If you’ve ever sprained your ankle or injured your elbow, you probably know that it’s been standard practice for decades to apply ice after injury to decrease swelling and pain. Dr. Gabe Mirkin coined the acronym “R.I.C.E.” in 1978 (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation), and this concept became the standard in treatment of acute injuries and post-surgical patients.
While there has been some debate about whether cold therapy should be used for all musculoskeletal injuries, most healthcare practitioners would agree that proper use of ice or cold therapy can reduce swelling and pain. Here are a few reminders about using cold therapy:
- Apply ice for no longer than 20 minutes at a time.
- Allow your skin to return to room temperature before applying ice again.
- Place a thin towel between the ice pack and your skin to prevent irritation and even frostbite.
- And never ice prior to activity — doing so may cause further injury.
Another option is combining cold therapy and compression. Studies have shown that people who use cold therapy and compression therapy together, as opposed to just one of those therapies alone, recover from their injuries significantly faster. Compression, particularly intermittent compression, works to push swelling out of the injured site. This can limit tissue damage and aid in the removal of cellular debris and waste in the body. Active compression therapy mimics the body’s natural muscle contractions, pumping swelling out of the injured area. This increases blood flow and delivery of oxygen to the site, stimulating tissue healing and optimizing lymphatic drainage.
It has become almost routine for patients undergoing some types of surgeries (such as ACL repairs or joint replacement) to receive cold compression therapy post-operatively in the hospital or surgi-center through mechanical devices designed for this purpose. Some patients also receive treatment from these machines at home or in skilled nursing facilities in the weeks immediately following surgery, as ordered by their physician. In recent years, these devices have become available for people who wish to use this therapy at home for injuries, such as sprains, fractures and tears, for chronic pain and swelling, or to help reduce muscle soreness and fatigue.
For minor aches and pains, icing afterwards may be enough to keep your body healthy and to avoid serious injury. However, keep an eye out for the following red flags:
- Pain that gets worse instead of better
- Pain after resting for a few days, or when you wake up
- Chronic swelling in your joints, or bruises that don’t heal
- Knees or elbows (or other joints) that lock or are unstable
Any of these problems is a sign that you need to consult with a doctor or physical therapist about your pain or swelling. Trying to treat such issues at home with ice, compression and anti-inflammatories could end up making your problem worse instead of better.
Most dancers know that one of the challenges of the performing arts is to make it look easy, effortless – and painless. According to Elisabeth Wheeler, a physical therapist who works with dancers at Allegheny Chesapeake Physical Therapy in Pennsylvania, up to 90% of dancers will have an injury at some point during their training. So whether you are a professional dancer in a company, or one who takes classes for physical (and mental) activity, it is important to pay attention to your body in order to avoid injury.
Elisabeth notes that dancers can have a variety of injuries throughout the body:
Like any athlete, if a dancer begins to feel pain that does not go away after a day or two of rest, Elisabeth advises visiting a physical therapist to determine the cause of the pain. Physical therapy treatments may include strengthening or stretching exercises to address muscular imbalances; neuromuscular re-education during dance-specific movements; modalities, including ultrasound and moist heat; and manual treatments like joint mobilizations and massage. If physical therapy can’t eliminate the pain, she says, an x-ray or MRI may be necessary for a diagnosis, along with a trip to an orthopedic doctor for further advice and treatment, and possibly surgery.
A dancer’s body is her instrument. Read More
Tags: Dance Injuries, Dancing
Simply put, when you have pain in the shin bone or tibia (the front of your lower leg), you have shin splints. Most common in runners and dancers, shin splints can be caused by overuse or overtraining, or musculoskeletal issues like ankle instability or flat feet.
When you experience such pain, especially while exercising, it is best to back off from activity. If the pain continues, says Lisa Cox, “medical care should be sought sooner than later.” A certified athletic trainer at Clinton Physical Therapy Center (a Physiquality member in Tennessee), Lisa explains that those who wait 3 – 4 weeks to seek treatment often have longer recovery times than those who seek treatment sooner.
In addition, she says, some athletes who simply shrug off the pain as “just shin splints” end up having stress fractures, which must be treated by a physician and usually require a walking boot or cast. Such treatment also requires a complete break from activity until the fractures heal.
Injuries can never be completely avoided, but there are some stretches that can help to decrease your chances of shin splints. Lisa suggests doing calf stretches (that is, stretching the gastrocnemis muscle) before and/or after activity. This can be done by facing the wall with one foot behind you or by standing on a flight of stairs and then dropping your heels down.
Companies like Medi-Dyne, a Physiquality partner, also offer several tools to help avoid shin splints. Products like the ProStretch and ProStretch Plus help to stretch out the gastrocnemius and improve calf flexibility. And muscle massagers can help to increase circulation and reduce muscle tightness.
If shin pain does not disappear after a couple of days of rest, it may be time to see your physical therapist. “PTs specialize in recognizing muscle weaknesses that can cause pain and injury,” reminds Lisa. Not only can a physical therapist develop a plan to strengthen the gastrocnemius and ankle muscles, he or she can also evaluate your gait and stride to see if musculoskeletal variances are a part of your problem. If necessary, a PT can help you select orthotics to correct foot position and alignment during activity, which can decrease pain from head to toe.
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Tags: Leg Pain, Orthotics, Shin Splints
We’ve all heard of “tennis elbow,” but do you know what causes it and how physical therapy can help?
Tennis elbow, also known as lateral epicondylitis, is inflammation of the forearm tendons on the outside of the elbow. They usually become damaged from overuse when performing repetitive activities involving gripping, and not just when playing tennis. The damage can also be caused from excessive turning of the wrist when using tools or typing on a computer keyboard and clicking a mouse. This leads to microtears of the lateral elbow tendons, creating pain, tenderness and inflammation at the outside of the elbow.
The symptoms of tennis elbow feel mild at first and progress gradually over weeks to months. There is usually no trauma or specific cause associated with it, but these symptoms can persist and become chronic in nature if not properly treated. Common symptoms include:
- Pain and tenderness at the outside of the elbow
- Burning into the forearm musculature
- Pain with gripping or carrying items
- Decreased grip strength
- Pain with rotation of the elbow or wrist
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These symptoms usually worsen with forceful gripping or repetitive activities. Because this condition can become debilitating, people should seek immediate medical care if experiencing any of the above symptoms for longer than two weeks, to alleviate the condition and prevent further damage. Approximately 80 – 90% of tennis elbow cases are resolved using non-surgical procedures, such as physical therapy, rest, and medication. Read More
Tags: Elbow, Elbow Pain, Tennis Elbow
With the Champions League final coming up in Berlin between Juventus and Barcelona, and soccer summer leagues starting soon, it’s a good time to think about playing soccer. And given the high rate of some injuries while playing soccer, it’s even more important to consider how to play the sport more safely.
As any athlete (or sports parent) knows, playing sports brings the risk of cuts, bruises and contact injuries (from running into an opponent or teammate). While many soccer injuries occur in the lower extremities (the hips, legs and ankles), some players may experience neck sprains or shoulder injuries after a collision with a fellow player or a fall to the ground.
Use your head… or should you?
One common category of soccer injuries that’s been getting more attention in recent years is brain injuries and concussions. Scientific American asked the same question in multiple articles in 2013 and 2014: Does heading a soccer ball cause brain damage? The short answer is, yes, it can; the author of the most recent article states that “heading a soccer ball can contribute to neurodegenerative problems, such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy.”
– See more at: http://www.physiquality.com/blog/?p=7807#sthash.wl0WHpSO.dpuf
Tags: Concussions, Soccer, Youth Injuries, Youth Sports
Physiquality – pq blog
| Summer is coming, along with plenty of outdoor sports and activities. But athletes need to be aware of their bodies; many summer sports can cause shoulder injuries, particularly if played several times a week.While different “overhand” or “overhead” sports – think any sport that requires arm rotation, like swimming, tennis, volleyball and baseball, especially baseball pitching – use different muscle mechanics, all such sports can lead to shoulder instability. Repetitive rotating motion can cause the shoulder ligaments to loosen, and possibly even dislocate the shoulder.“Pay close attention to how your shoulder feels when playing your sport,” says Cristina Martinez Faucheux, a physical therapist and co-owner of Moreau Physical Therapy, a Physiquality clinic in Louisiana. If the shoulder feels loose, or if a quick pain is felt when raising your arm overhead, like something is slipping or pinching in the shoulder, this could be subluxation of the shoulder, and something that would require treatment with a physical therapist.
 Frequent use (or overuse) of the shoulder can cause several problems in the rotator cuff, which are the four muscles that surround the shoulder along with the tendons that connect these muscles to the scapula, collarbone and upper arm. Read More
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Tags: Impingement, rotator cuff, Shoulder
There is and has been a long-term debate about the merits of using heat or ice as a treatment after injury. Despite years of research, education, and even anecdotal evidence from healthcare professionals and trainers, much confusion has surrounded the issue.
To this day, the conventional thinking has been that ice should be used in the first 24-48 hours after injury to decrease inflammation (swelling) and pain. In 1978, Dr. Gabe Mirkin coined the term “R.I.C.E.” (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation), and this concept became the standard in treatment of acute injuries and post-surgical patients.
Recently, however, many studies have been performed to investigate what exactly the role of ice is in decreasing inflammation and pain, and whether or not it does in fact aid in recovery of tissues. Like so many other previously held beliefs, very good contemporary research over the last decade has been progressively disproving this conventional wisdom. Unfortunately, new information is slow to spread, and it is always challenging to change long-held paradigms and to shift to the more current thinking. Read More
You’ve been dealing with chronic pain for months, and have talked to your doctor about surgery. It’s been scheduled and now you’re anxious about getting through the day. But what do you do the day — or the week — after the operation?
Many patients focus so much on the hours spent at the hospital that they don’t consider the importance of rehabilitation after the operation. If your doctor has prescribed physical therapy after your surgery, it’s because he believes it will be a key part of your recuperation. Here are some of the reasons you may need to do PT after your operation:
- Reason 1: To promote healing.
This is the most common reason doctors prescribe physical therapy after surgery, to make sure that your body heals properly from your operation. This could be to minimize scar tissue after arthroscopy on your knee or shoulder, or to retrain your muscles after a major surgery, like repairing an ACL tear. The variety of factors is a key reason to see a physical therapist, says Mitchel Kaye, PT, Director of Quality Assurance forPTPN, Physiquality’s parent company. “Because the options and variables are so numerous,” he says, “it’s important to consult with your PT for a plan designed specifically for your situation.” Read More
