People often wonder whether they can exercise with shoulder arthritis. The answer is YES…but with a few items to keep in mind. First off, just what really is shoulder arthritis. Well, arthritis is just another name for age-related changes. So, if you live long enough you will have some. But whether it causes pain or impacts daily function is rather individual. Some will have pain, but others will not. So it is not something to stress about. Next, know that arthritis will not necessarily worsen with activity. That is a common misconception. It is one that keeps many from being active. Activity ..read more

Many people wonder, just what is a frozen shoulder. Well, a frozen shoulder is the less technical name for adhesive capsulitis. Put another way, it is a tightening up of the shoulder capsule which results in reduced motion and often pain. There are 3 phases to a frozen shoulder. Freezing phase: In this phase a person begins to lose shoulder range of motion. When a person reaches the restricted range it may be associated with some amount of pain. They will also likely have pain trying to sleep on the affected shoulder. For some, the pain may be more constant. This stage can last for several mo ..read more

Many people wonder if surgery is necessary for a rotator cuff tear? Five or even ten years ago the answer would be a resounding YES, but not so much anymore. Presently, researchers are suggesting that there are those who will be just fine rehabbing. So, the next question is how do we know who may need surgery vs not? The answer to that question will depend on a host of factors. For starters, was there a traumatic shoulder injury such as a fall or dislocation? If there is the potential for other injury to structures beyond the rotator cuff, rehab might not be as successful alone. Conversely, if ..read more

Outside of the hip/leg/knee pain is often associated with IT band pain. The iliotibial band (IT band) is a line of connective tissue on the outside of the thigh running from the hip to the knee. It helps to “connect” the muscles on the front of the leg with the back. It is a rather dense fibrous tissue that does not stretch – it has been tested in the lab. Now knowing the tissue that is irritated is one thing, but how to solve the problem is another. One of the most often remedies attempted is to roll out or stretch the IT band. But as mentioned above it does not stretch. You can try but it wi ..read more

Who out there is excited about a knee replacement? Probably very few so most folks want to know how to avoid a knee replacement. The answer? Start working now. Be proactive in your late 30s, 40s, or 50s. Try not to wait until pain really starts to limit your life and activities. BUT that is not how most people act, so let’s discuss what to do when those knees begin to be troublesome. There are some key signs to be on the lookout for to know when it is time to get moving. What are those signs? When it starts to be an effort getting up from a chair. When walking up steps becomes work, and you ha ..read more

Many people with Knee OA wonder if it is still safe to exercise. The answer is an absolute YES. But many ask this question because they were told by their doctor or Dr. Google that exercise will worsen knee arthritis. So let’s further discuss more specifics on this topic. Squatting with knee OA Are you going to make your arthritis worse? The answer is a resounding no. Knee arthritis or knee OA is a slow progressive condition that is really part of normal aging. Just in some folks the process moves a little faster…and impacts daily activities more quickly. Exercise will not worse arthritis, b ..read more

Have you been told you have a meniscus tear and now do not know what to do? Is surgery the best option or can it be avoided? Are you going to make it worse if you opt to avoid surgery? These are all great questions and you probably have more, so now let’s discuss. Is surgery necessary? Not necessarily. You may be thinking but if something is torn doesn’t it need to be fixed or removed? But the answer is not always. The data on this issue is starting to skew away from surgery. Up until more recently, if a person was discovered to have a meniscus tear it was addressed by either shaving out the ..read more

For those with chronic back troubles many wonder why back pain keeps coming back? It is a great question and one with a not so simple answer. Let’s begin with a little bit of background here. Based on statistics a person has an 80% chance of back pain at any point in their life. Then of that 80% who have had back pain, 90% of them will have at least 1 more recurrence. So those numbers are rather high. What the data does not say is how long or severe a person’s symptoms will be. Based on the data, we know that there is a high probably of back pain coming back. But the real question is WHY? As u ..read more

Middle aged people with back pain often want to know what does having Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD) mean for them being active? The answer really should be very little but often is more of an it depends situation. So let me explain further. Degenerative disc disease is simply normal age-related changes. Though few are satisfied with age-related changes, so they decided to give it a negative sounding name. Basically, anyone over the age of 40 will show evidence of this. And most are able to be active without any hint of pain. But then there are those who happen to have pain. These folks will ..read more

Do you feel that spinal stenosis slowing you down? Do you experience pain or numbness and tingling with standing and walking that is relieved rapidly upon sitting? Is it hard to walk any distance at all now? Do you feel you can only walk if you are hunched over? If you answered YES to any of these questions then it is probably well past time to do something about it. But I did not think there was anything that could be done about spinal stenosis? Well, there is nothing that could be done with respect to the age-related changes in the spine other than surgery, but who is excited about that. And ..read more