Often times when people have an orthopaedic injury, it is accompanied by pain. Pain is message of discomfort that is brought to our attention by our nervous system from a specific type of nerve. Pain has many different types of sensations or characteristics including, but not limited to, sharp stabbing, dull ache, burning, tingling, or […]
What to Expect from Physical Therapy: Team Players Do Better!
You’ve waited on dealing with an injury for quite some time, because you’ve heard the jokes about physical therapy that don’t make it sound so appealing. “Don’t you know that PT stands for pain and torture?” Because of either pain or loss of function, you finally find yourself in physical therapy. What can you expect? […]
Why Does My Knee Crack?
One of the most common questions asked by knee patients is, “Why does my knee click?” There are several distinctively annoying sounds that can come from the knee: some of them are not worth worrying about, and others are more problematic. Here is a list of some of the more common knee noises and what […]
Shoulder Surgery: When Can I Get Rid of My Shoulder Sling?
Rotator cuff repairs, shoulder labral repairs, acromioplasty, humeral fractures, and other shoulder surgeries inevitably require the usage of a shoulder sling as a means of protecting the surgeon’s work and allowing early healing of the involved tissue. I have yet to meet a surgeon who does not prescribe the usage of a shoulder sling immediately […]
Strengthen Your Scapular Muscles!
The scapula, otherwise known as the shoulder blade, plays a vital role in shoulder mechanics. If the shoulder blade is not controlled well via the muscles that attach to it, problems ranging from neck pain to rotator cuff tendonitis are often the result. Scapular strengthening is often overlooked both in patients that are trying to […]
Should I Use Ice or Should I Use Heat?
Here is a basic list that tries to answer the epic question: Ice or Heat? 1. Ice is generally advised for acute injuries, particularly during the first two weeks following tissue damage. Ankle sprains, sports injuries, back spasm, or most sudden orthopedic injuries that cause swelling and inflammation are a few examples. 2. Heat is […]
What Is Functional Dry Needling?
Functional dry needling is a modality that is becoming more commonly used in treatments for musculoskeletal injury. But what is it? Often times patients may see dry needling happening in the physical therapy office and say, “Wow, I didn’t know you guys do acupuncture!” Well, we do not provide acupuncture at PhysioDC, but we do […]
Musicians & Complex Motor Programming of The Hands
I have always marveled at the complexity of the sensorimotor programming of the hands. From an evolutionary standpoint, we developed the ability to oppose, circumduct, flex, extend, and abduct the thumb. This allowed us to effectively grasp objects and tools. Our remaining fingers have a complex network of both intrinsic and extrinsic muscles that provide […]
Frozen Shoulder: What should I do?
A forty-year old woman ”Jane” came in to the clinic last week with a look of exasperation on her face, clutching her left arm. A month ago she had reached behind her to get something out of the back seat of her car and felt a sudden, jarring pain in her shoulder that she described […]
Momentum, Collisions, Car Accidents, and the Advantage of Playing Sports Drunk?
That is indeed a very long title. And, no, we as physical therapists would never advocate playing sports under the influence of alcohol. Where to start… A few weeks back a patient and I were discussing the concept of momentum and collisions. My patient was involved in a motor vehicle accident and was hit by […]
Sleeping Comfort after Shoulder Surgery
Rotator cuff repairs, labral repairs, acromioplasties, and shoulder replacement surgeries are performed on countless patients every day in the United States. Although rehabilitative protocols differ depending on the surgery, there is one common complaint shoulder patients have regardless of the type of surgery. Most patients are not equipped to deal with the pain associated with […]
Information on Stroke Recovery
In a nutshell, strokes are awful. Strokes affect upwards of 800,000 people per year in the U.S. and cost our healthcare system a massive amount of money. There is a huge range of severity involved with strokes. For example, my grandfather had a small stroke that resulted in lost vision in one of his eyes. […]
Why Won’t My Elbow Straighten?
On one occasion while playing basketball, I was knocked off of my feet, and I landed onto my left elbow. Thankfully, my elbow was not fractured, although it did bruise up substantially. In addition to some swelling, I soon noticed an inability to straighten out my elbow. For many months my elbow remained unable to […]
Do Your Ribs Move?
The ribs and the ribcage have many purposes. They protect many of the internal organs; they serve as attachment sites for many muscles that control the arms, pelvis, and neck; and they assist in the breathing process. Your ribs must be able to move fluidly in order to assist in all of these tasks. In […]
Two Long-Term Effects of Ankle Sprains
Most athletes, high-heel shoe addicts, and the chronically clumsy have encountered ankle sprains. The swelling and pain that result from turning one’s ankle can last for months and be very limiting in the short term. What most people do not address, however, are the long-term effects of ankle sprains. I have seen patients with lower […]