weight lifting, Crossfit, Fitness
Jordan Bork, PT, DPT, CSCS, CFSC
Little League Shoulder

Little League shoulder, also known as proximal humeral epiphysitis, is a common overuse injury that affects young baseball players, typically between the ages of 11 and 15. It is characterized by pain and discomfort in the shoulder joint, specifically in the upper arm bone (humerus) near the growth plate.

Little League Shoulder
Physical Therapy, Fitness, hiking, Knee
Mark Bouma, PT, DPT, OCS, COMT, FAAOMPT, CFI
Raking Leaves

Mark Bouma, PT takes readers through the areas to watch out for while raking leaves. The fall changes in the PNW is a time of beautiful color but also typically wet and heavy leaves.

Patellofemoral pain is largely a diagnosis of exclusion. There can be many causes of knee pain and it is important for your healthcare provider to properly assess your individual condition. Many individuals have anterior knee pain with prolonged sitting with flexed knees.

There are three common provocative diagnostic tests that are most closely correlated with patellofemoral joint pain:

  • Squatting

  • Climbing Stairs

  • Eccentric Step-Down Test

Research has linked several key factors that may contribute to an individual developing patellofemoral pain. These factors are not present in everybody who has symptoms, but there are often impairments in one or more of these areas found during a physical therapy exam.

Raking Leaves
Physical Therapy, Fitness, Knee, Football, Hip, Neck pain, Running
Victor Kolar, PT, DPT, CSCS, TPIc
Turkey Bowl 2023

Victor Kollar, PT takes you through the areas to think about as you get ready for your annual turkey bowl football game.

Turkey Bowl 2023
Running, Cross-Fit, Crossfit
Liam Main, PT, DPT, CSCS
CrossFit

In the ever-evolving world of fitness, CrossFit has emerged as a dynamic and intense workout regimen that captivates enthusiasts seeking a combination of strength, endurance, and functional workout. While it has gained popularity rapidly over the last decade, there is a large amount of misinformation and preconceptions regarding it as a means of physical activity.  As a physical therapist, my aim is to provide you with a holistic view of CrossFit—highlighting its benefits, potential drawbacks, and the role of physical therapy in your health journey.


CrossFit
Hip, Knee, Osteoarthritis, Running
Mandie Majerus
Bone Stress Injuries

What is a bone stress injury (BSI) and how do I know I have one? How long will it take to get me back to running? As a physical therapist who treats a lot of runners and as a lifelong runner myself, I have always had a passion for keeping runners running. The act of running can make someone’s day tick along better, can help with consistent sleep, calm the nerves and can even make a runner more fun to be around. It can be social or an act of solitude. It can be alarming for a runner when they start to experience a nagging pain that doesn’t warm up or even worsens as they run. Pain that doesn’t dissipate with a warm-up routine or is vague at first but then becomes localized or intensifies through the run can be a sign of a bone stress injury or BSI. BSI is a general term indicating mechanical load is exceeding the bone’s structural ability to withstand the load. However, BSIs occur on a continuum. One end of that continuum is a stress reaction, the other end can be stress fracture or even a full fracture of the bone. The runner recognizes this as pain that isn’t normally present. BSIs can occur for many reasons whether due to biomechanics or from a nutritional standpoint or a combination of both. As high-school and college cross-country runners prepare now for this upcoming season, they should be aware of the common causes and ways to prevent bone stress injuries.

Bone Stress Injuries

Tennis

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Pickleball

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Pickleball

To learn more about pickleball and shoulder injuries, I decided to ask a local, avid pickleballer who also happens to be an expert shoulder surgeon, Dr. Samuel Koo. Dr. Koo practices at ProOrtho in Kirkland, WA where he specializes in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of a variety of shoulder injuries. When Dr. Koo isn’t helping the community with their shoulder injuries, you can often find him on a nearby pickleball court. Dr. Koo first found pickleball about 3 years ago after he was introduced to the game by a friend. His current pickleball addiction is fueled by his history of playing tennis and ping pong.

When asked to compare tennis and pickleball, Dr. Koo says “The biggest difference between pickleball and tennis is that tennis places a premium on the overhead shot—mainly serves and overheads at the net—while pickleball is mostly a game played below your waist.” Given the underhand nature of the game of pickleball, one would expect a lower occurrence of shoulder injuries than in tennis where overhand serving is a major component of the sport.

If you have ever played or watched a game of pickleball, this distinct difference is easy to appreciate. The shorter paddle, slower ball speed, lower net, and smaller court does not place the same demands on the shoulder, or body in general, as in tennis. With the shoulder moving through lower, quick paddle swings near the body, there tends to be less demand into the end ranges of shoulder motion which can reduce the stress on muscles and ligaments surrounding the shoulder joint. Conversely, when the arm quickly accelerates and decelerates through an overhead swing, there are greater demands on the dynamic stability of the shoulder. In pickleball, this type of racquet activity is less common.



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Heat or Ice?

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Heat or Ice?

Ice or Heat: Body Pain’s Greatest Question

Life has a funny way of leaving its mark on us and quite often it can hurt! By now you’ve likely experienced some kind of injury that caused bruising, swelling, and worst of all pain, either acute or chronic. With any injury therein lies the proverbial question, “should I use ice or heat?” The concept of applying these thermal modalities can seem relatively simple and straight forward but it can become confusing as not every injury presents the same. Thus it makes senses why I’m frequently asked which one should be used for a particular injury. Sometimes I’ve suggested that both are appropriate depending on the situation. Improper use of these modalities can slow your recovery, so it is important to base your decision on physiology and what is most safe and effective.

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Hip Osteoarthritis

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Hip Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is one of the most common orthopedic conditions among physical therapy patients. Osteoarthritis (OA) describes degeneration of cartilage and, eventually, bone in a moving joint. The development of OA can be the result of a previous injury or specific joint condition but is most often idiopathic in nature.1 Knees, hips, and thumbs are notorious for developing OA as a result of the large, repetitive forces these joints have to absorb over the course of a lifetime.2 The term OA refers to a wide spectrum of joint degeneration and can sometimes be used to describe a joint that appears damaged on an X-ray but doesn’t hurt or cause a decline in function (asymptomatic osteoarthritis). Various studies of the general population in the U.S. estimate that 20-28% of adults aged 60+ have evidence of hip OA on an X-ray, yet only 4-10% of this population have pain or poor function due to hip OA.3,4 Although an X-ray may show hip joint degenerative changes, treatment generally does not occur until someone begins to have symptoms.



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Spondylolysis and Spondylolisthesis

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Spondylolysis and Spondylolisthesis

Spondylolysis is estimated to occur as much as 25-60% in athletic populations The most common age group for occurrence is 11-18 years old, with higher likelihoods of injury occurring during puberty and growth spurts. Adolescents today typically play multiple sports throughout the year, often overlapping with minimal to no rest between seasons. Sports involving high impact and spine loading, as well as trunk rotation and extension, have a higher incidence of spondylolysis. Research shows football, gymnastics, power lifting, diving, baseball, softball, hockey, basketball, and soccer tend to have an increased risk for this injury……

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Pickleball

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Pickleball

To learn more about pickleball and shoulder injuries, I decided to ask a local, avid pickleballer who also happens to be an expert shoulder surgeon, Dr. Samuel Koo. Dr. Koo practices at ProOrtho in Kirkland, WA where he specializes in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of a variety of shoulder injuries. When Dr. Koo isn’t helping the community with their shoulder injuries, you can often find him on a nearby pickleball court. Dr. Koo first found pickleball about 3 years ago after he was introduced to the game by a friend. His current pickleball addiction is fueled by his history of playing tennis and ping pong.

When asked to compare tennis and pickleball, Dr. Koo says “The biggest difference between pickleball and tennis is that tennis places a premium on the overhead shot—mainly serves and overheads at the net—while pickleball is mostly a game played below your waist.” Given the underhand nature of the game of pickleball, one would expect a lower occurrence of shoulder injuries than in tennis where overhand serving is a major component of the sport.

If you have ever played or watched a game of pickleball, this distinct difference is easy to appreciate. The shorter paddle, slower ball speed, lower net, and smaller court does not place the same demands on the shoulder, or body in general, as in tennis. With the shoulder moving through lower, quick paddle swings near the body, there tends to be less demand into the end ranges of shoulder motion which can reduce the stress on muscles and ligaments surrounding the shoulder joint. Conversely, when the arm quickly accelerates and decelerates through an overhead swing, there are greater demands on the dynamic stability of the shoulder. In pickleball, this type of racquet activity is less common.