This Soft-Tissue Maintenance Routine Will Keep You On Your Bike Longer

Posted on June 2, 2024May 26, 2025 by rauschpt

By Dustin Hancock, DPT, PT
Rausch Physical Therapy & Sports Performance

The “Mountain Bike-PT” Dustin Hancock explains how introducing a soft-tissue mobilization maintenance program can help you avoid limiting aches and pains so you can stay on the bike longer, train harder, and reduce your recovery time.

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A great friend and old patient of mine recently forwarded this great quote to live by:

“Life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting, “Holy [bleep]! What a ride.”

While I absolutely love to live by this quote, I’ve worked as a physical therapist long enough to have seen my fair share of athletes whom lack a maintenance program and arrive in the clinic destroyed. They have neglected treating some injuries and wore out their body before its time. So the question is, how do you want to live your life? Do you want to feel stiff and old, or flexible and healthy?

Whether your goal is to avoid injury, place at Over the Hump, or just shave some seconds off your Strava time, you need to start introducing a mobility program to maintain balance, otherwise you will wear out parts on your body that can’t be replaced. Introducing soft tissue mobilization in some fashion on a regular basis will help keep you on the bike, train without the limiting aches and pains, and reduce your recovery time.

Rigid Things Break

With my patients at Rausch Physical Therapy & Sports Performance, I use an analogy between two types of bridges to explain how important the balance between flexibility and rigidity is to the body. First think of a suspension bridge, which can not only hold up to the force of thousands of cars on a daily basis, but also the power of an earthquake thanks to its mobility. Now, a rigid-frame bridge will also hold up to thousands of cars on a daily basis, but it’s less likely to tolerate the shearing forces of an earthquake due to its stiffness.

One of my favorite words is “tensegrity,” which means something has both great stability and mobility, like a suspension bridge; similar to a suspension bridge, us mountain bikers need tensegrity to stay intact. Between strength and endurance training, long rides, poor posture, old injuries, and the beautiful aging process, we put our bodies through a lot. This can cause global muscle stiffness, and remember: rigid things break. Understanding the importance of tensegrity can help you avoid body breakdown and keep you on your bike longer

Understanding Flexibility vs. Mobility

So, how do you improve your tensegrity (stability + mobility)? While most MTB riders are willing to train hard to improve their stability, many neglect mobility maintenance (and sorry, simply stretching more frequently won’t cut it.) To achieve the second half of the tensegrity equation, you first have to understand the difference between flexibility and mobility.

Flexibility refers to your muscle tissue having the appropriate length to achieve the range of motion needed for that function. If you wanted to improve your flexibility, you could do some long-duration stretching (30-second to two-minute holds with no bouncing) on a routine basis—and “routine” is the key word here.

Mobility, on the other hand, is how the tissues slide-and-glide upon the adjacent tissues, which are not only muscles, but could also be skin, fascia, bone, ligaments, nerves, etc. This distinction is why you can’t just stretch more often to improve mobility: it’s not just about your muscles. You need to add in some form of soft tissue mobilization into your recovery routine, such as professional myofascial release, specialized manual therapy joint work, active release technique (ART) and/or a home mobility program.

Three Ways to Maintain Soft Tissue Mobilization

As a physical therapist, I preach how important mobility maintenance is, however as a cyclist with a busy schedule, I sometimes struggle to add yet another item to my to-do list at the end of the day. Still, I make it a point to continually challenge myself to maintain my mobility routine to make sure my old injuries don’t start to catch up to me just yet. A good mobility maintenance routine looks a little like this:

Daily foam roll routine: Spend time working out the tissues that are tight for five to 10 minutes daily, or until you feel about a 50% reduction in pain. Click here to view my specific Foam Rolling Routine for Mountain Bikers.
Click here to view Best Foam Rolling Routine for Mountain Bikers
Massage at least once or twice a month. I recommend a specific myofascial release from the experts at Dynamic Touch, or you can try ART with Lawrence Van Lingen at Rausch PT; he has some amazing fascially-specific techniques he’s perfected for elite cyclists across the globe.
Biomechanical assessment (also known as a “tune up”) at least every six months. Make an appointment with your physical therapist at least twice a year for a tune-up, movement screen evaluation, and postural assessment. During this visit your PT can determine any new abnormal alignment patterns, soft tissue restrictions, or areas that you need to address to prevent future injuries.

Maintenance isn’t always convenient, but I personally make it a point to do it to ensure I get to join the riding group every weekend and race stronger at Over the Hump. The daily grind takes a big toll on our bodies and will cause imbalances, whether it’s from poor posture at your desk, lack of cross training or focusing too much on strength training. This is why it’s critical for all MTB riders to actively pursue some form of mobility maintenance routine to keep their bodies balanced and their seat on the trails.

Conclusion

All this talk about mobility comes down to helping us get less injuries, improve recovery time, improve your overall athleticism and generally help you feel less old. So be specific, be consistent, and respect mobility with cross friction-based foam rolling.

Feel free to stop by the Rehabulance during the second half of Over the Hump 2016, and I’ll show you some awesome foam rolling techniques to address your individual mobility issues.

Cheers, fellow riders.

-DH

Dustin Hancock, DPT, PT
Rausch Physical Therapy & Sports Performance
dustin@rauschpt.net

Dustin is an adrenaline junkie with a passion for mountain biking and an outdoor-enthusiastic lifestyle. As a Doctor of Physical Therapy, his approach combines research-based knowledge and manual therapeutic treatment with Rausch PT’s cutting-edge equipment. He has experience treating extreme sport athletes of all levels, from XTERRA World Champions to challenged athletes with amputations, neuromuscular disorders, and spinal cord injuries.

Five Ways to Train Smarter This Offseason

Posted on June 2, 2024October 7, 2026 by rauschpt

Five Ways to Train Smarter This Offseason

By Sean Swopes, PT, DPT, CSCS

Rausch Physical Therapy & Sports Performance

While most people take the offseason to train for a better “next year,” Mountain Bike-PT Sean Swopes explains why you should spend some time out of the saddle and try a few other methods to improve your performance and overall health.

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You survived racing through the dirt and heat, and now the Over the Hump 2016 season has come to an end. So, what next? For many of you, the end of OTH means it’s time to pump up those skinny tires and focus on road races, crits and TT’s. Before you get back to pounding those pedals, take some time away from tuning up your bike and spend some time tuning up your body.

While the subtle differences of road cycling and mountain biking offers great balance to your riding skill level, as the quickly changing terrain and variable cadence can help to enhance your riding technique, it’s also important to spend some time out of the saddle. As a physical therapist, I know that muscle imbalance/dominance are main contributors to pain and dysfunction, but as a mountain biker I also know that many of us will go to great lengths to enhance our power output, VO2 max, and velocity.

The offseason is a great time to train to improve your performance, but it’s also the perfect time to start focusing on ways to prevent the aches and pains that may be keeping you from reaching your potential. Here are five methods you can use to stay balanced this off-season.

1. Mix Things Up

A quick and easy method I like to use to offset this imbalance is to simply go for a run. Running is a great way to change the pace and the demands of those muscle that typically get overworked when cycling. Swimming also offers a great way to continue working on aerobic demand while also decreasing the load demands on your joints.

2. Get Rolling With Soft-Tissue Work

Ever feel your knees brushing the top tube during a down stroke? It’s a frequent technique used to stay in an aerodynamic position, but it can also create increased tightness of the liotibial (IT) band. In fact, it’s quite common for cyclists to develop IT Band Syndrome from repeated down stroke.

To combat this imbalance, my colleague Dustin Hancock, DPT has created a great foam rolling program to help improve flexibility and mobility of your tissues. Click here to check it out.

3. Strengthen Your Core

I went to a great workshop recently where we discussed how important it is to have core strength for successful cycling. I have been preaching this exact thing for years! We often think of our legs being our powerhouse, but how much power can you expect your legs produce without a stable base to explode from?

The primary drive for you pedal stroke is produced from the glutes, quadriceps and hamstrings. All of these muscles attach directly to the pelvis. Without good core balance and stability, your biomechanical leverage to utilize these muscle group is altered, and therefore you produce less force.

To improve your core and stability, try these exercises:

Bird Dogs – Do these on a stable surface, or challenge yourself on an unstable surface. The key is to focus on your pelvis and prevent any rotation or tilting
Planks – You know, that exercise we all love to do. Challenge yourself by starting with a static plank on your elbows and sides, then progress by involving leg movements.
Swiss Ball Walkouts – Progress this exercise by incorporating knee tucks and pikes.

4. Work on Those Lungs

VO2 max is the maximum rate of oxygen consumption during vigorous activity. It’s often used to objectively measure an individual’s aerobic physical fitness and determine their endurance capacity during prolonged, submaximal exercise. The theory is: improve your VO2 max, improve your performance.

While the critical importance of VO2 max is debated, a 2012 article in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research concluded that VO2 max was a great determinant of mountain bike race performance, at least more so than for road races.

So, what can you do while training to improve your VO2 max? While research has shown that Hight Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) can lead to great benefits in cardiovascular gain, is HIIT really the only way to go? A 2010 article by International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance reports that a 80/20 split in Low Intensity to High Intensity training program will create ideal physiological benefits, like V02 max.

And just remember, while it’s important to push you body to its limits to create physiological responses, this is often where injury occurs.

5. Go See a Physical Therapist

With weekly OTH races for the past three months, it’s likely you’ve developed a few aches and pains this summer. Unfortunately, many MTB racers (like most athletes) subscribe to the school of thought, “Just deal with the pain until the end of the season; it’ll get better when I stop racing.”

While I can’t force you to change your mindset, I can tell you that pain is often your body’s way of telling you that it’s undergoing an abnormal amount of stress. We often think that that one fall, that one crash, is what’s going to break our bodies. The truth is, most injuries are the result of overuse—repetitive stress over a prolonged period—and while our body does a great job of adapting to the stress we place on it, its ability to repair itself diminishes the more time we spend in stress/pain.

So, now that OTH 2016 season is finished, show your body you care and make an appointment with a physical therapist. At Rausch Physical Therapy & Sports Performance, your PT will perform a biomechanical assessment to determine any new abnormal alignment patterns, soft tissue restrictions, or areas that you need to address this offseason to repair your body and prevent future injuries.

Conclusion

Stop allowing pain to determine how your body moves. While you may think you can live with “a little” hip pain, you may not realize that pain in one region of your body can lead to compensatory movement in another.

Think of it this way: think of how your derailleur cable on your bike can begin to stretch. This affects how your bike can shift, but you tell yourself you can live with that. But that small sound you hear from your chain grinding against the cassette means you’re slowly wearing down your chain, until one day—it breaks.

The moral of the story here is to listen to your body’s signs that your internal drive train is breaking down, and get it fixed.

About Sean Swopes, PT, DPT, CSCS

sean@rauschpt.net

Sean Swopes, DPT is the “Mountain Biking-PT” at Rausch Physical Therapy & Sports Performance. He is also a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. As a physical therapist, Sean’s goal is to help his patients understand their musculoskeletal impairments and work together to improve them.

Jon’s Youth Baseball Injury

Posted on June 2, 2024May 26, 2025 by rauschpt

Around the office, they call me “The Baseball Guy.” My years of clinical treatment of ballplayers at Rausch Physical Therapy and Sports Performance, coupled with my interest in biomechanical research, has motivated me to find new ways to reverse the alarming increase in youth baseball arm injuries. In fact, for the past two years I have been developing injury prevention programs for southern Orange County baseball leagues to help protect our youth’s elbows and shoulders.

And it looks like I am not the only one getting on base with this initiative. Major League Baseball and USA Baseball recently teamed up to launch their Pitch Smart program, which is designed to educate parents, coaches and young athletes about how to avoid overuse injuries. It includes information on pitching guidelines, injury risk factors, Tommy John surgery and more.

Did you know:

If you pitch more than 100 innings in a year, whether little league, club or showcase, it will increase your risk of injury by 3.5 times

If you pitch greater than 8 months in a year, it will increase risk of surgery by 5 times

The number one risk factor for injury

I have found that out of all the risk factors that can cause injury, the number one is pitching too much, both in a game and in any given year. New research is coming out every month about the correlation of throwing too much and arm injuries in little league athletes.

Kids should take off about 2-3 months of competitive pitching in a year and engage in other sports or active rest where they are still using their arms, just not in a pitching motion

As a healthcare professional, I believe that change needs to occur in the traditions and schedules of little league baseball across the nation. The Pitch Smart initiative proves to me—and hopefully to parents and coaches—how crucial injury awareness and prevention is. I want to take this information and use my skill to prevent, rehabilitate and treat the youth of little league baseball.

If you have any questions about throwing injury prevention or rehabilitation, please send me an email and I will be happy to answer them. For now, take care of those elbows and shoulders!

Sincerely, The Baseball Guy

Jonathan Meltzer, D.P.T. | jonathan@rauschpt.net

About the Author
Jonathan Meltzer graduated from the University of Redlands with a bachelor of arts in biology and a minor in physical education. Following graduation, Jonathan discovered his passion for physical therapy while working as a Physical Therapy Aide. After graduating top of his class from Loma Linda University in 2012 with a Doctorate in Physical Therapy, Jonathan began his career at Rausch Physical Therapy and Sports Performance. Jonathan’s goals are to identify limitations and treat his patients with the most recent and innovative techniques in order to maximize functional independence and obtain his patients’ individual goals.

Anthem Blue Cross To Limit Members’ PT Starting November 1

Posted on June 2, 2024October 23, 2024 by rauschpt

Are You a Patient with Anthem Blue Cross?

Do you use Anthem Blue Cross as your primary health insurance company? Have you received this letter in the mail?

Confused? Angry? You should be! Essentially, the people you pay so you can have access to medical care are telling you they’re going to start limiting your access to medical care. By hiring a third-party to decide if your physical therapy treatment is “medically necessary” (a legal term, not a medical one), Anthem Blue Cross (BC) is opening up new channels for being able to avoid paying for your medical care.

At Rausch Physical Therapy, we work hard to provide exceptional, quality care that is easily and affordably accessible, and it’s troubling that this practice of limiting your access to medical care has become the norm for medical care insurance companies.

How Rausch PT currently handles insurance companies/payment

Regardless of what that letter above implies, since the passage of the Direct Access bill in 2014 Californians have not needed a doctor’s referral/prescription before coming into a physical therapy clinic for treatment. You can come to Rausch Physical Therapy at any time for any injuries or impairments that prohibit your mobility, function, and/or quality of life. The issues only arise when it comes to figuring out who pays for this treatment.

Ever since it opened in 2006, Rausch PT has been on the leading edge of forward-thinking healthcare, and Direct Access made possible what owner Kevin Rausch had always envisioned: all people having an easy entry point onto the road to rehabilitation and recovery.

Currently, once our patients come in our door they have two options to pay for their medical treatment:

Pay an out-of-pocket cash rate
Have their insurance help cover the cost of their visit; once we submit their claim to and receive approval from their insurance company, the patient is only responsible for their copayment or deductible.

Whichever payment option you choose, everyone from our front office staff to your physical therapist to our billing department is dedicated to providing you with the best experience and highest quality of care possible.

How the introduction of OrthoNet affects you

Following the lead of other large health insurance companies, BC has decided to bring in a third-party management company, in this case OrthoNet, to handle the authorization of its physical therapy treatment claims. It’s OrthoNet’s job to scrutinize every claim request we submit on behalf of a patient to determine if said visit is—by OrthoNet’s definition—”medically necessary.” After we submit your claim, OrthoNet has two business days to gather all the necessary “clinical information” and either approve or deny your request. If they do approve your claim, OrthoNet will then tell you exactly how many visits it should take you to get better in and subsequently will only pay for.

Please note that this change does not affect BlueCard or Blue Cross Blue Shield members.

Why is this troublesome?

Let’s use the curious cases of Jenny and John as examples to illustrate the potential pitfalls of this increasingly-popular decision by medical care insurance companies to hire third parties to manage their physical therapy claims.

Jenny’s Case

What happens if your claim is denied?

[toggle title=”Click to read…”]Jenny loves to run, but she pushed herself a little too hard this triathlon season and now has knee pain that’s started to limit her ability to train. As an Anthem Blue Cross member, Jenny decides to take advantage of those 60 physical therapy visits she’s allotted per year and immediately makes an appointment at Rausch PT. During Jenny’s first appointment, the front desk sends a request to OrthoNet to get approval for payment for Jenny’s appointment. Jenny sees her PT, and after his initial, hands-on evaluation, he believes Jenny will be back to running pain-free after four or five visits.

Meanwhile, someone at OrthoNet is reviewing Jenny’s case and decides physical therapy treatment for her chronic knee injury is not medically necessary. She does not need surgery (yet) so they deny paying for treatment. They cover the cost of the initial visit, but Jenny now must decide if she’s going to pay cash rate to continue with her compelling treatment plan that will allow her to continue doing what she loves.[/toggle]

John’s Case

What happens if your claim is approved?

[toggle title=”Click to read…”]John is a senior in high school and has sprained his ankle playing basketball. John’s mom received the letter above, and per Anthem Blue Cross’ suggestion she makes an appointment for John to see an in-network doctor. Two days and $150 later, John comes in to Rausch PT with doctor’s approval in hand, ready to start getting better.

On his first visit, we send a request to OrthoNet to get approval for payment for John’s appointment. John sees his PT, and after her initial, hands-on evaluation, she tells John he should be 100% after four or five visits and back on the court before playoffs start in two months.

Meanwhile, someone at OrthoNet is reviewing John’s claim, and two days later they send a payment approval notification. However, OrthoNet has determined that John’s sprain isn’t that bad, so he should be able to start feeling better after a couple visits. BC will only help pay for two appointments to treat his ankle.

John and his PT work hard in those two visits, but he’s still only at about 60%. Inevitably, John is put in a difficult position: does he continue treatment by paying out of pocket so he can make it back in time for playoffs, or does he stop treatment and retire his jersey—or worse yet, try to play anyways and potentially cause lasting damage?[/toggle]

The takeaway

It’s unfortunate that even if your physical therapist—or even your doctor—understands your treatment as medically necessary, an outside company can still refuse to acknowledge it as so and require you pay for treatment on your own (on top of you still paying for health insurance.) It’s even more frustrating to us as a provider that we can be limited in the amount of treatment we can give people who come to us for help.

Our patients have and always will be top priority at Rausch Physical Therapy; our sole concern is getting you feeling better so you can get back to doing what you love. Our team of licensed physical therapists spent many years in school to receive their bachelor, master and doctorate degrees and licenses so they could diagnoses and relieve chronic pain and heal injuries to give someone a better quality of life. We don’t believe you should have to live with pain for any reason, especially if that reason is because an outside management company says treatment for your pain isn’t “medically necessary.”

What Rausch Physical Therapy is doing to help

During the last week of October, our front desk staff will be contacting our Anthem Blue Cross patients who are already scheduled for treatment on or after November 1. Together, we’ll work to complete the additional paperwork required to request “prior authorization” so we can continue providing you with quality treatment through the end of the year. Again, this change is effective November 1, 2015.
At Rausch Physical Therapy, we believe that everyone should have easy, direct access to PT, a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialty that we see change lives every single day. To prepare for the potential influx of BC claim denials after November 1, we are currently working on rolling out new, innovative ways to give you, our valued patient, more payment options so you will never have to rely on referrals or allow your health insurance company to limit your health.

What can you, the patient, do to help?

Raise a ruckus! Be proactive. Demand access to the care you pay for and deserve. Call the Anthem Blue Cross customer service number. Then email your friends, get on Facebook, Tweet, and share this.
If your claim is denied for being “medically unnecessary… Fight back and appeal. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, you have a 50-50 chance of getting your appeal approved if it’s an issue of medical necessity. It may take a little longer, but if the amount of money is significant or the issue important enough to you, it is worth the time you take to make it right. Get the forms you need and fill them out and send them off. Rausch PT and/or your doctor can help by providing additional medical information to the request to show exactly why it is medically necessary. Don’t be intimidated by your insurance company; we’re here to help. Click here for the forms you need to file a complaint.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call our office at (949) 276-5401 and we’ll be happy to answer any concerns you may have to make this transition as easy as possible.

Rausch PT Gets You There

Posted on June 2, 2024October 23, 2024 by rauschpt

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Justin: "Repping proper running mechanics and warmer weather all the way on the East Coast at the NYU Physical Therapy Annual 5k." — Justin: “Repping proper running mechanics and warmer weather all the way on the East Coast at the NYU Physical Therapy Annual 5k.”

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Kevin: "From the top at 11,053 ft to recovery from the surgery table... This team gets it DONE!" — Kevin: “From the top at 11,053 ft to recovery from the surgery table… This team gets it DONE!”

[/one_half_last]

As much as we love seeing our clients in the clinic, nothing brings us more joy than seeing them out and back to doing what they love. Whether your goal is returning to the golf course, racing your first 5k, or trying to qualify for Kona, we’re here to get you there!

Where has Rausch Physical Therapy & Sports Performance taken YOU? Share your Rausch PT #triumph photos on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and you could be featured on our page!

Don’t forget to tag #RauschPT #getyouthere

Everything About Muscle Pain

Posted on June 1, 2024May 28, 2024 by rauschpt

Muscle pain is extremely common and will affect nearly everyone at some point. Activities like heavy lifting workouts, lifestyle factors like excessive stress, and chronic conditions can cause or worsen it. Learn how to address this problem.

Everything You Need to Know About Muscle Pain

Myalgia, also commonly known was muscle pain, is pain or discomfort in one muscle or a group of them.Muscle aches and pain can affect tendons, ligaments, and fascia, the connective tissue surrounding your bones, organs and muscles.

Muscle pain is extremely common—whether it’s a steady ache or a stabbing pain in just one place or all over your body. It happens for several reasons: You may have worked out too hard, injured yourself, or have an undiagnosed condition. Nerve endings in your muscles and along your arteries transmit pain in response to inflammation, lack of blood flow, or mechanical force.

Read on to learn what may be causing your pain and how to relieve it.

Common Causes of Muscle Pain

Muscle pain happens because of overuse, injury, stress, and tension, whether from an intense workout or hard physical work. In these cases, connecting the pain with the cause is easy. Other reasons like life stresses aren’t as easy to pinpoint. Here’s a look at a few of the more common causes of muscle pain.

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS)

Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) refers to the pain and stiffness you feel after working out harder or longer than usual. Researchers used to believe it involved just the muscles, but a 2021 study suggests it involves fascia too. DOMS usually starts a few hours after your workout and peaks one to three days later.

All kinds of exercise can cause DOMS, but exercises that involves eccentric contraction (when your muscles lengthen) is the most likely culprit.

Some examples of eccentric contractions are:

Lowering into a deep, weighted squat
Lowering a weight during a shoulder press
Lowering your arm during a biceps curl

Injury

You can injure your muscle and connective tissue either directly, in one shot, or over many contractions, causing pain and stiffness due to damage and swelling.

An injury in one limb may sometimes cause you to overcompensate with other body areas, leading to aches. An overuse injury, such as in sports, can also cause pain and weakness over time.Breaks and fractures can also lead to muscle pain.

Infections

A whole host of bacterial and viral infections can cause muscle pain. When your immune system is fighting a virus, it could leave you with muscle inflammation and weakness. Some bacterial infections that can cause muscle aches and pain include:

Cold
Flu
Lyme disease
Pyomyositis (rare)
SARS
COVID-19

Stress and Tension

Stress and tension affect all parts of your body and can have a profound impact when it’s chronic. When you’re stressed, you unconsciously tense up your muscles. Doing this many times a day can lead to pain (and tension headaches that hurt your neck and shoulders). Muscle pain in your lower back and upper body is especially linked to job stress.

Muscle Cramps

Muscle cramps are continuous, involuntary, and painful contractions of your muscle or part of your muscle. They’re usually confined to one area (often the calf), although that doesn’t mean the area is the source of your cramps. They can last for a few seconds to several minutes.

Muscle cramps can be caused by:

Heat
Exercise
Electrolyte disturbances
Hormonal imbalances
Neurological conditions

Medications

Some medications may increase your chance of muscle aches and pains. One of the most cited classes of medication is statins, used to lower “bad” cholesterol. However, a 2022 study of 1,000 people using the medicines found that it was associated with only a small increase in mild-to-moderate muscle pain.

Other medications, like dexmethylphenidate (prescribed for ADHD), can cause severe muscle pain and stiffness.

If you haven’t identified the source of your muscle pain, check your medications for side effects.

What Medical Conditions Cause Muscle Pain?

About 47% of the population experiences muscle pain at any given time.

That said, researchers have found that some factors can put you more at risk for chronic or recurring muscle pain.

They include:

Older age
Anxiety
Being sedentary

Some conditions can also cause chronic muscle aches and pain. Here’s a look at a few.

Myofascial Pain Syndrome

Myofascial pain syndrome is a chronic pain disorder. In this condition, pressure on sensitive points in your muscles (trigger points) causes pain in the whole muscle and sometimes in seemingly unrelated parts of your body, which is called referred pain. Sometimes the trigger points are activated without cause.

Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder that causes pain and tenderness throughout the body, as well as fatigue and trouble sleeping. It can cause a heightened sensitivity to pain throughout your muscles and other areas like your tendons and joints. If you have it, you may experience pain every day. Scientists do not fully understand what causes it, but it seems to be poor communication between your brain and body. It’s also related to depression, anxiety, and stress.

Lupus

Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease in which your body attacks its own organs and systems. You can have flares when you get really sick and remission when you don’t have any symptoms. Muscle pain is often part of the condition. You’re most likely to feel pain in the thighs, upper arms, shoulders, and neck.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

This condition is also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis. Its hallmark symptom is severe fatigue after even mild activity, but muscle pain often shows up too. Researchers are still working to find the cause of the syndrome and how to treat it.

Home Remedies for Muscle Ache

It may seem counterintuitive, but using your muscles regularly can help prevent the causes of muscle pain. Staying in shape makes you healthier, helps you maintain and increase muscle mass, and helps prevent lifestyle diseases that can contribute to muscle pain.

Here are some ways to help you feel better now:

Over-the-counter (OTC) medications like Tylenol (acetaminophen), and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like aspirin, Motrin (ibuprofen), and Aleve (naproxen)
Heating pads for the affected part
Ice packs to reduce swelling and numb the area
Lidocaine patches or cream, which you apply on your skin to numb it
Relaxation techniques like meditation, hot baths, or other relaxing activities
For a sports injury, try PRICE (protect the part, rest it, ice it, compress it, and elevate it)

Herbal Supplements

You may have heard about OTC supplements and their use for muscle pain. However, little evidence exists to support their effectiveness in pain relief. Some also have potential side effects, so you’re probably better off sticking with an OTC analgesic or another way of relieving your pain.

A few small clinical trials support willow bark’s usefulness for chronic low-back pain and osteoarthritis. Likewise, there is some support for omega-3 fatty acids’ modest help with rheumatoid arthritis symptoms.

Here are a few popular herbal remedies with little-to-no supporting evidence:

Devil’s claw
Ginger
Thunder God vine
Turmeric
Bromelain (pineapple plant)

When To See a Healthcare Provider

See a healthcare provider if your pain is severe, long-lasting, or is accompanied by other symptoms like fever, excessive swelling, or problems moving an affected body part.

Managing Muscle Pain

Even though muscle pain is common, experiencing it can be uncomfortable. To learn how to manage pain and take care of your muscles, joints, and bones, take the pain quiz below for personalized tips.

Don’t let muscle pain hold you back! Explore the benefits of PT and get back to enjoying your favorite activities pain-free! Contact us today at 949-276-5401. You can follow us on TikTok and Instagram for more tips.

Reference: [ https://www.health.com/muscle-pain-causes-7229891 ]

Calf Pain? Here’s What You Need to Know

Posted on May 1, 2024May 9, 2024 by rauschpt

Calf pain can strike suddenly, leaving you sidelined and wondering what happened. Whether it’s a sharp twinge or a dull ache, calf pain can disrupt your daily routine and leave you frustrated. Let’s turn that ouch into an “all clear” and get you moving pain-free! Questions? That’s why we are here! Give us a call and let’s get you seen. Relief is a mere phone call away!

Popped or Pulled Calf Muscles: What To Know

The calf is the muscle that runs down the back of your lower leg. You build strong calf muscles by walking, running, hiking, tennis, and soccer. Sometimes you can strain your calf during those activities, known as a popped or pulled calf muscle. Read on to learn more about a popped calf muscle, how to treat it, and how to prevent it.

What Is a Pulled Calf Muscle?

When someone says they popped or pulled a calf muscle, it’s another way of saying they tore or strained the calf muscle. The expression comes from the popping sound of the tissue tearing.

A popped calf muscle strain would be an injury of a muscle, tendon—fibrous tissues that connect muscles and bone—or both. Sprains refer to stretches, tears, or both of ligaments, the connective tissue for bones.

Symptoms

When you pull a calf muscle, the injury makes it difficult to walk or bear any weight on the affected leg. Other symptoms include:

Cramping
Inflammation
Muscle spasms
Muscle weakness
Pain
Swelling

Causes and Risk Factors

Situations like accelerating to chase a ball on a tennis court or changing directions abruptly in a soccer game can lead to a pulled calf muscle. A calf muscle strain may be the result of muscle or tendon stretching. People may also wholly or partially tear either structure in their leg.

Researchers found the following factors can put you at risk of pulling a muscle:

Age: Because muscles naturally lose some elasticity as you age, you’re more likely to suffer a strain as you get older—especially if you’re overtraining or fatigued.
Previous calf strains: Your strength, nerves, and structure of tissues may be affected if you’ve had calf strains before.

Diagnosis

A healthcare provider will ask about your medical history, including the current symptoms, and perform a physical exam. In some cases, they may use the following to learn more about the injury:

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): An MRI shows a provider any tears or breaks in muscle fibers and how much the torn muscle fibers have retracted.
Neurological exam: This exam tests the motor and sensory capacities of the affected muscle.
Ultrasound: Ultrasounds can help providers determine how small or large an injury is.

Pulled Calf Muscle Treatment

Early treatment goals for popped calf muscles are decreasing pain, limiting bleeding, and preventing contracting joints.

In the initial stages of the injury, treatment for a strain includes resting, icing the affected area, and elevating the leg. Of note, moist heat or massage can worsen any internal bleeding around the early stages of the injury. Other treatments can include:

Medications: Medications such as acetaminophen or narcotic pain medicines may be prescribed to help with pain or muscle spasms.
Physical therapy: A healthcare provider may recommend physical therapy to help with functional recovery after successful initial treatments.
Surgery: Surgery may be necessary in cases of a muscle tear—though this treatment is still up for debate about its helpfulness.

Many people who experience a calf muscle injury recover with little issue. Decreased pain and exercise resumption is possible when individuals follow treatment and management recommendations.

Prevention

One way to prevent calf muscle injuries is warming up and stretching before you exercise. This can help improve flexibility in your muscles.

People engaging in physical therapy should stick with their home exercise program and follow up with their physical therapist as instructed. Athletes can also prevent these injuries by waiting until they don’t experience pain and have a fully-recovered range of motion.

Complications

There are also potential complications from a muscle strain, such as:

Chronic pain or dysfunction: Pain that lasts longer than usual—usually more than three to six months—but isn’t due to the normal healing process
Compartment syndrome: A condition of dangerous pressure levels in muscles
Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) formation: The development of blood clots in a deep vein, which can be in the lower leg
Reinjury: Having another muscle strain
Scar tissue formation: Development of internal scar tissue on the affected calf muscle

A Quick Review

Popped calf muscles, also known as pulled calf muscles, happen when you strain or tear those muscles. You may experience symptoms such as muscle spasms or weakness, cramping, or pain. Treatments are available for a pop in your calf muscle, like physical therapy, and ways to prevent it include warming up and stretching before exercise.

Say goodbye to calf pain for good! Explore the benefits of PT and get back to enjoying your favorite activities pain-free! Contact us today at 949-276-5401. You can follow us on TikTok and Instagram for more tips.

Reference: [ https://www.health.com/condition/chronic-pain/pulled-calf-muscle ]

Forearm Pain Relief

Posted on May 1, 2024August 23, 2024 by rauschpt

Forearm pain can be a constant companion, hindering everything from work tasks to your favorite hobbies. Here is all the information you need to understand your forearm pain and take charge. If you’d like a personalized look at what’s going on with your pain — we are here for that, along with a customized solution to make it go away! Don’t forget — you don’t have to live with pain! Sometimes we get used to it and think its a normal part of aging or injury — not so!

What To Know and Do About Forearm Pain

Your forearm is the part of your arm that extends from your elbow to your wrist—and pain in this area can disrupt your daily life and functioning.1 Whether it feels like a dull ache or sharp twinge, forearm pain can make simple tasks like carrying grocery bags, walking your dog, or opening a glass jar excruciating.

Sudden or repetitive injuries to muscles, ligaments, nerves, joints, or bones are the most common causes of forearm pain. Sometimes, forearm pain is a sign of an underlying condition like arthritis. If you have forearm pain, seeking medical attention for diagnosis and treatment is the best way to prevent complications and promote healing to restore the function and use of your forearm.

How Forearm Pain Presents

Understanding all the components that make up your forearm can help you determine which part of your forearm is painful. Your forearm is the part of your arm between the elbow and wrist, which contains:

Bones: Two bones are in the forearm, including the radius and ulna. If you turn your arm with your palm facing up, the radius is closest to your thumb, and the ulna is closest to your little finger. The radius is slightly shorter and helps your forearm rotate at the wrist joint.4 The ulna provides stability for your forearm muscles.
Muscles: There are twenty muscles in the forearm that work together. These muscles allow you to move your wrists, elbows, and fingers to grip objects and bend your hand.
Ligaments: Your ligaments are fibrous (made of fibers) tissues that connect the forearm bones and stabilize joints.
Tendons: Strong, fibrous connective tissues in the forearm that connect your muscles to your bones and support movement of the fingers, wrists, and elbows.
Joints: Where the two bones meet together and help facilitate stability and movements like wrist rotation.
Nerves: Forearm nerves supply sensation to the hands, fingers, and forearm and support your muscle movements.

Forearm pain can vary and will often depend on which part of your forearm is hurting and the underlying cause of the pain. Symptoms of forearm pain may feel like:

Dull aches
Sharp or stabbing pain
Burning
Tingling
Numbness or loss of sensation in the forearm or hand(s)
Electric “shocks”
Stiffness

With forearm pain, you may also experience a limited range of motion in your elbow or wrist, swelling, or difficulty grasping or gripping objects.

Potential Causes of Forearm Pain

There are many possible causes of forearm pain, ranging from acute injury to underlying medical conditions.

Acute Injury

Forearm pain is often due to acute (sudden) injury to one or more musculoskeletal structures in the forearm. Injuries often occur after a fall, direct blow to the forearm, or accident. Common acute injuries that cause forearm pain include:

Fractures: A broken bone (e.g., ulna or radius) can cause intense pain, swelling, and bruising in the forearm.
Sprains: A stretched or torn ligament can cause pain, swelling, bruising, and the inability to rotate your wrist. Some people hear a tear or pop when a sprain occurs.
Strains: A torn or stretched muscle or tendon can cause pain and tenderness, muscle spasms, swelling, and limited mobility in the forearm.

Overuse Injury

Overuse injuries (also called repetitive use injuries) are common causes of forearm pain. People who perform repetitive motions or engage in strenuous sports or work activities can develop this type of injury due to overusing the forearm. Some examples of overuse injuries in the forearm include:

Tendinitis: Inflammation of the forearm tendons (tissue that connects muscles to bones) can cause pain and tenderness that worsens with movement, night pain, and morning stiffness. 15 Tendinitis is sometimes called different names, depending on the cause (e.g., tennis elbow or golfer’s elbow).
Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS): Repetitive hand and wrist movements (such as typing) or working with vibrating machinery can lead to compression of the median nerve, which runs through the forearm to the palm. Numbness, tingling, and pain in the fingers and hands are common with CTS, which sometimes travels from the hand up to the forearm.
Bursitis: Inflammation of the bursae (which are fluid-filled sacs that cushion bones and soft tissues) can cause swelling, redness, and forearm pain when the bursae in the elbow become irritated and inflamed. It may also be difficult to bend your elbow or rotate your forearm with bursitis.

Arthritis

Arthritis causes inflammation of the joints. Developing this condition in the elbow or wrist can lead to stiffness, swelling, and pain in the forearm. Several types of arthritis can affect the wrists and elbows and cause forearm pain, including:

Osteoarthritis: Occurs when cartilage (cushions at the end of your bones where joints form) breaks down, causing bones to rub together. Symptoms include limited range of motion in the affected joints, stiffness, and pain.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA): A form of inflammatory autoimmune arthritis that commonly affects the elbows and other joints. RA causes joint pain, swelling, redness, and limited range of motion in the affected joints. Some people with RA may develop subcutaneous rheumatoid nodules, which are firm lumps under the skin that can appear outside the forearm near the elbow.
Psoriatic arthritis (PsA): Another type of inflammatory arthritis that often occurs alongside psoriasis (an autoimmune disorder that causes patches on the skin). When PsA affects the elbow, pain can radiate from the elbow to the forearm.

Nerve Compression

Forearm pain can occur when a nerve in the arm or neck becomes compressed or “pinched.” Common causes of nerve compression include:

Cervical radiculopathy : This compression of a nerve in the neck, often from a herniated (slipped) disc or age-related “wear and tear” on the neck’s discs and bones, can cause pain and numbness that radiates down one or both of your arms. Some people may also have a limited range of motion or weakness in their arms with this condition.
Cubital tunnel syndrome: Compression of the ulnar nerve, which runs from your neck down through the muscles in the forearm to your hand, causes symptoms like tingling, numbness, and weakness in the arm and hand.
Median nerve compression: Occurs when the median nerve, which runs along the inside of the arm, becomes compressed or irritated. Common symptoms include forearm pain, numbness, and muscle weakness that may make it difficult to grip objects.

Infection

While less common than other causes of forearm pain, infections of the bones or soft tissues (e.g., skin) can contribute to forearm discomfort. Some examples of these infections include:

Osteomyelitis : Infection in the bones or joints in the forearm can develop due to injury or trauma. Symptoms include deep pain in the affected bone that worsens with movement, fever, sweating, swelling, redness, and warmth over the affected area.
Cellulitis: A bacterial infection in the deeper layers of the skin can also affect the forearm, causing redness, swelling, warmth, muscle aches, and joint pain. This condition often occurs when bacteria enter a break in the skin, such as from a scratch, wound, or bug bite.
Pyomyositis : Another type of bacterial infection in the forearm muscles, which can sometimes cause an abscess (collection of pus). People with weakened immune systems (such as those with diabetes, cancer, or HIV). This condition often causes symptoms like fever, redness, swelling, and pain in the forearm.

When To Contact a Healthcare Provider

While some forearm pain may resolve on its own with rest and self-care methods, it’s best to see a healthcare provider for proper diagnosis and treatment if:

The pain is severe, persistent, or worsens despite at-home treatments
You experience significant swelling, bruising, or deformity in your forearm
Numbness, tingling, or weakness accompanies forearm pain
Forearm pain develops after a recent fall or accident
You’re experiencing a fever alongside pain symptoms

How Providers Diagnose Forearm Pain

Diagnosing the cause of forearm pain typically involves reviewing your medical history, conducting a physical examination, and ordering diagnostic tests. At your appointment, you can expect your provider to ask:

When the pain started
What the pain feels like
If you recently experienced an injury or infection
Which activities worsen or relieve the pain
What you do for work (which may cause an overuse injury)
Whether you play sports or participate in other strenuous activities

During the physical exam, your healthcare provider will examine your forearm to check for swelling, tenderness, and redness. They may ask you to move your arm or hand in certain ways to check your arm’s range of motion and test your grip strength and sensations in your arms, hands, and fingers.

If necessary, your healthcare provider may order tests to determine an accurate diagnosis. These tests include:

Imaging tests: X-rays, ultrasounds, or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans can help visualize the bones, connective tissues (e.g., ligaments, tendons), and soft tissues to look for abnormalities like fractures, tendinitis, bursitis, or nerve compression.
Electromyography (EMG) and nerve conduction studies: These tests assess your nerve function and your muscles’ electrical signals to help diagnose muscle or nerve problems.

How To Treat Forearm Pain

Your exact treatment plan will depend on the severity of your pain and the underlying cause of your symptoms. Treatment may include at-home remedies, medical treatments, physical therapy, and complementary methods.

At-Home Remedies

When minor injuries cause forearm pain, at-home remedies may be enough to manage the pain and promote healing. These treatments may include:

Rest: Avoiding physical activities for a few days can help relieve pain sooner
Ice therapy: Applying ice packs wrapped in a towel for up to 20 minutes at a time, several times a day to reduce inflammation
Over-the-counter (OTC) pain relievers: Medications like Advil (ibuprofen) or Tylenol (acetaminophen) can help manage pain and discomfort
Compression support: Wearing compression socks can stabilize the forearm and minimize pain during movement

Medical Treatments

Your provider may prescribe medications or recommend other treatments, depending on the cause of forearm pain. This may include:

Prescription medications: Stronger pain relievers like prescription-strength nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs) like Aleve (naproxen) or corticosteroid injections in the forearm can help reduce inflammation and pain3738
Immobilization: Serious forearm injuries may require splints or casts to immobilize the forearm and promote healing.
Surgery: In some cases, surgery to repair damaged tendons, ligaments, nerves, or bones is necessary.

Physical Therapy

Your healthcare provider may refer you to a physical therapist for a forearm injury or underlying condition that is causing pain, limiting your range of motion, or affecting your daily functioning. A physical therapist will develop a personalized exercise and stretch program to improve strength and flexibility and prevent future injuries.

Complementary Methods

Some people opt for complementary therapies to help manage forearm pain. These therapies are not meant to replace conventional medical treatments but may help manage certain types of forearm pain.

Massage therapy: Putting gentle pressure and massage techniques on the affected area can reduce muscle tension and induce relaxation, which may help offer short-term pain relief.
Ultrasound therapy: Applying sound waves to the forearm to help reduce inflammation, relieve pain, or manage certain types of forearm pain, such as tendinitis.
Acupuncture: A Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practice that involves inserting thin needles into specific points on the body. Some studies suggest acupuncture provides short-term pain relief for muscle pain and arthritis.

A Quick Review

Whether forearm pain is persistent or comes and goes, it can affect your daily activities. There are many possible causes of forearm pain, including acute injuries, overuse injuries, nerve compression, and underlying health conditions like arthritis.

While self-care measures like rest, ice, and OTC pain relievers can help manage mild pain and promote healing, it’s important to see a healthcare provider for a proper diagnosis and treatment if your pain worsens or persists. Pushing through the pain can cause further damage or worsen your pain. With the help of your healthcare provider and treatments like medication and physical therapy, you can find much-needed relief and improve your quality of life.

Need a personalized plan to address your specific forearm pain? Schedule a consultation with our licensed physical therapist and get started on your path to recovery! Call us today at 949-276-5401. For more tips, follow us on Instagram.

Reference: [ https://www.health.com/forearm-pain-8584583 ]

Say Goodbye to Hip Discomfort

Posted on April 1, 2024April 15, 2024 by rauschpt

Hip pain can be a real drag, putting a damper on your daily activities and leaving you feeling stiff and uncomfortable. It shouldn’t be ignored. Learn the tools you need to understand the causes of your pain and explore effective relief strategies. Questions? We are always here!

What Causes Hip Pain—and How Can You Relieve It?

Hip pain is a common issue, especially as you age. About 14% of adults over 60 report having pain in or around their hip joint.1 Bone fracture, muscle strain or tear, infection, and arthritis are some of the reasons your hip might hurt.2 Depending on the cause, the pain can be short term (acute) or long term (chronic).

Whatever the cause, it’s important to address and manage your hip pain. Hip pain can impact your ability to walk and function, significantly affecting your quality of life. Luckily, there are treatments and preventative measures that can help.

Types of Hip Pain

The hip joint is a ball-and-socket joint connected to the lower trunk of your body. The hip joint, lined with cartilage, connects the pelvic bone to the top of the femur (thigh bone). Groups of muscles and tendons surround the joint. Hip pain arises due to problems in and around the hip joint, including the surrounding muscles and tendons. These include:

Gluteal muscles, muscles of the buttocks, which lie to the back of the hip
Abductor muscles, found in the inner thigh
Iliopsoas muscles, also known as hip flexors, which move across the abdomen and connect the lower spine to the upper thigh
Quadriceps, the four muscles of the front of the thigh
Hamstrings, the muscles of the back of the thigh, running from the hip to below the knee

The exact location of the pain depends on which part in or around your hip is affected. You can experience anterior hip pain, which is pain felt toward the front; posterior hip pain, which is pain coming from the back of the hips and buttocks; or lateral hip pain, which is pain on the side of the hip.

Healthcare providers also classify hip pain based on duration. Short-term pain problems are considered acute, while persistent pain is considered chronic.

Potential Causes of Hip Pain

A wide range of conditions can cause hip pain. These include injuries and diseases that impact the joint, tendons, ligaments, or muscles of the area.

Arthritis

Arthritis occurs when there’s inflammation and swelling in the joints. Arthritis in the hip is a leading cause of hip pain among older adults.

Arthritis of the hips causes chronic pain at the front of your hip and in your groin. You can also have muscle stiffness. Hip arthritis symptoms get worse when you’re standing or bearing weight.

Hip Fracture

If you fracture, or break, your hip bone, you could feel serious pain. A fall or accident leading to hip fracture can cause sharp, acute pain and inflammation.

Because your bones get weaker as you get older and there’s an increased risk of falls, people older than 65 are at increased risk for hip fracture.

Muscle Strain

Muscle strain occurs when muscles are overstretched, become damaged, or start to rip. One type of muscle strain is hip flexor strain. Your hip flexors are a group of muscles at the front of the hip that allow you to move your leg and knee up toward your body.

When one of these muscles is strained, you can feel pain at the front of your hip. The pain can range from mild cramping and tension to severe pain. You might also experience muscle spasms, bruising, and swelling.

Hip flexor strain is an injury often affecting athletes who participate in sports with sudden movements.

Bursitis

Hip bursitis is an inflammation of the bursa, which are fluid-filled sacs that surround the hip joint. Most commonly, bursitis affects the bony part of the hip called the greater trochanter. Known as trochanteric bursitis, the pain from this type of bursitis spreads from the pointed part of the hip to the upper thigh. The pain is sharp at first and worse when standing up, sitting, or driving. The pain can then turn into duller aches across broader portions of the hip area.

Iliopsoas bursitis, commonly known as snapping hip, is a rarer type of bursitis that arises due to inflamed bursa on the inside of the hip (by the groin). This type causes pain in the front of the hip as well as the groin.

Infection

Infection of the bone or fluid around the joints can cause hip pain. Two types of infections common in the hip joint are septic arthritis and osteomyelitis. Bone and joint infections like these arise as bacteria, viruses, or other pathogens spread due to blood infection (sepsis), trauma sites on the bone, or as a complication of surgery. Septic arthritis affects the hip joint, whereas osteomyelitis localizes more on the hip bone itself.

The risk for osteomyelitis or septic arthritis is higher among people with a chronic health condition and children who are younger than 5 years old.

Besides pain, other symptoms include swelling, fever, mobility difficulties, and chills.

Osteonecrosis

Insufficient blood supply to the hip causes the bones to die, a process known as osteonecrosis. Osteonecrosis can occur due to injury or disease and can severely irritate the hip joint, leading to arthritis. Symptoms include gradually worsening pain in the hip and groin that’s present at rest and gets worse with activity.

Several factors raise your risk of osteonecrosis, including:

Excessive alcohol use
Steroid use
Sickle-cell anemia, a blood cell disorder
Lupus, an autoimmune disorder
HIV/AIDS
Cancer
Radiation or chemotherapy

Labral Tear

The labrum is thick cartilage sitting in the socket of the hip joint that offers a buffer from impact. When your labrum tears, the pain affects the groin and can spread to the side or front of the hip as well as the buttocks and knee. Setting in either immediately due to injury or gradually, the pain can be dull or sharp, often worsening with activity.

Femoroacetabular Impingement

Femoroacetabular impingement, or hip impingement, is when there is irregular bone growth on the head of the femur (the ball of the hip joint) or on the acetabular (the socket of the hip joint). The irregular bone shape causes the two bones to rub against each other when you move. Over time, the rubbing can damage the joint. The damage can cause pain in the groin and side of the hip, limiting mobility. The pain can be sharp when squatting, turning, or twisting. Sometimes the pain is a dull ache.

When To See a Healthcare Provider

If you’ve had a fall or serious athletic injury, you should get immediate medical attention. You should also get immediate care if your leg is bleeding, bruising, or deformed or if you have severe difficulties with walking, moving, or bearing weight.

If you’ve received care for your hip pain or are managing the pain at home, the signs you should contact your healthcare provider include:

Pain that continues for a week, despite treatment
Fever
Skin rashes
Sudden onset of hip pain with sickle-cell anemia or frequent steroid use
Difficulty climbing stairs, standing up, walking, or performing daily activities
Limping or loss of range of motion in the leg

How Is Hip Pain Diagnosed?

To treat hip pain, your healthcare provider will first need to figure out the cause. In addition to asking about your symptoms, they’ll likely assess your medical history, including any family history of hip problems, as well as any medications you’re taking.

In addition, they’ll probably perform a physical evaluation. This involves squeezing or putting pressure on affected areas; analyzing how well you’re able to walk; and assessing your ability to perform leg raises, certain stretches, or other motions.

In some cases, your healthcare provider will need imaging techniques like X-ray, ultrasound, or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to identify the cause of pain or assess the scope of any damage. With joint pain, assessing responses to pain-killing injections can also help identify the cause.

Treatments for Hip Pain

The specific course of the treatment of hip pain depends on the underlying cause. Treatment can involve home management techniques, medications, physical therapy, surgery, and alternative medical approaches.

RICE

In the first 48 hours after an injury, healthcare providers recommend RICE. This involves:

Rest: Avoid putting pressure on the affected leg and hip to prevent aggravating any injury.
Ice: Apply ice-packs wrapped in a towel to the affected area for 20 minutes every three or four hours.
Compression: Wrap affected areas in compression bandages or wear compression garments to put pressure on the affected area.
Elevation: Lie down and keep your hips elevated above your heart. Doing so affects blood flow in a way that can help with swelling. This should be regularly in the early recovery period.

With persistent pain, don’t sleep on the affected side, and try putting a pillow between your legs if you are a side sleeper. Wear flat shoes that have cushioned insoles, and avoid standing for long periods of time.

Home Conditioning

Especially if the pain is caused by muscle strain, your healthcare provider may recommend certain stretches and exercises to promote recovery. These focus on several muscle groups, including the hip flexors, the gluteus maximus and medius of the buttocks, and the hamstrings on the back of the thigh.

Take control of your hip health! Learn how to manage discomfort and prevent it from returning with our PT experts. Contact us today at 949-276-5401. You can follow us on TikTok and Instagram for more inspiration and tips.

Reference: [ https://www.health.com/hip-pain-8426031 ]

A Beginner’s Weight Training Guide

Posted on April 1, 2024March 12, 2024 by rauschpt

Ready to unlock your inner strength and build a healthier you? Weight training isn’t just for bodybuilders anymore! Whether you’re a complete novice or someone curious about adding weights to your routine, here is a roadmap to success. If you have a pre-existing concern or want to know how to work this into your routine, we are here to guide you through and ensure you’re at your healthiest every step of the way!

A Beginner’s Guide to Weight Training

Some exercises, including bicep curls and squats, can support weight training at home or the gym. You can use free weights or your body weight with certain exercises to provide resistance.

Whether your goal is to build muscle mass or achieve a fitter, more toned body, lifting weights can help you get there.

Weight training, also known as resistance or strength training, builds lean, stronger muscles, strengthens your bones and joints, and can help keep your metabolism in a healthy state — meaning you’ll burn more calories even when you’re resting.

And the benefits of lifting weights aren’t just for young people. Weight training as we age can help fight the loss of muscle mass and mobility, as well as improve psychological well-being.

So even if you’ve never done any kind of weight training before — it’s never too late to start!

What’s more, you don’t even need to belong to a gym. You can simply use your body weight for many exercises or use free weights, resistance bands, or other home fitness equipment to get results.

This article will walk you through how to get started with weight training and provide suggested exercises and training advice for beginners.

What do you need to start weight training?

If you’ve never lifted weights before, consider starting out with the help of a certified personal trainer. They’ll be able to teach you the proper form for specific exercises and set up a strength training program tailored to your needs.

Many gyms or fitness centers offer introductory training sessions at little or no cost, or they have trainers available if you have questions. Additionally, there are many personal trainers who train clients online, through video platforms.

While most gyms have a combination of resistance machines and free weights, such as dumbbells and barbells, you can also get a comprehensive weight training workout at home with basic equipment.

Equipment options

You don’t necessarily need weights to build lean muscle mass and tone your body. As an example, for some strength training exercises, like pushups or lunges, you only need your body weight to provide resistance.

You can expand your at-home workout options with dumbbells. A beginner’s set of adjustable weight dumbbells starts at about $50, but the price increases as you add more weight.

Kettlebells, which are weighted balls with handles, are another popular option. Many kettlebell exercises work several muscle groups at once, which makes them effective for a full-body workout, especially if you’re short on time.

Resistance bands are also a helpful addition to your workout equipment. These color-coded elastic bands provide varying levels of resistance when pulled and stretched.

A set of resistance bands can be purchased for $10 to $60. Because they’re light and portable, you can take them with you when you travel.

What to know before you begin

Once you’re ready to get started with a weight training program, keep the following tips in mind.

Weight lifting tips for beginners

Warm up. Some aerobic activity, such as a 5-minute jog or brisk walk, will increase blood flow to your muscles and prime them for a good workout. Skipping rope or doing jumping jacks for a few minutes are also good warmup options.
Start with lighter weights. You want to start with a weight that you can lift 10 to 15 times with proper form. Begin with 1 or 2 sets of 10 to 15 repetitions, and slowly progress to 3 sets or more.
Gradually increase the weight. When you can easily do the recommended number of sets and reps, increase the weight by 5 to 10 percent. Check to make sure this is the right weight for you before doing a full workout.
Rest for at least 60 seconds in between sets. This helps prevent muscle fatigue, especially as you start out.
Limit your workout to no longer than 45 minutes. You can get the workout you need in this time frame. Longer sessions may not lead to better results and may increase your risk of burnout and muscle fatigue.
Gently stretch your muscles after your workout. Stretching can help boost your flexibility, ease muscle tension, and reduce your risk of injury.
Rest a day or two in between workouts. Resting gives your muscles time to recover and replenish energy stores before your next workout.

Exercises for beginners

You may be especially interested in building your biceps or toning your legs, but the best resistance training program works all the major muscle groups in your body.

In fact, overworking one muscle group at the expense of another could raise your risk of injury.

For a solid all-over workout, you may want to start off with the following exercises. Including these exercises in your weight lifting routine will work most of the large muscle groups in your body.

SETS AND REPS

Start off by doing 10 to 15 reps of each exercise. Aim for 1 to 2 sets to start. As you build strength, you can add extra sets, and also increase the weight.

What is a rep? A repetition (rep) is one complete exercise movement.
What is a set? A set is a certain number of reps. For instance, 10 to 15 reps make up 1 set.

Dumbbell single-arm rows

Not sure where to start? Explore our qualified physical therapists who can help you embark on your weight training journey safely and effectively. Contact us today at 949-276-5401. For more tips, follow us on Instagram.

Reference: [ https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-start-lifting-weights ]

5 Stretches to Soothe Your Stiff Neck

Posted on February 1, 2024February 12, 2024 by rauschpt

Is your head doing the bobblehead dance on top of your shoulders? Does turning left feel like an Olympic trial in flexibility? These five stretches are ready to help you untangle knots, melt away soreness, and restore your head to its rightful, pain-free perch.

How to Stretch Your Neck

If your neck is stiff or sore, you have lots of company. Neck pain is one of the most common types of pain among Americans. But as with any other part of your body, exercises and stretches can make the muscles in your neck stronger and more limber. Try these moves to loosen a tense neck, banish pain, and gain flexibility.

Bonus: A strong neck can help prevent problems with your shoulders, upper back, and arms, too.

If you already have pain in your neck or elsewhere, talk to your doctor before you start. You will feel some tension in your neck muscles when you stretch. But you shouldn’t have pain. If you do, stop right away.

Forward and Backward Tilt

This can be done while you’re seated or on your feet. Keep your moves slow and smooth.

Start with your head squarely over your shoulders and your back straight.
Lower your chin toward your chest and hold for 15-30 seconds. Relax, and slowly lift your head back up.
Tilt your chin up toward the ceiling and bring the base of your skull toward your back. Hold for 10 seconds, then return to the start position.
Repeat the set several times. Do it every day.

Side Tilt

Do this while standing, with your feet hip-width apart and arms down by your sides.

Gently tilt your head toward your right shoulder and try to touch it with your ear. Stop when you feel the stretch. Don’t raise your shoulder.
Hold the stretch for 5-10 seconds, then return to the start position.
Repeat on your left side. You can do several sets and work your way up to 10 repetitions.
For extra stretch, put the hand on the same side of your tilted head on top of your head, and press lightly with your fingertips.

Side Rotation

You can do this while seated or standing.

Keep your head squarely over your shoulders and your back straight.
Slowly turn your head to the right until you feel a stretch in the side of your neck and shoulder.
Hold the stretch for 15-30 seconds, and then slowly turn your head forward again.
Repeat on your left side. Do up to 10 sets.

Shoulder Roll

This is best done standing up.

Raise your shoulders straight up and move them in a circle going forward. Do it 6 times.
Return to the start position, and make another 6 circles, this time going backward.

Stand tall and confident with improved neck alignment and strength. Understand the root cause of your neck pain and design a personalized plan for optimal recovery. Remember, we also offer Rx Massage to support your healing where you need it. Contact us today at 949-276-5401. You can follow us on TikTok and Instagram for more inspiration and tips.

Reference: [https://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/fitness-neck-stretches?icd=oas_fit_180209_cons_ART_neckstretches]

A Guide to Kneecap Concerns

Posted on February 1, 2024July 11, 2024 by rauschpt

The kneecap is the hardworking little hero of the leg joint, bearing the brunt of our every step and jump. If you’re currently navigating the world of knee woes, you’re not alone. Knee pain is a common complaint, affecting millions of people worldwide. But we are ready to help you decipher the messages your kneecap is sending.

What’s going on with my kneecap?

If your kneecap pops or slides to the outside of your knee, you’ll definitely know that something’s going on. Typically, that “something” is a partial or full dislocation, which means the kneecap, also known as the patella, has slipped partly or all the way out of its groove over the knee joint.

Dislocation can be caused by a sudden blow, such as taking a hard hit playing a contact sport like football or hockey, or by a chronic condition like a stretched ligament. Some people have a particular knee anatomy that makes it more common. In those cases, a dislocation could be caused by something as simple as normal walking or standing up from a chair. With chronic dislocation, it may feel as though your knee is buckling or giving way. There’s often no pattern or regular causes of the dislocations.

What happens when a kneecap dislocates

When the kneecap dislocates, it’s painful and the knee area may swell. Whether it happens from an acute or chronic situation, dislocation can damage the cartilage of the groove that the kneecap sits in or the cartilage underneath the kneecap.

Acute or chronic dislocation indicates you have a stretched or torn medial patellofemoral ligament, or MPFL, a tough band of tissue that connects to the inside of the kneecap and prevents it from sliding to the outside of the knee.

Treating acute dislocation

If the dislocation is caused by an acute injury, you may be able to ease the kneecap back into place, or you may need to go an emergency department where health care professionals can correct the dislocation and evaluate if there’s additional injury to your knee. Following the dislocation, you should see an orthopedic specialist.

An X-ray provides an overall view of the anatomy of the kneecap and knee joint. The orthopedic specialist can determine if there is damage to the groove the kneecap rests in, how high the kneecap sits above the joint and if the patellar tendon, which connects below the kneecap, is pulling to one side.

If this is the first time your kneecap has dislocated, the X-ray also can help determine if you’re at risk of it happening again. Your orthopedic specialist also may order an MRI to check if a piece of the cartilage has broken off.

Younger patients may need to undergo surgery to remove or fix a cartilage piece that has broken off and reconstruct the MPFL. Recovery following surgery typically involves wearing a brace, physical therapy and limited weight bearing to give the cartilage the best chance to heal. It may take up to six months before you’re able to fully return to sports.

For older patients, cartilage is less likely to heal, so surgery isn’t always recommended. However, if you’re experiencing a catching sensation in your knee, an orthopedic surgeon may decide to surgically remove the piece of cartilage. Rehabilitation will include limited weight bearing, using a brace and physical therapy.

Treating chronic dislocation

The first time your knee dislocates — unrelated to an injury — it may slide back into place on its own. However, you should see an orthopedic specialist who can evaluate if there has been any injury to the cartilage and determine your risk for dislocations happening again. If there isn’t any cartilage damage, the orthopedic specialist may order physical therapy to strengthen your hip and quadricep muscles. This can help overcome any stretch in the MPFL ligament and stabilize your kneecap, as well as decrease the risk of arthritis over time.

However, you eventually still may require surgery to reconstruct the MPFL, as well as other procedures to correct chronic dislocations. These include deepening the groove where the kneecap sits or moving the location where the patellar tendon connects.

Recovery from MPFL reconstruction may take several months before you’re able to return to normal activities and regain your range of motion. Overall recovery for more complex surgeries may take four to six months.

Preventing kneecap dislocations

The best way to lessen your chance of acute and chronic kneecap dislocations is to maintain overall leg, quadricep and hip strength. For chronic dislocations, learn what tends to cause them, such as twisting, and avoid those motions. A physical therapist also can teach you how to correct a kneecap dislocation on your own.

For athletes who have suffered an acute dislocation, prompt care, possible surgery and rehabilitation can get you back to playing again.

Take control of your body and reclaim your active lifestyle. Your PT will assess your unique situation and design a personalized program targeting the root cause of your pain. Remember, we also offer Rx Massage to support your healing where you need it. Contact us today at 949-276-5401. For more tips, follow us on Instagram.

Reference: [https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/whats-going-on-with-my-kneecap]