Pain in the hips and low back are common reasons people visit doctors and physical therapists. These professionals are often tasked with identifying a cause for the pain. Unfortunately, in many cases their explanations are unjustified, oversimplified, unhelpful, or simply wrong. In this article we will discuss a common explanation for pain in these regions: …
Does SI Joint Movement Cause Hip and Low Back Pain? Read More »
You rolled your ankle, whether it be in a pick-up basketball game, stepping awkwardly off the platform, or performing your best interpretive dance of Kenny Loggins’ “Danger Zone”. The ankle is now swollen, painful, and you are wondering what to do next. This article will provide a guide to return to doing the things you …
In part one of this article series we discussed terminology, incidence, and the implications of spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis. In this second and final installment, we’ll discuss returning to training, sport, and competition. The majority of Barbell Medicine readers dealing with back pain or who have been diagnosed with spondy are likely concerned about returning to …
Training With A “Spondy” Part II: Returning To Activity Read More »
Spondylolysis or spondylolisthesis are two intimidating words that are often described as representing a “broken back”. These aren’t words anyone wants to hear when experiencing back pain. Doctors and physical therapists often provide complicated and ominous-sounding explanations, such as a “fracture of the pars interarticularis”. From the start there is so much complexity in this …
Training with a “Spondy” Part I: Introduction & General Concepts Read More »
So you’re experiencing pain in your heel. It’s especially painful when you take your first few steps out of bed in the morning and limits your usual activities. This article will explain what is going on, why it may have developed, and what you can do to feel better. We will provide actionable steps to …
The efficacy of placebo in enhancing performance is as well established as it is multifactorial. Geers 2014 This presents a paradox of a placebo being an inert substance, yet still having an effect on performance. A movement has recently transpired to move away from the term “placebo effect” and toward “contextual factors” to address apparent …
Today we’ll be wrapping up our hip pain series with the familiar topic of osteoarthritis, and summarize some practical take-home points at the end (see previous parts 1 ,2, 3, and 4). For an in-depth discussion on osteoarthritis in general, we have a full-length article here, but this article will focus specifically on the hip. …
The Hip Part V: Osteoarthritis, Joint Replacements, and Conclusions Read More »
In our last article we discussed how to manage muscle injuries of the hamstrings, groin (adductors), hip flexors, and quadriceps. Today we’ll move on to discuss hip pain that is attributed to the “Femoroacetabular Impingement Syndrome”. Background Femoroacetabular Impingement Syndrome (FAIS) is a common diagnosis given to individuals with hip pain. While the diagnosis has …
Training With Hip Pain Part IV: Femoroacetabular Impingement Syndrome Read More »
In the first two installments of this article series we discussed the science of hip pain and management strategies. In this article, we’ll discuss the topic of muscle injuries – these are colloquially known as a “muscle strains”, but that term is a better description of the mechanism of the injury than a description of …
In the first article of this series we provided an introduction to the hip, discussing anatomy as well as ideas about “normal” versus “abnormal” findings of the hip. Today we will move on to discuss the first of our common diagnostic categories for hip pain: Tendinopathy. For a general overview on tendinopathy, start HERE. For …
