Knee and ACL injuries commonly occur in sports such as soccer, ultimate, and rugby. Athletes may require months to even more than a year to recover and to be able to return to play. There is a vast amount of literature describing a number of ways on how to prevent knee and ACL injuries. However,…
Ever feel pain or swelling on the side of your foot? These symptoms may be due to a condition called Cuboid Syndrome, also known as cuboid subluxation or lateral plantar neuritis. In addition to pain in the lateral mid-foot, redness and a restricted range of motion in the ankle may be present. This syndrome is…
Remaining active during a pregnancy may help reduce some discomforts and help prepare the body for delivery. Acute exercise generally increases oxygen uptake, heart rate, stroke volume, cardiac output, and lung volume during pregnancy. Remember to complete the “PARmed-X for Pregnancy” health screening prior to participation in a prenatal fitness class or other exercise. Medical…
We absolutely love using foam roller exercises to work out those nagging aches and pains, but sometimes they can’t get into a tight area quite as well as a pair of human hands. The next best option after a massage? This series of mini self-massage techniques using nothing more than a few tennis balls. These…
A bunion is an enlargement of the joint at the base of the big toe and it is a frequent cause of foot pain. The tissues around the joint cause the big toe to rotate toward the smaller toes and result in pain, redness, or swelling. Bunions may arise from a number of factors such…
Running is most the natural and widely loved form of exercise, and there are numerous benefits associated with it. Some take it up as a part of their fitness regimen, some for psychological reasons, and some as a sport. Knee, foot, ankle, and calf injuries are the most common form of injuries affecting runners. Among…
6 Stretches for Sciatica Pain Relief Sciatic nerve pain can be so excruciating and debilitating that you don’t even want to get off the couch. Common causes of sciatica can include a ruptured disk, a narrowing of the spine canal called spinal stenosis, and injury. The sciatic nerve runs down the spine and branches off,…
Also referred to as an ankle fracture, a broken ankle involves damaged bones and ligaments in the ankle joint. Symptoms include severe pain, swelling, bruising and inability to carry weight on the foot. A broken ankle can take several weeks or months to heal. During recovery, you will need to stay off the ankle to…
Stretch your IT band. Spending some time stretching and warming up your IT band before diving into a strenuous activity is a good way to keep your knees strong. It is the area of thicker tissue that runs from the outside of the pelvis to the outside of the knee. The IT band helps to stabilize…
Build pain-proof knees Protect and pamper your knees now, and they’ll keep you striding strong and pain-free for life.Here are key stretching and strengthening moves that you can practice to help pain-proof your knees. Calf stretch Stand at arm’s length away from a wall. Place your right foot behind your left foot. With your hands…
Sciatica is not actually a specific diagnosis, but actually a symptom of another underlying cause. Sciatica refers to the pain that is produced in response to pressure on the sciatic nerve, which runs from your lower back (or lumbar spine) down to your buttocks, hip and lower limb. Characteristics of sciatic pain: – Pain that…
Building on what we discussed last week, today we will be looking at how to strengthen the ankle joint to help prevent painful sprains from happening. Strengthening the muscles surrounding the ankle joint can also help to improve performance in a variety of activities because many land-based activities will require that you are upright, on…
Ankle sprains are by far one of the most common injuries, both in sport, and if you’re a bit clumsy like me, just walking normally down the sidewalk. The lateral ankle sprain is commonly known as the “rolled ankle.” Basically your ankle rolls outwards over your foot and pain is felt on the outside of…
Ankle sprains are the most common injuries in sports. One misstep can damage your joint and land you on the sidelines. Fortunately, people can help prevent ankle injuries with a mobility, stability and strength in three steps. Before we go into the three ways to prevent ankle injuries, we need to understand the anatomy of…
When you have sciatica, you experience pain radiating from the sciatic nerve. Symptoms of sciatica include pain starting at the buttocks and extending down the back of the legs. To treat sciatica, a doctor may recommend exercises to strengthen the sciatic nerve. If you are pregnant, speak to your doctor about any modifications you need…
It’s an age-old question among athletes: Should you use ice or heat after an injury? Jumping into an ice bath might not be the most comfortable situation, but ice is the most effective treatment for acute injuries, experts say. You should never heat the immediate area after injury. As a rule of thumb, between five…
This may sound counterintuitive, but medical experts agree that if you have aching knees, then sitting on the sidelines may not be the best answer for you. Getting out and exercising may be the best way to get rid of the pain. One of the common concerns for those with knee pain is that the…
Bad knees may seem like a legitimate excuse to dodge the gym, and when you partake in high-impact activities, we can see why exercising might lose its allure! One of the best treatments for knee pain, however, is actually fitness! Exercise can be a potent medicine for bad knees, as long as you use the…
Just Finished playing a week-end tournament? So you just finished playing a tournament this week-end and you have some extra soreness that’s more than normal in your lower quadrant – namely your thighs, hips, knees, legs or ankles. What do you do after you have done physiotherapy and rested for several days, and am now…
How can we get a huge benefit from a few minutes of warm-up? by Vancouver Physiotherapist Travis Dodds Warming up Warming up for sport has changed dramatically in the past couple of decades. Spurred on by ground-breaking programs such as FIFA 11+ in soccer, and the FMS study in NFL football, athlete health professionals…
Return to Play… Worlds 2012 – Finals As someone who used to play Ultimate and now works a lot with Frisbee players, one of the most common type of injuries we see are with ankles. Whether you mildly roll over on it and play through it to spraining it badly enough requiring crutches and being…