Have you ever been out running on a gorgeous fall day, only to have the run cut short by a painful misstep on a tree root covered by leaves? I have, and let me tell you – it’s awful! And even if you aren’t a runner, according to the Sports Medicine Research Manual, ankle sprains are a common, if not the most common, injury for sports involving lower body movements. Now, the solution to preventing this painful and annoying injury could be as simple as avoiding tree roots and uneven ground, but the real problem behind ankle sprains deals with the anatomy of the ankle.
Continue reading “Ankle Sprains: An Epidemic in the World of Athletics”Tag: tendons and ligaments
Tearing and repairing the meniscus
How does someone go from being the youngest NBA MVP one year to barely making headlines the next? Ask Derrick Rose. After being named the youngest MVP in the NBA, Derrick Rose tears his ACL the next year and then tears his right meniscus twice in the span of three years. Knee injuries have not been kind to Derick Rose, but how does one tear their meniscus and how does it get repaired?
Continue reading “Tearing and repairing the meniscus”What is Tommy John surgery?
In July of 1974, Tommy John, pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, felt a twinge in his throwing arm, and could no longer pitch. Dr. Frank Jobe tried a new kind of surgery on John’s elbow, and after missing only one season, Tommy John returned to the mound in 1976 and continued pitching until 1989.
How?
Continue reading “What is Tommy John surgery?”What Makes Someone More Likely to Tear Their UCL?
It takes a lot to make a professional athlete collapse to the ground during a game. After throwing a pitch on September 14, 2019, Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Tim Mayza knelt on the side of the mound while clutching his arm, expecting the worst. The next day, MRI revealed that what he had feared: Mayza had torn his Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL).
Continue reading “What Makes Someone More Likely to Tear Their UCL?”Brace yourself… You might need surgery
A surgery? For my PCL? Could be more likely than you think.
Usually hiding behind it’s annoying and commonly ruptured brother the ACL, the PCL (posterior cruciate ligament) is a durable ligament that usually doesn’t cause problems for athletes… until it does.
Continue reading “Brace yourself… You might need surgery”ACL Reconstruction: Which Option Is Best For You?
200,000 ACL injuries occur each year, and ACL reconstruction is the 6th most performed surgery in the United States, so to come back bigger, faster, and stronger, the right recovery path is critical.
Continue reading “ACL Reconstruction: Which Option Is Best For You?”Do you have an ACL?
Whenever there is a lower extremity injury in sports, the first thing people always ask is: “Was it the ACL?” I, like everyone else, assumed everyone had an ACL because I did not believe that you could walk without one, let alone play sports. To my surprise, I discovered that not everyone has an ACL. Some people are born without one, while others lose their ACL’s.
Continue reading “Do you have an ACL?”What’s more important for athletes: training or genetics?
Usain Bolt, Michael Jordan, and Wayne Gretzky are arguably some of the greatest athletes of all time. You watch them on the television breaking record, winning titles or making impossible shots, and you can’t help to wonder, how are they that good? Do they use some secret training method, maybe even a special diet? Possibly, they are genetically gifted?
Continue reading “What’s more important for athletes: training or genetics?”Exciting Advance in ACL Repair
Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries are among the most common in sports, with nearly 100,000 tears annually. Additionally, the rate of pediatric tears has been increasing at a rate of 2.3% each year for the past 20 years. The high incidence of this injury is in part due to the structure of the knee complex, where the ACL is located. The ACL helps connect the two longest bones in the body and is responsible for rotation and transferring body weight to the ankle. Specifically, the primary functions of the ACL are to prevent the tibia from sliding too far in front of the femur and to provide rotational stability to the joint. This rotational motion, combined with a lack of muscle support at the knee, is why so many athletes tear their ACL. A recent paper looked into how a team of doctors led by Dr. Martha Murray at Boston Children’s Hospital have come up with a promising new approach to repairing the injured ligament.
Continue reading “Exciting Advance in ACL Repair”High Heels: How They Can Affect You Even After You Take Them Off
Anyone who has worn high heels, or has even simply seen a person in high heels, knows that the foot is definitely not in its usual position in that kind of shoe – walking is more difficult and forget about even trying to run in high heels. Researchers from Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Vienna wanted to investigate if frequent, long term use of high heels caused lasting changes in the calf, in addition to the normal discomfort experienced by high heel wearers.
Continue reading “High Heels: How They Can Affect You Even After You Take Them Off”