Articles

Achilles injuries are common, and the most frequently prescribed exercise interventions have relatively poor long-term outcomes. New research shows heavy-resistance long-duration isometric contractions accelerate tendon repair by increasing the outflow of fluid from...

Whether you’re on the fairway or the green, the ability to hit a golf ball so it moves at the desired speed and trajectory is one of the most difficult, complex movements in all of sport (1). To be successful, the skilled golfer must maintain a stable base of support...

Like it or not, as we age, most of our sensory systems begin to break down: our hearing worsens, our vision gets blurry, and our reflexes slow down. An under-appreciated sensory system that also worsens with age is the ability of cutaneous receptors located along the...

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common of all joint diseases, affecting more than 30 million Americans. In the next few decades, the number of people suffering with osteoarthritis is expected to skyrocket, as people are living longer and the percentage of the...

Originally referred to as “athlete’s ankle” and later “footballer’s ankle” because of the high prevalence in soccer players, this condition occurs when osteophytes on the anteromedial tibia and dorsal talus collide during ankle dorsiflexion, pinching the soft tissues...

Every chiropractor knows that a strong, well-coordinated core is essential for maintaining spinal health. The core muscles work as a unit to increase intra-abdominal pressure providing just the right stiffness to unload the spine during lifting and loading tasks....

Initially discovered in the 1960s by Eklund and Hagbarth (1), a surprising body of research has shown that plac- ing small vibrating motors over the belly of a muscle can produce presynaptic inhibition of the muscle’s spindles, which can reduce muscle tone by as much...

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is a powerful stabilizer of the knee, possessing 2 different bundles (Fig. 1) that help stabilize the knee against anterior shear force, valgus collapse, and excessive internal tibial rotation. Despite its overall strength, the ACL...

Published in Dynamic Chiropractic, Vol. 30, Issue 3 The word sesamoid is Latin for "sesame seed." These small bones are located inside specific tendons, where they improve mechanical efficiency by pulling the tendon farther away from the joint's axis of motion....

The popliteus muscle originates from the lateral aspect of the distal femur and inserts along the posterior aspect of the proximal tibia. It is comprised of three separate fiber bundles that are under different degrees of tension, depending upon the degree of knee...

In any given year, nearly 40% of the US population will develop a low back injury severe enough to limit activity (1). Once injured, there is a 22% chance of reinjury within three months, and a nearly 80% chance of reinjury within the next three years (2). The cost of...

You would think that the connection between hip arthritis and pain would be pretty straightforward: people with the greatest degree of arthritis as measured on x-rays should have the greatest amount of pain. Surprisingly, this is not always the case as many people...

Unlike the hip joint, which possesses a deep ball and socket that provides inherent stability to reduce stress on the restraining ligaments, the knee is particularly prone to injury because the flatness of the tibial plateau provides little protection against...

Excerpted from his book, Human Locomotion Limb length discrepancy (LLD), which is divided into functional and structural categories, is a common cause of injury. In a study of 3,026 subjects with radiographically confirmed LLD, Harvey et al. (152) determined that...

Excerpted from his book, Injury-Free Running, Second Edition Despite its broad width and significant length, runners injure their Achilles tendons with surprising regularity. In a recent study of 69 military cadets participating in a six-week basic training program...

Fig. 1. The Triple Stick Strap Summary: The latest research confirms that blood flow restriction training using lighter cuff pressures can markedly increase the production of growth hormone, allowing you to substantially increase muscle mass while exercising with...

Summary: Tears of the rotator cuff tendons are extremely common, and the vast majority of these tears involve the supraspinatus tendon. Because small to moderate thickness supraspinatus tears respond so well to conservative care, where- as massive full-thickness tears...

The process of applying thigh and arm tourniquets to impair blood flow while strength training was developed more than 50 years ago in Japan, where it is referred to as KAATSU training (1). Original advocates of this training technique wrapped straps around their...

Weakness of the intrinsic toe flexors, specifically the flexor digitorum brevis muscle (FDB), is a common and underappreciated cause of a wide range of injuries. In 2015, Sullivan et al. (1) examined 202 people with chronic heel pain and compared them to 70...

Given the popularity of running, it’s surprising how much controversy exists over which style of running is best for improving performance. Some coaches advocate that all you need to do to achieve the ideal running form is to run with a cadence of 180 foot strikes per...

Summary Interdigital neuromas are common, poorly studied, and notoriously difficult to treat. By offloading the third and fourth metatarsal heads throughout propulsion, the new Peel and Stick interdigital neuroma balance allows you to effectively treat interdigital...

Summary Sesamoid injuries are extremely common, especially in high-arched individuals. The new Peel and Stick Sesamoid Balance is thicker than most sesamoid balances, and is made of a blend of urethane rubber, PPT, and synthetic suede designed to significantly reduce...

Summary People with low arches are 20 times more likely to be injured than people with neutral arches, while people with high arches are nearly 80 times more likely to be injured (1). Although effective at controlling motion and reducing injury rates, recent research...

It’s a depressing fact but shortly after age 50, you begin to lose nearly 2 percent of your muscle fibers each year. Figure 1 is a graph of the average number of quadriceps muscle fibers present in adults aged 18 to 82 (1). Looking at the center of the graph, you can...

In any given year, nearly one in 100,000 adults will develop a vertebral artery dissection (VAD) (1) (Fig. 1). Factors that increase the risk of dissection include elevated homocysteine levels, Marfan’s syndrome, family history of stroke, migraines, and even seasonal...

Twenty years ago, when a group of runners got together for a workout, a few would casually be stretching either their hamstrings or calves, but the stretches seemed pretty random and inconsistent. It was almost as if the runners knew they were supposed to stretch, but...

Ankle sprains are surprisingly common. In the United States alone, 23,000 people sprain their ankle each day (Fig. 1). The medical costs associated with treating ankle sprains exceeds $1.1 billion annually (1,2). To make matters worse, these numbers do not take into...

Shortly after age 50, the rate at which a person loses muscle mass begins to accelerate (1). Figure 1 is a graphical representation of the average number of quadriceps muscle fibers present in adults aged 18 to 82 (2). Looking at the center of the graph, it is clear...

In any given year, nearly one in 25 athletes will tear their anterior cruciate ligament (1). More commonly, one in 10 recreational athletes develop patellofemoral pain annually, and once diagnosed, more than 90% will continue to suffer with chronic knee pain years...

In any given year, nearly 40% of senior citizens aged 70 and over will fall at least once (1). Each fall significantly increases the risk of not only sprains, strains, and contusions, but also fractures. The resultant injuries often begin a downward spiral of weakness...

Each year, nearly 2 million Americans seek medical attention for a painful heel. In the US alone, the annual economic cost for managing this common condition is in excess of $300 million (1). While the majority of patients with painful heels respond favorably within 3...

Next to osteoarthritis, greater trochanter pain syndrome is the most frequently encountered hip injury, and it is estimated that it will eventually affect between 10% and 25% of the population (1). The typical patient complains of pain with single-leg stance and the...

For more than 30 years, researchers have been trying to identify specific risk factors that can predetermine whether or not a runner is likely to be injured. With an annual injury rate exceeding 50%, runners could save them selves a lot of time and frustration if they...

The best running coaches in the world continually have their athletes work on their running form, either through daily drills or through significant biomechanical adjustments. Nike Oregon Project coach Alberto Salazar is famous for changing everything from the tilt of...

In any given year, more than one in five runners will sustain a stress fracture (1). In the U.S. alone, this trans- lates into nearly 2 million stress fractures annually (2). In a study of 320 patients presenting with stress fractures, Matheson, et al., (3) note that...

Iliotibial band syndrome is a common injury, occurring in up to 12% of all runners (1). The pain associated with this syndrome is often described as “burning” and is reproduced clinically with Noble’s test, in which the examiner compresses the distal band against the...

Of all the gait-related muscle injuries, hamstring strains have the highest rate of recurrence, with as many as one third of injured athletes suffering reinjury within the first few weeks following return to sport (1). Because their stride lengths may exceed 3.5...