Health blog Category: sports injuries
Put Our Foot Down
Can you put your foot down without experiencing any pain or discomfort? We don’t typically give our feet much thought. However, when we think about it, our feet and ankles do quite a bit for us on a daily basis. They help propel us as we walk, they help us stay level when we are hiking through the rugged mountain trails or through the shifting sands on the beach; they help us press on the gas pedal as we drive; they help us rise up taller so that we can look over the crowd of taller people blocking our view at a concert.
Read full blogThe Leg Bone’s Connected to the Knee Bone
The joints in our body have a relationship. A “joint” refers to any location in the body in which two bones meet together. They pick up the slack for each other when our mobility or stability is impacted in a particular area. Remember that song ‘the leg bone’s connected to the knee bone, the knee bone’s connected to the thigh bone…’ and so on and so forth? It’s a catchy children’s tune that also paints a pretty comprehensive picture of the relationship between the various joints in our bodies.
Read full blogCan We Stand Straight?
Back problems can affect many people for different reasons. Back pain can creep up on us after:
- Simply sitting too frequently and for long periods of time
- A bad night’s sleep
- Strenuous activity such as repeated lifting, or participating in leisurely sports
Back pain could prevent you from:
- Standing straight
- Bending over to tie your shoes
- Bending over while doing laundry
- Other everyday activities
What would you do if you could not walk, run or participate in your favorite leisure sports?
Read full blogProtect Your Shoulder when Swimming and Gardening
More and more of us are planning to spend an increased amount of time outdoors. This also means that we need to be more cognizant of our bodies when participating in outside activities such as gardening and swimming. It is important to protect your shoulder when enjoying outdoor activities such as swimming and gardening this summer.
Some common injuries that are associated with the shoulder is due to overuse or improper lifting techniques. A great example is when working outside in the yard or swimming for competition or everyday exercise during the summer months. Whether it’s picking up heavy bags of mulch or planting flowers, or preparing for the upcoming swimmers meet, it is important to be mindful of your body mechanics as well as repetitive movements.
Tennis or Golf…
Many people have heard of and will use terms like ‘tennis elbow’ and ‘golfer’s elbow.’ But what exactly are these conditions?
Tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow are both overuse injuries that are caused by any activity that requires repetitive motion of the arm and wrist. The difference between the two conditions lies in where the elbow is inflamed. Both of these conditions are forms of epicondylitis, which is a medical term for inflammation of a tendon that attaches to the bone (epicondyle) of the elbow joint.
Lasting Relief for Our Hips
The hip joint is one of the most stable joints in the body, however, that does not keep this joint and region of the body from developing issues and producing pain. There are multiple structures in and around our hips that can produce pain in this area of the body which can keep us from being able to:
- Tie our shoes
- Shave our legs
- Cook the evening meal
In addition to pain, you may also experience:
- Snapping
- Clicking
- Weakness
- Difficulty walking
- Difficulty standing up or sitting down
- Radiating numbness and tingling
- Symptoms that seem to constantly change location in the upper leg.
Knee Discomfort Making it Difficult to Walk
When you have knee discomfort prolonged walking, running/jogging, going up and down stairs or curbs, bending your knee to put your shoes and socks on, and getting in and out of the car becomes bothersome.
Have you increased your activity level in the past month?
This can create increased stress on your joint and muscles and when you haven’t properly prepared these joints and muscles for that stress, problems can occur.
Read full blogYou Do Not Have to Live with Back Problems
People living with back problems and pain are often plagued by the inability to sleep, with difficulty tying their shoes, bathing, sitting at work, or standing while waiting in line at the grocery store. They are restricted from their extracurricular sports activities and enjoying their favorite zumba exercise classes.
Like many conditions, when we have pain or discomfort in one area of the body, if you don’t handle it, it can start impacting another area of the body and restrict you from enjoying your night at the movies, throwing the football with your son or participating with your hiking club’s adventures. Back problems can make it difficult for you to complete your daily routine activities around the house.
How your shoes can impact your feet and ankles
Foot and ankle conditions are very common for every age group. We treat general pain and injuries in this part of the body often at Loudoun Sports Therapy because even if it’s just general discomfort, foot and ankle conditions cause a lot of problems with daily, functional activities. 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. This symptom often causes the patient to have difficulty walking or standing for a prolonged period of time.
Read full blogHow many times a day do we have to reach overhead?
By Rachel Herrmann, DPT
The shoulder is a complex region of the body made up of three joints, four muscles of the rotator cuff and over 10 other muscles that attach around the bones/joints that make up the shoulder. This means there has to be a lot of body parts in good working condition in order to have a healthy and happy shoulder.
One common shoulder issue is called impingement. This is when the muscles of the rotator cuff become subjected to repeated pinching in between the rounded head of the humerus bone and the acromion process, a bony prominence from the shoulder blade that forms a roof over top of the ball and socket joint.