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March means the beginning of the high school boy’s tennis season in Kansas and Missouri! Combined with the weather beginning to warm up, tennis participation across age groups is going to really start to pick up. With our satellite clinic located inside of Overland Park Racquet Club, we see our fair share of tennis players of all ages and abilities. A study by the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that while most injuries in tennis are acute injuries to the lower extremity (think ankle sprains), that most chronic issues occur in the upper extremity! Of those chronic issues, approximately 25% of those issues were shoulder related, which held true across age groups. We have found with our tennis players that these issues arise from a combination of poor shoulder blade mechanics and poor mid back motor control. Today we are going to cover a way to improve both to keep your shoulders healthy! We like to start with some sort of soft tissue work to get your muscles and joints loosened up. When addressing the mid back and shoulder blades, foam rollers tend to shine, but really you can use any tool you feel comfortable with. Spending a minute or two rolling on your mid back and shoulder blades will create a temporary increase in range of motion that we can take advantage of in our next step. After we have created some extra range of motion with our soft tissue work, we want to reinforce that range of motion with a mobility exercise. There are a ton of exercise options to choose from in this case, but one of our favorites is what we call ‘mad cat/old horse’. Begin on all 4’s with your hands under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. Extend your back upward into a “mad cat” position. Next, flex your back downward to sag into an “old horse” position. Beautifully simple and exceptionally effective! Now that we have created more range of motion and reinforced it with our mobility exercise, we want to add some resistance. Similar to the mobility exercise, there are a ton of options for adding resistance to challenge the shoulder blades and mid back. Today we are going to cover a simple banded pull apart. Begin by gripping a light band approximately shoulder width apart at shoulder height. Simultaneously pull both arms apart until the band touches your chest. For maximal effectiveness, pull your shoulder blades together as the band gets closer to your chest, and actively reach your arms away from you at the start of the movement. This exercise teaches you to be aware of where your shoulder blades are in space while strengthening the new range of motion we created earlier! This simple set of exercises is a great starting point for developing healthy shoulders, but it is far from a complete program for such a complex joint. Combine the complexity of the shoulder joint with the highly technical nature of tennis, and it becomes all the more important to have access to professional help. We recommend our friends at Overland Park Racquet Club for help with your tennis game, but any qualified professional you are comfortable working with will be helpful!
While we see a lot of issues with shoulder blade mechanics and mid back motor control in our clinic, we also see shoulder pain stemming from a host of other issues as well. The key to shoulder injuries is appropriate diagnosis by a professional (like the providers in our office). Once a diagnosis is made, an appropriate plan of care can be established emphasizing complete ranges of motion with stability throughout those ranges of motion. If you are experiencing persistent shoulder pain, call our office or schedule online today! 913-888-4845
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We are entering the thick of basketball season! Games are adding up, and each is becoming more important than the last. At Inside Sports Clinic, we believe one of the best athletic abilities is availability. It is tough to help your team win games if you are sidelined with an injury! Taking care of your body down the stretch is critically important to increasing the likelihood you are available to help your team. A study by the National Athletic Trainer Association showed that over 40% of high school basketball injuries are sprain-type injuries to the foot/ankle. This coincides with what we see in our clinic, with lateral ankle sprains being an injury we see A LOT in our basketball players. Today we are going to cover an effective strategy for strengthening ankles for basketball players! To start, we like to do some self-administered soft tissue work to loosen the muscles and joints we are targeting. We are big fans of foam rollers for this purpose, but you can use a massage gun, PVC roller, or any other soft tissue tool you have access to that you feel comfortable utilizing. Spending a minute or two working on the calves and ankles creates a temporary increase in range of motion, which feeds into our next step perfectly! After you have worked on the muscles and joints, we want to reinforce that temporary range of motion we just created with some simple stretching. In the case of the ankle, a top tier stretch choice is the ankle driver! By getting into a deep lunge position and driving your knee towards and over the big toe, we can begin to make our temporary range of motion into a newly acquired range of motion! Now that we have created a new range of motion and begun to solidify it, we want to add some resistance to create more permanent changes. The age old classic for strengthening the ankles is a simple calf raise. Beginning with the balls of the feet slightly elevated, push through the foot to raise your body up. Hold the position at the top for a second or two, then slowly lower yourself down. As you become more comfortable with the basic calf raise, adding in some variety could be useful for basketball players considering the dynamic nature of the sport! This could mean performing a single leg calf raise, bent knee calf raise, adding extra resistance, increasing the height of foot elevation, and more. When combined with a well rounded basketball and athletic development program, this trio of activities will lead to strong and resilient ankles. Unfortunately, injuries like ankle sprains are not totally preventable. Sometimes things just happen. If after spraining your ankle you cannot bear weight or lose feeling in your lower leg/foot, then be seen by a provider immediately as these are signs something could be seriously wrong. Tenderness and difficulty walking after 2-3 days are also indications to be seen by a provider. Lastly, if you do not feel confident rehabbing your ankle after a sprain on your own, be seen by a provider!
At Inside Sports Clinic, we begin our treatment protocol by managing pain and swelling with modalities like our NormaTec boots, GameReady cryotherapy, and interferential current therapy. If/when pain and swelling are under control, we utilize joint manipulations and soft tissue therapy treatments to improve joint range of motion. Once the joint’s range of motion has been restored, we begin loading the ankle to tolerance, culminating in balance and proprioception training to ensure the ankle is adequately prepared for a return to activity! Need help getting your ankles stronger or rehabbing an ankle sprain? Call our office or schedule online so we can help you out! (913)-888-4845 Your neck, or cervical spine, is made up of seven bones stacked on top of each other with a shock-absorbing disc between each level (same as in your low back as discussed in last month’s blog). Your neck is relatively flexible so it relies on muscles and ligaments for support. "Sprains" and "strains" are the result of these tissues being stretched beyond their normal capacity, much like a rope that frays when it is stretched beyond its normal capacity. The term, "sprain" means that the tough, durable ligaments that hold your bones together have been partially damaged, while "strain" means that your muscles or tendons that move your neck have been partially damaged.   Symptoms from a sprain/strain most commonly develop gradually, but may begin abruptly. Complaints often include dull neck pain that becomes sharper when moving your head, with the pain generally centered in the back of your neck. Pain can sometimes spread to your shoulders or between your shoulder blades, with tension headaches commonly accompanying neck injuries. Rest may relieve your symptoms but often leads to stiffness. Be sure to contact our office if you have any unusual symptoms, including a severe or "different" headache, loss of consciousness, confusion or "fogginess", difficulty concentrating, dizziness, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, change in vision, nausea or vomiting, numbness or tingling in your arms or face, weakness or clumsiness in your arms and hands, decreased bowel or bladder control or fever. These are signs that you may have a more serious injury and need to be evaluated by a healthcare professional as soon as possible. Sprain/strain injuries cause your normal healthy elastic tissue to be replaced with less elastic "scar tissue", which can lead to ongoing pain and in some cases even arthritis. Seeking early and appropriate treatment, like the type provided in our office, is critical. Depending upon the severity of your injury, you may need to limit movements or activities that cause pain. Avoid heavy lifting and take frequent breaks from prolonged activity, particularly overhead activity. Neck pain tends to respond better when you keep some aerobic activity in your daily routine, like walking, so it is important to maintain some activity. Following acute injuries, you can apply ice for 10-15 minutes each hour, and heat may be helpful in specific scenarios. Treatments we perform in our office for this condition include joint manipulation, specifically a chiropractic adjustment, myofascial release, therapy modalities, and therapeutic exercises. Our providers prescribe specific therapeutic stretching and strengthening to help increase tissue flexibility, build strength, and ease the pain while patients are at home. Patients are also given guidance on activities of daily living, such as how to set up their work station or selecting a pillow.
If you or anyone you know are currently experiencing any of these symptoms, call our office (913-888-4845) and set up an appointment so we can help you get to feeling better! Special thanks to our partners at ChiroUp for providing the framework to today’s blog and assisting us in delivering our patient care.  Have you ever heard someone say they have a “slipped disc”, their “back went out”, or they have a “pinched nerve”? These concepts are often referring to a condition called a “disc lesion”. Today we are going to cover everything you need to know about lumbar (low back) disc lesions! Your spine consists of 24 individual vertebrae stacked on top of each other, with flexible cushions called "discs" between each set of vertebrae. A disc is made up of two basic components: The inner disc, or “nucleus”, and the outer disc, or “annulus”. The term lumbar disc lesion means the disc has been damaged. Disc lesions start when the outer fibers of the disc become strained. When enough outer fibers becomes strained, this can create a weak spot in the disc. When the disc is compressed after developing a weak spot, the outer fibers may "bulge" or "protrude". If enough fibers are damaged, the nucleus of the disc may "herniate" outward. Since the spinal cord and nerve roots live directly behind the disc, bulges that are accompanied by inflammation can create lower back pain. Too much inflammation can cause you to feel that pain in the buttock or the entire lower extremity, which is a condition called sciatica. If the disc bulge is significant enough to create a mechanical compression of your nerve, you may also experience loss of your reflexes and weakness. If you notice progressive weakness or numbness, any numbness around your groin, any loss of bowel or bladder control, or fever, please contact our office immediately. These symptoms mean condition has progressed to a serious level that needs addressed by a healthcare professional!  1/3 of the adult population have a bulged disc without knowing it, and are able to live their life without symptoms! Another 1/3 of adults will experience pain from a lumbar disc at some point in their lifetime. Most lumbar disc problems occur at one of the two lowest discs-L5 or L4, with symptoms starting at the lowest point of your back. Researchers have shown that disc bulges and sciatica may be successfully managed with conservative care like the type provided in our office. These treatments include joint manipulation, also known as chiropractic adjustments, therapy modalities, myofascial release, and therapeutic exercises. Our office also has a traction table, which is a specialized therapeutic table which helps to stretch your tight muscles and ligaments, improve nutrition to the discs, and increases available space in the openings where your spinal nerves exit.
At-home care is a large part of our care plans, including alterations to daily activities. For disc bulges, this includes sleeping posture recommendations and advice on getting in and out of bed. We also provide posture recommendations for both the work place and for lifting objects with a disc bulge. Our patients are also provided a Home Exercise Program to supplement our in-office care. These exercises are intended to increase mobility and movement tolerance to get you feeling better and stay feeling better. If you or anyone you know are experiencing any of these symptoms, call our office (913-888-4845) and set up an appointment so we can help you get to feeling better! Special thanks to our partners ChiroUp for providing the framework to today’s blog and assisting us in delivering our patient care. |
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June 2023
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