Running has been and continues to be a popular form of exercise due to its easy accessibility and minimal need for equipment. With gyms closing and social distancing during the pandemic, there is a good chance you and someone you know has taken up running as part of their exercise routine.

Stretching creates long-term improvements in flexibility and range of motion, while foam rolling offers short-term benefits such as reduced soreness and temporary mobility gains. Research shows stretching can change tissue length over time, whereas foam rolling is most effective for pre-performance warm-ups, decreasing discomfort, and improving movement short term.

Rotator cuff tears are a common injury in recreational and professional athletics which involve repetitive overhead motions. Tears can result in weakness, pain, limited mobility and varying degrees of disability. While many athletes, and non-athletes, can return to full function without surgery, there are circumstances which require surgery. A common concern many athletes have following a rotator cuff repair surgery is the time it will take to return their sport again.

If you lack confidence in your doctor, physical therapist, performance coach etc. find a new one. A 2013 study by Paulo Ferreira et al. showed that patients who had a supportive and trusting relationships with their physical therapist showed improved treatment outcomes. The study found that the relationship between a patient and a medical professional, also known as the therapeutic alliance, was a consistent predictor of treatment outcome across all measures.

Shoulder impingement syndrome is often used as a “catch-all” term to describe pain in the shoulder that’s commonly associated with a “pinching” sensation. A shoulder impingement is normally classified as either an “Internal impingement”, where pain is experienced in the back of the shoulder or a “subacromial impingement”, where the pain is experienced in the front of the shoulder.

Chronic pain is a complex medical issue and is defined as pain that persists past normal healing times. Acute pain is directly related to tissue trauma and subsequent inflammation. Traditional healing guidelines suggest that the bulk of the inflammatory and initial healing process occurs within approximately 3 months during normal healing. While this is not true for all tissues, and there are numerous variables that affect these timelines, this is a standard “ballpark” estimate.

Analogies and metaphors are commonly used to simplify complex ideas. The human body is often compared to a machine, while the brain and nervous system are compared to a computer. While these comparisons can offer a rudimentary understanding of how certain body processes work, it’s important to understand that their value is limited and potentially harmful.

Sprained ankle? Ice it. Sore knee after running? Ice it. Wake up with an aching low back? Ice it? We choose to reach for the frozen pea bag with the intent of reducing pain, swelling, and inflammation. Icing has been engrained into our post-exercise and post-injury recovery routine, but is it necessary? Is it helpful, even? This begs some questions about our physiology and what we can do to make the most of it.

Ankle sprains are a common injury in both athletes and non-athletes. The most common type of ankle sprain is called an inversion sprain or a lateral ankle sprain. These sprains commonly occur when a person steps down and lacks stability in their weight bearing leg. The instability can result in the leg “rolling” outward while the foot turns inward. This result in trauma to the ligaments that support the lateral part of the ankle. Severity of the trauma varies significantly and can result in a strain, or tear of the lateral ligaments of the ankle.