Do you have pain in the back of your lower leg with prolonged walking, running, cycling, or jumping activities? You may have an issue with your Achilles tendon. The Achilles tendon is located on the back of leg just above the heel. It is the largest tendon in the body and therefore is capable of [...]
Laser may seem like a farfetched idea for physical therapy, but these lasers are different than you might think. These are not laser pointers people use to entertain their pets, or the lasers used for surgical procedures or tattoo removal. These are class 4 cold lasers used to improve the benefits of therapy. Class 3 [...]
First of all, what is osteoarthritis? This is a term commonly used by orthopedic doctors and physical therapists, but what does it refer to? Osteo means bone, and arthritis means inflammation in the joint. This condition is also referred to degenerative joint disease or "wear and tear" on the joint. Osteoarthritis is often unavoidable because [...]
The importance of a home exercise program combined with physical therapy treatment cannot be stressed enough. There are 168 hours in a week, and for most patients, only 2-3 hours are spent in physical therapy. In other words only 1.5% of waking hours are spent in physical therapy. For patients with movement disorders, the rest [...]
Do your knees hurt? Have you been told that you have arthritis of the knees? Arthritis is one of the most common diseases affecting more than 51 million people in 2012. There are many different types of arthritis, but the most common types are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis is defined as an inflammation of [...]
Do you have a history of recurrent heel pain? You may be suffering from a common condition known as plantar fasciitis (PF). Plantar meaning "the sole of the foot" and fasciitis meaning "inflammation of the surrounding connective tissue". This is a common condition treated by healthcare practitioners including physical therapists. This condition can cause a [...]
Does lifting your arm overhead cause you pain? Has anyone told you it might be a Rotator Cuff issue? Here are some quick facts about the shoulder and the rotator cuff. The shoulder joint is composed of 3 bones including the humerus, scapula (shoulder blade), and clavicle (collarbone). The shoulder is a ball and socket [...]
Chronic ankle sprains are when the ankle joint gives way too easily - 6 months after the first ankle sprain, or if the ankle is sprained again within 6 months of the first ankle sprain. It has been determined that 10-20 out of every 100 people with ankle sprain will develop chronic ankle instability. Many [...]
Is stress making your neck pain worse? Have you ever been to your doctor and been told that your pain is all in your head? There may be some truth to this, but not in the way you might think. A meta analysis performed by the Journal of Psychosomatic Research found a strong correlation between [...]
‘Whiplash-associated disorders’ (WAD) is the term given to the variety of symptoms often reported by patients following acceleration/deceleration injury to the neck. The chief complaint is neck pain but neck stiffness, dizziness, paraesthesia/anaesthesia in the upper quadrant, headache and arm pain are also commonly reported. Whiplash injury following a road traffic crash is quite common. [...]
