News
Elbow injuries of the ulnar collateral ligament don't require surgery
The ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) is a band of tissue that connects the inside of the upper arm bone to the inside of the forearm at the elbow. It helps to support and stabilize the arm during movements like throwing a ball, but is commonly injured …
Hands-on movement by PT have a positive effect on tennis elbow
Overall, results were supportive of the effectiveness of joint mobilizations for tennis elbow. In particular, high-quality evidence was found that showed two types of joint mobilization-mobilization with movement (MWM) and Mill's manipulation-were mor…
Balance training improves sports performance & may reduce injury risk
Overall, results were supportive of balance training in both applications. For the first focus of the review on athletic performance, the sports most commonly studied were soccer, basketball, and handball. The majority of these studies found signific…
Review finds that exercise is one of the best ways to prevent falls
A total of 54 RCTs with 39 different interventions focused on the risk of falls that caused injury, and the findings from these studies showed that some of the most effective interventions for reducing this risk included exercise, vision assessment, an…
Two exercises programs are effective in reducing falls in older men
Results showed that both aerobic and resistance exercises on their own were more effective than no exercise for reducing risk factors for falls such as balance, posture control, mobility and leg strength; however, combining these two types of exercise …
Bracing & balance training reduce the risk for ankle sprains
On the whole, results from the studies reviewed showed that balance training and bracing were both effective for reducing the risk and incidence of ankle sprains. Two of the three studies that evaluated bracing found that patients who wore these brace…
Exercise program is the most effective in reducing falls
Researchers found that the first step in reducing fall risk is to identify at-risk patients. This is accomplished by having patients check in with their healthcare provider yearly to report any falls or difficulties with gait and balance and to have a…
Knee arthritis patient outcomes affected by significant hip weakness
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a condition in which cartilage that normally protects a joint gradually wears down over the course of time, which leads to pain and other symptoms when the bones begin rubbing against one another. OA can develop in any joint, bu…
Patients treated with rehabilitation are less likely to use narcotics
Of the 52,504 NTKP patients examined, only 11% received any type of rehabilitation services for their condition at any time. Of the patients who were rehabilitated with physical therapy and other treatments, 52% began treatment within 15 days of their…
Improvements from PT for knee pain maintained by patients for 3 years
Patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS)-sometimes referred to as runner's knee-is a painful condition that's particularly common in physically active individuals. Patients with PFPS typically experience a dull ache behind or around the kneecap that gets w…
Course of exercise yields similar results as surgery for knee injury
Overall, exercise therapy and surgery were found to lead to similar outcomes in knee pain, function, and performance for patients with meniscal lesions. Exercise therapy, however, was more effective for improving muscle strength than surgery after a s…
ACL surgery patients similar outcomes as ones treated non-operatively
Five years after treatment, patients in both groups experienced positive outcomes, and the results between the two groups were found to be very similar. In particular, scores from the quadriceps strength and single-legged hop test were high and did no…
Education program explaining pain is beneficial for patient outcomes
Results from the systematic review showed that PNE did, in fact, lead to several benefits for patients with musculoskeletal pain. In particular, it reduced patients' disability and usage of healthcare and improved their pain ratings, knowledge of pain…
Thigh muscle exercises are beneficial for knee condition patients
On the whole, results were supportive of quadriceps-strengthening exercises for PFPS patients, both alone and when combined with other exercises. It was found that when they were performed alone, these exercises were more effective for reducing pain a…
Pitching consecutive days in youth softball leads to pain & weakness
These findings clearly show that windmill pitching on consecutive days leads to declines in shoulder and elbow strength that are not recovered the next day, as well as significant increases in pain and fatigue. These changes can lead to shoulder damag…
6 weeks of PT leads to improvements for athletes dislocated shoulder
Results from the tests performed prior to the physical therapy rehabilitation program revealed that many patients had weakness in a number of their shoulder muscles as a result of pain, swelling and inflammation from the shoulder dislocation. After th…
Mindset can have significant impact on patients with shoulder pain
These findings suggest that when treating shoulder pain, psychological factors must be taken into consideration and addressed in addition to physical symptoms. Physical therapists can help by identifying these negative factors in patients early on in …
Many patients with no shoulder pain have MRI findings that show tear
These findings show that even in middle-aged patients that have no signs of shoulder pain, labral tears are commonly found on MRIs. The unfortunate result of this fact is that a patient with shoulder pain can be told they have a labral tear and then g…
Hands-on therapy found to be effective for shoulder pain
After completing treatment, participants in both groups experienced significant improvements with an increased PPT of several muscles of the upper back; however, the manual therapy group showed greater PPT improvements in these muscles than the shoulde…
Neck exercise more beneficial than physical activity for whiplash
In total, 170 patients (79%) completed the one-year follow-up and 123 (57%) completed the two-year-follow-up. At one year, both neck-specific groups displayed more clinically important improvements in pain, disability, and functioning than the PPA gro…
