes to injury

A majority of all people are in shoes that are incorrect shoe size according to Fawn Evenson director of the Footwear Industries of America. There are two potential errors when selecting what size shoes to wear. Either the shoe will be too small for the foot or too large for the foot. In my experience…

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