Rotator cuff injuries, including tears, impingement or tendonitis, are very common, especially among active individuals.  Whether you have a tear or simply tendonitis, the focus should be on keeping all of your range of movement and boosting your rotator cuff strength.  While some people choose to self-treat with stretching and strengthening, this can be hit or miss and really cannot take the place of a hands-on examination and physical therapy.  Either way, understanding how your shoulder works will help you take care of it in the future...be sure to read our great article on shoulder mechanics and the rotator cuff for a nice background on the basics of understanding your shoulder.

Lower Back Pain (LBP) is one of the few ‘sure’ things in life.  Well, it’s almost a sure thing…there’s about an 80% chance you will have an episode of LBP at some point in your life.  And, once you’ve had an episode, you are much more likely to have one or more repeat episodes.  We’ve known this for 20+ years now, yet the statistics have not changed…so why can’t we do anything about it?

“That’s not possible, I don’t play golf!”  Pain on the inside of the elbow is commonly referred to as Golfer’s Elbow but you don’t need to play golf to be (un)lucky enough to get it!  Pain can range from an ache in the bulky part of the forearm muscles to severe pain at the bony part on the inside of the elbow.  Some people have no pain or a dull ache at rest but most have sharp pain with use.  Understanding this condition will help you address the problem and, hopefully, get rid of the pain.

Having tennis elbow doesn’t necessarily mean that you play tennis!  In fact, it is medically known as lateral epicondylitis.  A painful elbow can affect almost all activities you perform throughout your day.  From shifting your car to lifting a gallon of milk our of the refrigerator, nearly every motion that involves grasping something while moving your arm and elbow will result in pain.

Remember when you were a kid and you heard that old song…”The knee bone’s connected to the leg bone…the leg bone’s connected to the hip bone…”?  Well, guess what?  It’s true!  The body really is a series of bones that are connected and inter-dependent.  That means that the movement of one bone or joint often depends upon the movement or position of another.

Being injured is NOT fun!  Your immediate concerns are usually, “How can I get the pain to go away?” or “When will I be able to get back to normal?”  These are great questions and we address them in separate articles.  But you also need to be thinking more actively (and proactively) about what you can do to help the process along as quickly as possible.

Does a day of yard work, a tennis game or a quick house project leave your shoulder aching for days?  Shoulder pain can range from a constant, dull ache to a sudden sharp pain with movement.  Whatever symptoms you are experiencing and no-matter how short-lived they are, they are a warning sign and you should pay attention to them.

The ‘shoulder’ is actually made up of four joints.  The shoulder joint itself is made up from the ‘ball’ of the upper arm (humerus) fitting into the shallow ‘socket’ of the shoulder blade (scapula).  The shallow socket is more properly known as the glenoid fossa and this joint is called the gleno-humeral joint.

Your lower back feels stiff when you get out of bed in the morning or after doing some work in the yard.  We’ve all been there and we all joke that it’s, “…because we’re getting older!”  While there is some truth to that statement, the reality is that we can do something about it.  With a little focus and dedication, you can get yourself up to speed on a few exercises and then maintain your stability by incorporating a couple of exercises into your normal, everyday activities.  First, you need to know why your muscles become stiff and sore and how to protect against it.

You are running full speed, you plant your foot to cut left and spin around a defender…when you feel that pain on the outside of your ankle that stops you from taking another step.  Or, maybe you were walking across the room and tripped on the carpet.  Either way, you’ve sprained your ankle and…it hurts (but you already knew that!)  Keep in mind that swelling is not necessarily a good indicator of how badly your sprain is, so don’t focus too much on it.