Sports Medicine Minute: Audio Archive of Top Physical Therapy Questions | Hosted by Shannon O'Kelley, IRG President, MPT

Every movement in athletics or even daily tasks use your core muscles. The core region is just not your six-pack abs but include all the muscles from your rib cage to your hip bone on the front and back side. The main purpose of the core is to stabilize your pelvis and trunk as your limbs are moving

Hamstring Injuries

The hamstrings are on the posterior (back) portion on the thigh and are made up of three muscles; semimembranosus, semitendonosus and biceps femorus. The hamstrings originate on the ischial tuberosity (the bones you sit on in your rear) and attach just over the knee. These muscles help to flex the knee and extend the hip.

Plantar Fasciitis (fashee-EYE-tiss

What is Plantar Fasciitis? The plantar fascia is a band of fibrous tissue that runs along the bottom side of your foot that supports your arch. When you have fasciitis, it means that the band is inflamed and irritated.

MCL Injuries in Skiing

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Anatomy: The medial collateral ligament is a tight band of tissue on the inner side of the knee. It helps prevent abnormal bending of the knee medially (or inwardly). When stressed or twisted or with force applied to the outside of the knee pushing inward, the ligament is sprained. A sprain is a tear in the ligament and it can be partial or complete.

Little League Elbow (Medial Epicondylitis)

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What is it? Little League elbow is pain in the elbow joint due to repetitive throwing. Throwing too many pitches or throwing the wrong type of pitches (i.e., curves or sliders) puts great stress on a young pitcher's elbow ligaments.

Sports Medicine Minute on High Ankle Sprains

Ankle Sprains

During basketball season, one of the more common injuries seen is the ankle sprain. It generally happens when a player lands on another athlete’s foot and rolls their ankle. Ankle sprains can happen when the athlete goes to plant their foot and take off in another direction.

CAUSES: The ankle is made up of 7 bones; the calcaneus, talus, navicular, cuboid, and cuneiform I, II, and III. Your two lower leg bones, the tibia (your shin bone) and fibula come down and connect with your foot bones creating the ankle. If you feel the bump on the inside of your ankle, you are touching the base of the fibula known as the medial malleolus. And just beneath that bump is a “fan like” group of ligaments known as the deltoid ligament. The deltoid is most commonly injured with an eversion type ankle sprain.

Shoulder Rotator Cuff Syndrome

One of the most common injuries in a variety of sports is rotator cuff syndrome of the shoulder. This injury results from pressure on the rotator cuff muscles from a part of the shoulder blade as the arm is lifted. The rotator cuff is made up of 4 muscles that work together to hold the ball of the shoulder into the joint. These four little muscles have a tough role fighting the strong deltoid muscle, as its main role is to pull the ball of the shoulder in the opposite direction.

CAUSES: Rotator Cuff Syndrome is an over-use injury. Meaning, it does not typically occur as a result of one incident. Young athletes who use their arms overhead for swimming, baseball, volleyball, softball, basketball, and tennis are particularly vulnerable. Pitchers, quarterbacks and swimmers are your most prone.

Iliotibal Band Syndrome - (A.k.a. IT band syndrome or "Runner's Knee")

What is ITBS? Pain and inflammation on the outside of the knee, where the iliotibial band (a muscle on the outside of the thigh) becomes tendinous, and results in a friction syndrome by rubbing against the femur (thigh bone) as it runs alongside the knee joint.

What are the signs & symptoms? ITBS symptoms range from a stinging sensation just above the knee joint (on the outside of the knee or along the entire length of the iliotibial band) to swelling or thickening of the tissue at the point where the band moves over the femur. The pain may not occur immediately during activity, but may intensify over time, especially as the foot strikes the ground. Pain might persist after activity. Pain may also be present below the knee, where the ITB actually attaches to the tibia. Pain may be present when walking up or downstairs.

Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome - (A.k.a. retropatellar/peripatellar pn. or chondromalacia)

Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome MEDICAL TERMS:

patella = knee cap
etiology = cause
lateral = outside (farthest from center)
medial = inside (closest to center)
quadriceps = your thigh muscles (on the front side of thigh)
hamstrings = your muscles on the back of your thigh
IT band = iliotibial band, runs from your knee to your hip on the lateral side of thigh
VMO = where the quad muscle comes in contact with the knee cap on the medial side
McConnell tape = strong tape the helps to reposition knee caps & joints

WHAT CAUSES IT?: The jury is out on to what exactly causes this, but some of the factors that are believed to be the main culprits are: overuse or repetitive weight-bearing activities, such as running, walking up & down steps or hills and uneven surfaces, arch variations – flat or high arches, wider hips & knock-knees (known as the Q angle), and weak quadriceps muscles.