Does your brain think you’re ready to return to sports after your ACL surgery?
Readiness for return to sports activity after ACL surgery depends on many factors. We like to see evidence from our physical exam that the graft is properly healed, motion is back to normal, and strength is nearly normal. My partners at Stanford and I also place a lot of emphasis on normalized landing mechanics and other movement-based measurements. And another area we like to consider is whether the athlete herself/himself feels ready to return to sports. It turns out the psychological readiness is a bigger factor than we’ve realized.
Chances are you’ve heard of a young athlete with an unstable shoulder. And chances are that you’ve never heard of a surgical procedure called a “remplissage”. This unusual French name indicates a surgical procedure in which soft tissue is tacked down to the back of the shoulder inside the joint. It’s becoming increasingly popular as part of shoulder stabilization surgery for the young athlete, and is well worth a discussion with the surgeon.
One of the toughest decisions in youth sports is determining when a player who has suffered an injury is ready to return to action. It’s very easy to get caught up in the moment of competition and perhaps put an injured player back in the game before he or she is really ready. The emphasis on the sideline should always be directed towards athlete or child safety.
In today’s post we’ll share some tips on how to evaluate a player pregame, in-game, and introduce you to our new app to help you with the “go” or “no-go” decision.
Over the last several years baseball pitching at all levels from professionals to youth leagues has become increasingly dependent on pitch velocity and power.According to Pitch/FX data, the average fastball velocity in MLB has gone up each year since tracking began in 2008, from 90.9 MPH to 93.2 MPH in 2017.
This intense focus on pitch velocity has resulted in the development of several speed enhancement programs.One of the most popular forms of speed enhancement programs utilizes underweight and overweight baseballs.In spite of the intense interest in this area there is very little high quality evidence that we can lean on. At this time we simply don’t have the answer to whether weighted baseball training programs are safe or effective.
It would be great if we could take a young baseball player and be able to accurately predict arm injury risk for that player. If we could identify specific factors we could take steps proactively to prevent injury. A recently published study shows that we are closer to being able to identify cause and effect for elbow injuries in young baseball players but still need quite a bit more data to conclusively show cause and effect for shoulder injuries.
The repetitive nature of running means that runners are unfortunately at risk for a number of overuse running injuries. The most common injuries include patellofemoral pain (PFP), iliotibial band syndrome (ITBS), shin splints or medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS), Achilles tendonitis (AT), plantar fasciitis, stress fractures, and muscle strains.
A high percentage of runners with these injuries will unfortunately stop running permanently due to the injuries. While there are many factors that may contribute to the development of an overuse injury, a recently published biomechanical study supports the idea that strong hips- especially the hip abductors/glutes- are keys to pain free running.
Parents and coaches of young athletes generally have a sense that injuries happen more frequently in the teenage years than they did when the players were younger. A recently published scientific study following young male soccer players at an elite Dutch soccer academy shows that the injury risk is quite high.
In this well conducted study the researchers found a substantially higher injury burden in the U16 (48%), U15 (28%), and U17 (21%) age groups compared to the mean. The six months following peak height velocity were identified as the riskiest time period. Coaches of male players in these age groups should pay particular attention to training load, early intervention for injury, and proper monitoring of return to play.
What if it was possible to repair the torn ACL by using stitches rather than replacing it with tissue removed from another area in the body? This is attractive as it would theoretically lead to an easier rehab, and avoid possible injury to the growth plates in adolescents. However, a recently published study showed a 49% failure rate at 3 years, compared to a 5% failure rate for traditional ACL reconstruction. This is an unacceptably high failure rate, and ACL repair with stitches is not advised for young athletes.
By Dev K. Mishra, M.D. President, Sideline Sports Doc Clinical Assistant Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, Stanford University Key Points: High intensity interval training (HIIT) is an extremely time-efficient way to build cardiovascular fitness Many people with orthopedic or medical impairments are scared off by the words “high” and “intensity” but should not be afraid- everything…
“Wear and tear” of the cartilage in a joint is a common issue, especially in active people as they age. This type of arthritis is called osteoarthritis. As the cartilage wears away, it becomes frayed and rough, and the joint space between the bones decreases. This can result in bone rubbing on bone.
Osteoarthritis develops slowly and the pain it causes worsens over time. If you are an active person in your 40s or 50s and you have hip arthritis you’ve traditionally had a limited number of options. You could modify activity, lose weight, maintain proper exercise, or take medication. And when all else fails you could consider surgery.
A “total hip replacement” is an outstanding operation for individuals with hip arthritis, but the problem is that it’s not recommended for younger people. Also, almost all surgeons recommend against high-impact activity after a total hip replacement. And that’s where hip resurfacing enters the picture. This procedure may offer the chance to save the athletic life of the very active adult with hip arthritis.
