Expert Insights on Performance & Recovery
Blood Flow Restriction Therapy: The Rehab Tool That Keeps Denver Athletes Strong While Injured
If you’ve been in our clinic, you may have noticed a few patients working out with what looks like a blood pressure cuff strapped to their arm or leg. It’s not a medical mystery, or some crazy new phenomenon, it’s blood flow restriction (BFR) therapy. It’s one of the many tools we leverage in helping people build back strength during their recovery.
Some label it world changing. Others call it diabolical.
Its true form is somewhere in between.
Why Traditional PT Didn’t Work for Me
Back in 2008, coming back from class after being enrolled in my engineering program at the University of Wisconsin - LaCrosse. I got done that day and couldn’t get past the thought of “I need to move.”
WTF is a Rotator Cuff?
Many people have heard of the rotator cuff and either have, or know someone who has, experienced an injury to it - but what is it exactly, and what does it do?
If you guessed that it has something to do with the shoulder, you are correct - but could you explain it further than that? After years of working with patients to rehab rotator cuff injuries and surgeries, I’ve learned that even people who have undergone rotator cuff repairs have little understanding of what it is or its importance. Let us enlighten you.
The Hardest Step in Chronic Pain
This past week, I had the privilege of sharing a long conversation with someone close to me about their chronic pain. The depth of it, the sincerity, the ground we covered felt too important not to share.
Know Pain, Know Gain – Transitioning from Rehab to High Level Performance
We have all heard the saying “No Pain, No Gain.” (If you haven’t then you just did!!).
How much does this mantra hold true? How much pain is okay to work through when recovering from an injury?
To make a long answer short, it depends – on the type of injury itself, the chronicity, and the severity. However, there is a general framework we follow in rehab that informs the timeline and expectations for return to certain activities.
The Runners Guide to ITB Syndrome
If you’ve ever dealt with ITB syndrome or been chasing it for months, the most common recommendation for management seen online is foam rolling until you cry, stretch it til it snaps, and take time off. You’ve done this, the pain is better….. but then you start running again and at mile three you feel it again. No you are not alone and no you are not unlucky.
You have been treating the smoke, not the fire.