Health blog Category: sports medicine
The 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 blogWhat our walking says about our muscles and joints
When an expert assesses your walking they are looking at what referred to as your gait. This term “gait” takes into account what all of the joints in your legs and also your trunk are doing when you move one leg and stand on the other for support. Any change in your walking pattern can cause a problem in any part of your body, even if that problem seems to be isolated to just one body part.
Read full blogWhy Do I Feel Off Balance?
Having good balance means being able to control and maintain your body’s position comfortably – whether you are walking, climbing stairs, standing or even sitting still. To have good balance, your muscles need to be working together in response to your sensory systems, which include: vision, inner ear and proprioception, or the sensation you get from nerves in your skin, muscles and joints.
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.
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.
Hip Discomfort when Climbing Stairs & Lying in Certain Positions
Pain in the hip region can contribute to difficulty lying in certain positions, walking, climbing stairs, and standing up from a seated position. Hip problems make daily activities like simply walking difficult and painful. It’s important to be able to describe exactly where your pain is located. This helps confirm that your hip is actually the problem. It’s not uncommon for someone to say ‘my hip hurts’ and then find they are actually having a back-related problem.
Read full blogReach for Our Toes
To be able to reach our toes, we need the help of our hamstrings! While hamstring injuries can happen to an athlete during a practice or a game, it’s actually much more common for all of us to experience hamstring problems related to everyday activities.
A hamstring injury will start to make you feel stiffness and soreness throughout your leg which will make everyday things more difficult, such as:
- Walking
- Changing positions (getting in and out of the car or a chair, etc)
- Bending
The hamstring muscle can be quite temperamental when we don’t give it enough attention.
Read full blogKnee 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 blogHow 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 blogDogs Run Ahead and Pull on the Leash…
Ever wonder what in the world the “shoulder” actually is?
The main joint of the shoulder is called the glenohumeral joint. This articulation consists of the head of the humerus (arm bone) resting in the small glenoid fossa of the scapula (shoulder blade), some would describe this joint as a golf ball on a tee. If you imagine how unstable a golf ball is on a tee, you can appreciate how hard the supporting anatomical structures must work to keep the “ball from falling off the tee.” The structures holding the joint together that offer passive stability consist of the labrum and a series of ligaments that encapsulate the joint.
Limited Range of Motion, Making Daily Tasks Tough
Shoulder pain and shoulder injuries are one of the most common injuries we see at Loudoun Sports Therapy Center whether the cause is from an injury or overuse. Some of the most common ailments related to the shoulder that we see include tight/overworked muscles, tendonitis, impingement and , joint stiffness. All of these can cause pain, weakness, and decrease ability to perform everyday activities.
Common Causes of Shoulder Injury
- Traumatic injury/dislocation
- Weak musculature
- Repetitive movement
- Poor shoulder mechanics
- Post Surgery
Shoulder pain can present itself in many different ways.
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