Posts Tagged ‘knee pain’
Puny Calf Muscles Syndrome
It is time to replace the common belief that stretching exercises should occur before exercise or sporting activity with a newer concept that strengthening exercises for the calf muscles should occur before exercise or sporting activities. During warm up for exercise & sporting activity make a conscious effort to walk with spring in your step. Reactivating & reversing puny calf muscles can prevent injury, increase athletic performance, forestall old person shuffle, & look better.
Read MoreGait Deviations Musculoskeletal Pain Syndromes: Is there a gait deviation or cluster of gait deviations which is common across musculoskeletal pain syndromes?
Gait deviations are considered risk factors and/or causative drivers for musculoskeletal pain syndromes. There is a growing body of research showing a relationship between gait deviations and musculoskeletal pain syndromes injuries: shin pain (here, & here,) ; patella-femoral arthralgia (here); IT band syndrome; Achilles pain; plantar heel pain (here, & here). There is growing consensus…
Read MoreHow to exercise to lose weight when exercise is painful
High body mass index (BMI) is significant factor in low back pain, osteoarthritis; hip osteoarthritis; knee osteoarthritis, plantar heel pain. Weight loss intervention for pain reduction Decreasing body weight is an effective intervention to decrease musculoskeletal pain. Research by Stephen Messier at Wake Forest U, looking at individuals with painful osteoarthritis of the knee who…
Read More“Deme Bones” – Regional interdependence
The common reframe from the old spiritual song “dem bones” is the “toe bone is connected to foot bone”. In the medical community this concept of mechanical connectiveness is referred to as “regional interdependence”. Regional interdependence is seemingly unrelated impairments in remote anatomical regions of the body may contribute to and be associated with a…
Read MoreTotal Knee Joint Replacement – Are You Satisfied? Gait Analysis & Training Can Provide Post-Op Improvements
Pain and stiffness associated with osteoarthritis in knee joints can result in a limp, gait deviations and gait compensations. Gait deviations are variations from what is perceived as normal walking or running. These deviations are described as limitations, restrictions or weaknesses that lead to lack of mobility, stability or symmetry of movement. Gait deviations also…
Read MoreGait Deviation – Excessive Inward Rotation of Hip Joint
Excessive inward rotation of the hip joint can be a contributing factor to development of repetitive use injuries of: Lateral hip pain (gluteal muscle tendinopathy) Buttock pain (piriformis syndrome) Anterior knee pain (patella femoral arthralgia) Lateral knee pain (IT band syndrome Shin pain (posterior tibial tendinopathy) Plantar heel pain This video first illustrates the gait…
Read MoreKeeping 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 have…
Read MoreIT 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…
Read MoreWoman’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…
Read MoreCuing to Alter Gait Deviation of Too Long a Step
Cuing to Alter Gait Deviation of Too Long a Step Mathematics helps explain walking or running faster. Step length X steps per minute = speed. In order to move faster there are 3 opportunities take longer steps or strides, increase the steps/minute (cadence), or do both longer steps and a faster cadence. Taking longer steps/stride…
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