Health blog
Agility: How to move quickly and easily
Agility: the ability to move quickly and easily. When you think about the definition, ask yourself “Which sports don’t involve agility?” The answer: NONE!
From golf to swimming to synchronized diving to football to skiing to rugby, every athlete must conquer the concept of agility. Imagine a wrestler who has a significant amount of strength, but doesn’t move easily or quickly. Now imagine that same wrestler, moving faster and using less effort to overcome his opponent.
5 Reasons the SI Joint Might Hurt
By Kieran Loving, ATC
What in the world is an SI joint? Why is it even important? SI joint problems can happen in people of all ages and fitness levels. I used to work as an athletic trainer in high school setting and many young athletes would complain about lower back pain or symptoms that radiated down their legs. You might be thinking, ‘They’re young. They can’t have low back problems. They’re in peak physical condition and participate in sports practices for hours a day!’ So why were they coming into the athletic training room with lower back issues?
Carpal Tunnel and Tennis Elbow: What Causes These?
Let physical therapy give you a helping hand with your elbow, wrist or hand issue. Physical therapy is not just about addressing issues in the lower body. Physical therapists can also treat issues in your upper extremities that impact the ability to type, hold, grip, squeeze and perform other fine motor tasks. Think about how many times a day you use your hands. Your hands are required for nearly every movement so it’s important to make sure you address any pain or discomfort in your arms sooner than later.
Read full blogTendonitis: What is it and why does it hurt?
By Alyssa Burke, PTA
Tendonitis is a common problem you may have heard of or even experienced before. It occurs when the tendons that attach your muscles to your bones become inflamed. Tendonitis can happen to any tendon in your body but is most commonly seen in the following areas:
- Shoulders
- Elbows
- Wrists
- Knees
- Ankles
Tendonitis can affect all ages and fitness levels.
Read full blogFeeling Off Balance…
Feeling off balance? Why? What causes us to have difficulty keeping our balance whether we’re over 65 or in our teens? We have three systems that all work together so we have good balance.
- We have our balance organ, which is our vestibular system in the inner ear.
- We have our leg strength.
- We also have our visual component which we rely heavily on when something else is not working properly.
What Causes Discomfort in the Heel?
By Misha Gilani, DPT and Xavier Thompson, ATC
We spend a lot of time on our feet so it’s no wonder foot and ankle pain, discomfort in the heel and arches are common problems for every age group. We treat this often at Loudoun Sports Therapy. Foot and ankle problems make daily, functional activities such as standing, walking and using stairs difficult. The most frequent complaint we see in the clinic is pain at the ankle joint that can radiate up into the leg or down into the heel.
Fast Pitch, Slow Pitch, NO PITCH: Common Rotator Cuff Problems
By Kieran Loving, ATC
Who hasn’t used their shoulder at some point? Whether you play a sport like baseball, volleyball, football, etc. or not, you use your shoulder pretty much anytime you move your upper body. Our shoulders help us complete those everyday movements we often don’t think twice about. Think about reaching up to get something off the pantry shelf. In my house, I like to store things higher because it’s easier for me.
Relieving the ‘Discomfort-Spasm-Discomfort Cycle’ in the Neck
A neck spasm, neck pain, and general discomfort are common complaints in the orthopedic rehab world, and we’ve certainly treated our share of patients who suffer from various conditions related to neck pain at LSTC. With the high prevalence of desk jobs, the influx of cell phone use, computer use and video gaming, as well as time spent relaxing in front of the TV, our posture certainly suffers more often than we realize. Over time, these repetitive tasks put us into a position called forward head posture, in which our heads and necks protrude forward into a flexed position.
Read full blogDon’t ‘Back Talk’ a Back Problem
Let’s go over some statistics regarding back problems. According to the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), roughly two-thirds of Americans suffer from lower back pain, but only 63 percent actually take the steps to relieve their pain. Of those two-thirds, 69 percent said that their lower back pain affected their daily lives in many ways such as exercise (38%), sleep (37% ), work (24%), and even family time (7%). Those four activities alone make up pretty much the entire day for a lot of us.
Read full blogThree Types of Swelling
By Mike Bills, MS PT
There are so many definitions of “swelling”. In its simplest form, the term “swelling” is used to describe the response a tissue exhibits when it is injured, irritated or under undue and abnormal levels of stress. For example your body can experience swelling of basically three types:
- Swelling related to an injury: This would be the equivalent of twisting your ankle and then it is swollen for a while afterwards.