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Plantar Fasciitis: The Pain You’ve Got That Doesn’t Really Exist
It’s just your imagination—this pain that you or your trusted practitioner has diagnosed as “plantar fasciitis”—because it’s impossible to have that problem where there is no fascia in the body! Ok, it’s not in your head, and naming an injury doesn’t explain why you have the problem in the first place, let alone tell you
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Tissue and Joint Repair—Enough to Make You “GAG”
Tissue and joint repair is an important topic for many people, especially athletes. Supplements such as glucosamine, chondroitin, MSM, and other products are often taken when there is joint pain or degeneration, in hopes that a cure can be found in a bottle. Sometimes these substances work and sometimes they don’t. Some research says they
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Building Strong, Stable Ankles for a Strong, Stable Body
Strong, Stable Ankles; Strong, Stable Body Proper ankle mobility and stability will decrease your risk of injury and dictate, if you fall and twist an ankle, whether you get back up hobbling or not. Strong ankles are all about supportive shoes and doing isolated strength exercises, right? No, actually, they have nothing to do with
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Breaking Your Fall—Gait Mechanics for Injury Prevention
This winter I’ve treated more patients who have been injured, some rather seriously, due to slipping on ice. Sure, anyone can have bad luck and slip on a sleek surface, but you can increase your odds of staying upright if your brain and your body are communicating well with one another. If you do fall,
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Surgical Intervention: Think Twice Before You Get Knifed Part II: Going Under the Knife
So you’re still thinking about some surgical intervention for your injury. Getting cut open? That’s fine. Maybe it’s right for you, as long as you’ve fully investigated other treatments and have second opinions, as I discussed in Part I. Let’s now talk about what surgery can do to your body—because even a surgical incision is
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Surgical Intervention: Think Twice Before You Get Knifed Part I: Making an Informed, Educated Decision
An injured athlete is sometimes faced with the decision to go under the knife to hopefully get rid of pain once and for all. With the multitude of diagnostic tests available today, it’s often very easy to be convinced that surgery is the only way you will get better, even if it’s exploratory surgery. After
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No, It’s Not Your Hammy
The hamstrings are a group of muscles in the back of your thigh that every athlete is familiar with. Simply put, they are three muscles that provide motion to two joints: the hip and the knee. They’re of great importance if you choose to extend your hips, flex your knees, and rotate your lower legs.
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This Is Why You’re Still Injured
Injuries suck, that’s all there is to it. Oh, but there’s more. Injuries are a big reason why an athlete can’t get past a certain performance ceiling. If you train improperly, as you try to take your fitness to the next level, you’re probably going to get injured sooner or later. That injury will not
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Calf Flexibility Sans Stretching: No More Calf Wall Stretches
Oh, you caught me stretching my calves. The wall stretch that a lot of people do, a lot of runners like it to warm up, is actually a pretty silly stretch. There are lots of better ways to create normal flexibility and stability in your lower leg without having to stretch a muscle, only to
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A Case for Orthotics?
Just like stretching, orthotics is an emotional and somewhat controversial topic because so many believe in their effectiveness for injury treatment and prevention. Others, such as myself, feel that they either create, provoke, or hide a true problem. In my article “Are Orthotics Really Ever Necessary?,” I discuss how orthotics are never truly fixing any
Sports Injury Prevention, Causes, & Treatment
These articles discuss sports injury prevention, treatment, and causes. Athletes typically develop injuries over time due to training at an intensity or duration beyond what their body can handle in a given period. Improper equipment such as poor footwear and orthotics can cause an injury too. Injuries occur from muscle imbalances which result from the body’s inability to handle these types of stress. Conventional therapies and sports injury treatments such as ice, heat, stretching, bracing, NSAIDs, and other drugs rarely benefit an athlete. Often these “go-to” therapies can actually hinder healing and result in increased injury rates. Sports injury prevention involves awareness of the proper training methods, diet, and footwear along with knowledge about muscle imbalances, hormonal imbalances, the impacts of stress, and related issues discussed in these articles. For injured athletes, there are a number of articles related to specific injuries that discuss healthy sports injury treatment methods for specific conditions.