The Jackson Clinics » Articles of Interest

Perspectives for Patients – Return to Sport

epyne — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:22:29 +0000

A torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), followed by reconstruction surgery, can be devastating for an athlete. It leads to many questions: When can I return to competition? Will I lose my scholarship? How do I prevent reinjury? Advances in physical therapy now help athletes improve rapidly during the early period after surgery.

Read full article (PDF) Perspectives for Patients – Return to Sport from the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy

Persepctives for Patients – Total Hip Replacement

epyne — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:20:06 +0000

Are you considering a hip replacement? If so, you probably have been suffering from hip pain that makes daily activities difficult. If physical therapy, walking aids (cane or walker), or medications have not helped decrease your pain or improve your ability to get around, you and your orthopaedic surgeon may be discussing a hip replacement.

Read full article (PDF) Perspectives for Patients – Total Hip Replacement from the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy

Perspectives for Patients – Knee Pain

epyne — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:19:12 +0000

Healthcare providers usually call pain at the front of your knee or under your kneecap patellofemoral pain syndrome. Most often, this pain occurs after exercise, but you may also feel it if you sit too long. Over time, your knee may begin to hurt during exercise or throughout the day. You may feel a nagging ache or an occasional sharp pain. This pain may cause you to limp and may limit your activities.

Read full article (PDF) Perspectives for Patients – Knee Pain from the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy

Perspectives for Patients – Baseball Pitching

epyne — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:18:12 +0000

Whether you are the pitcher, coach, or concerned parent, the health of the athlete’s throwing arm is very important. Each year nearly 6 out of 10 young pitchers hurt their elbows. These injuries can affect pitchers later in their lives; 15% of college-level pitchers say that troubles in their current performance are based on injuries they received when they played youth baseball.

Read full article (PDF) Perspectives for Patients – Baseball Pitching from the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy

Perspectives for Patients – Low Back Pain

epyne — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:14:22 +0000

Low back pain is very common, with 80% of people experiencing back pain at least once in their lifetimes. The good news is that a thorough physical examination can often determine the best course of management and whether you require imaging (X ray, MRI, CT scans, etc) to rule out a serious problem.

Read full article (PDF) Perspectives for Patients – Low Back Pain from the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy.

Prospectives for Patients – Heel Pain

epyne — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:13:03 +0000

Do you ever wake up with pain in the heel of your foot first thing in the morning? If so, you may have plantar fasciitis, the most common type of heel pain. People with heel pain typically report a sharp pain under their heel that may spread into the arch of the foot. The pain is often worse when the person stands after lying down or following a period of sitting—for example, taking the first couple of steps in the morning or standing up after watching TV.

Read full article (PDF) Perspectives for Patients – Heel Pain from the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy

Persepctives for Patients – Neck Pain

epyne — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:10:37 +0000

Neck pain is very common and fortunately resolves quickly in most individuals. However, in certain cases neck pain can last longer and result in chronic pain, limited neck motion, and disability. In fact, chronic neck pain is the second leading cause of workers’ compensation claims in the United States. Treatments that can quickly reduce pain, increase motion, and improve the ability of the muscles to protect the neck may help decrease long-term disability associated with neck pain.

Read full article (PDF) Perspectives for Patients – Neck Pain from the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy

Improving Quality of Life for Ataxia Sufferers

Frisbee — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:33:41 +0000

People with ataxia lack muscle coordination when they perform voluntary movements such as walking or picking up objects. A sign of an underlying condition, ataxia can also affect speech, eye movements and the ability to swallow, and may be caused by alcohol abuse, stroke, head trauma, brain tumor, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis or a defective gene.

If you are not aware of having one of these conditions that causes ataxia, make an appointment to see your physician if you lose balance; lose muscle coordination in a hand, arm or leg; have difficulty walking; slur your speech; or experience difficulty swallowing.

Unfortunately, ataxia is often resistant to medical treatment. But for many people with ataxia, physical therapy can be a very effective treatment to improve their quality of life. Physical therapy for ataxia can include many approaches, such as

balance exercises
stabilization techniques
the use of supportive devices

Initial treatment includes identifying the underlying cause and trying to address it, if possible. Successful treatment is more likely when a person has suffered an injury. People with a degenerative neurological condition face a more difficult path. But in both circumstances, physical therapy can be an important tool to manage the condition.

Physical therapy techniques can help you to retrain yourself to perform tasks that have become challenging due to ataxia. By teaching adaptation techniques and supporting motor learning, we can help you attain better gait, coordination and balance. In turn, you can reduce your risk of falls and other injury resulting from your ataxia.

We can develop a program that facilitates success in everyday activities. This program may include training with devices that will help you overcome your ataxia, as well as exercises that reduce your risk of falls from poor balance. Physical therapy interventions can help people with ataxia to take better control of their lives.

Improve Your Golf Game This Winter

Frisbee — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:32:50 +0000

When the winter winds blow and snow covers the ground, it may be hard to think about your golf game. However, keeping yourself in condition during your sport’s off-months helps prevent “weekend warrior” syndrome—incurring injuries when you play overzealously at the beginning of the season. And the strategies we will create can make your game more competitive when golf season rolls around.

Three of the most important physical attributes for a golfer are strength, flexibility and balance. With these, you can create a more consistent swing that will help you hit the ball farther, straighten out a stubborn hook or slice, and lower your score. You will also have better control of your putts.

Because the golf swing involves rotational movements of so many different joints and muscle groups, you need to condition the entire body. The core muscles, especially the oblique and traverse abdominals, are crucial to this conditioning. Your swing will gain more power if you strengthen the quadriceps, gluteals and hamstrings in your lower body, and your posterior deltoids and rotator-cuff muscles in your upper body.

Developing flexibility in every area of the body is a great way to improve your game. To start, your shoulders, chest, torso and legs (and their component or adjacent joints) should be as fluid as possible.

We can evaluate your individual biomechanics to help improve your balance. Balance is particularly important when you are trying to make a difficult shot, say, from a bunker’s edge or a rough, steep grade.

Finally, maintaining overall cardiovascular fitness in the off-season—and all year long—is important to maintain the stamina required to play a full 18-hole game. Whether you enjoy the treadmill or swimming, running or biking, consistent cardiovascular exercise will make you less likely to experience fatigue on the golf course when you are ready to make that crucial shot.

We will be happy to design an off-season program that challenges you and produces positive results. This way, when the golf links beckon, you will be ready with your best game to take on all competitors.

Relieving Shoulder Impingement Through Physical Therapy

Frisbee — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:31:54 +0000

Your physician has diagnosed you with shoulder impingement, but what does that mean? The classic symptom of the condition is pain when you raise your arm to shoulder height. The motion causes a narrowing of the space between the acromion (the bone at the top of the shoulder), the tendons of the rotator cuff that keep the arm in the shoulder socket, and the bursa between the acromion and the tendons. Although such narrowing is normal, impingement occurs when the acromion literally strikes, or impinges on, the tendons or the bursa, resulting in pain.

Studies have shown that in many cases physical therapy can be just as successful to treat shoulder impingement as is surgery. In any event, conservative options, including physical therapy, should almost always be considered before resorting to surgery. These options may include rest (but not immobilization), job and activity modification, oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (if your physician approves) and ice applications.

You can begin a physical therapy program once acute pain is no longer present. Light weights used in isometric exercises and isotonic exercises can strengthen the arm and shoulder muscles, especially the rotator cu, and enhance control and positioning of the shoulder. This includes exercises designed to enable you to better control and position your shoulder blade (scapula).

When the rotator cu is stronger, it can better stabilize the entire shoulder joint, making impingement—and the associated pain—less likely. These strategies can help prevent future injuries, as well.

If none of these techniques works to significantly relieve your pain, corticosteroid injections may be a viable option. As a last resort, your physician may recommend surgery followed by postoperative physical therapy.

We can design an individual exercise program to help relieve the pain of shoulder impingement. By following this plan, you may be able to avoid shoulder surgery and feel less pain.