Category Archives: Knee

Squats exercises

  Runner’s, triathletes and cyclists will often develop an asymmetry in their hip stability resulting in symptoms around the knee, hip or low back. Their chosen activity involves thousands of repetitions of the same motion so small differences in form can become cumulative and over time develop into an injury. Squats exercises and their variations are favourites and a valid part of most balanced training routines. They are frequently recommended as baseline strengthening for the lower limbs and with just a little attention to form  are also a great core strength … Read the rest of this post »

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Patellofemoral arthritis

From West 4th Physiotherapy associate Gretchen Mclennan… Now that we know it is in fact healthy for our knees to keep running (provided we are doing that correctly!), http://www.west4thphysio.com/archives/2784  here is some info about an often “forgotten joint” that will hopefully keep us all running and cycling painfree for a long time! Osteoarthritis in the knee is something most of us are either familiar with, or at least we’ve heard about it in some respect. But most of us think of OA happening at the main knee joint. This is … Read the rest of this post »

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Cycling knee injuries

Pop quiz. Which two areas of the body will a cyclist most frequently injure? If you went straight to low back and knees then full marks. Low back pain is more frequent but tends to recover more quickly. Knee pain last longer so if it was a competition I suppose knees take it. The majority of cyclists with knee pain will have a version of patellofemoral pain. The leading causes for irritating this incredibly efficient joint are • Improper bikefit • Early season overuse • Hip/pelvis muscle imbalance Any combination … Read the rest of this post »

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Running and your knees

From West 4th Physiotherapy associate and runner Dee Malinsky   “Running will wear your knees out” It is something of a popular opinion for non runners to share with their running friends.  The last couple of posts dealt with the impact on the body of running surfaces. You can quickly review them here. http://www.west4thphysio.com/archives/2780 – Running roads and trails http://www.west4thphysio.com/archives/2767 – Running on concrete But what does the evidence show for the long term effect of running on knee joints? Here are three happy (for runners) conclusions from recent studies/scientific reviews, all of … Read the rest of this post »

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Iliotibial band syndrome…the other “biker’s knee”

We tend to see iliotibial band problems with early season riders who don’t yet have their conditioning right and when hill climbing training is in full force. Cypress, Seymour and Baker here we come! It presents as pain on the outside of the knee and is the result of too much friction at the point the band crosses over at the outside bottom of the thigh bone(femur) with each of our 5400 pedal strokes per hour (at a cadence of 90). I never see this problem without their being associated … Read the rest of this post »

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Functional Sports Screen – a muscle balancing act

At the beginning of the season it is worthwhile doing a Functional Sports Screen before starting to ramp up your training. It involves testing critical sports motion patterns, required joint flexibility and necessary muscle strengths and lengths. Any deficiencies found put you at risk of injury as you increase your training. Using the results of your assessment, which is done by a physiotherapist, you can learn the specific areas you need to target to have the best chance of avoiding injury. Athletes who are engaged in high repetition sports tend … Read the rest of this post »

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Up hills and down

April/May here on the Left coast means the approach of Spring. Time for the keen hikers to get (even more) outside and start hitting their stride. With that in mind I was asked last week by a client who loves to hike how her aging knees were going to manage this year? And what is harder, going up hills or coming down? As usual, the devil is in the details. Going up hills you are doing more work so the aerobic system of the heart and lungs (cardiorespiratory system) get … Read the rest of this post »

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Can ACL tears be prevented?

The answer is yes.  I had the opportunity to listen to Carolyn Emory PT, PhD of University of Calgary speak at the Canadian Physiotherapy Congress in Whistler.  Her area of expertise is paediatric sport injuries, particularly, injury prevention.  Since ACL injuries are so common in soccer (an average of 25% of 15 year old female soccer players per season), it is an area that has been extensively studied. Researchers have identified key risk factors and, have been able to demonstrate success in preventing injuries, by giving exercises to address them. … Read the rest of this post »

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Knee osteoarthritis and physiotherapy – part 3

Osteoarthritis of the knee What does recent physiotherapy research tell us? I just returned from Amsterdam where I attended the World Physiotherapy Congress. I was fortunate to be able to present a poster of my Master’s research to a large international audience.  I previously summarized and posted my whiplash related master’s research on the West 4th Physiotherapy blog, http://www.west4thphysio.com/archives/645 so in this post I decided to focus on summarizing some of the most interesting research presentations I attended which focused on osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. What exercise can I … Read the rest of this post »

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Knee osteoarthritis – part 2

This is a follow on from my last post and my time at the World Congress of Physiotherapy held in Amsterdam earlier this year. Is running bad for knee cartilage?  Can it cause knee OA? Ans Van Ginckel, a research physiotherapist from Ghent University in Belgium and her colleagues compared the changes in thickness of knee cartilage in 9 previously sedentary young women (20-40 y) who participated in a 10 week, 5 km beginners running program, with 10 sedentary controls.  Thicker cartilage is generally desirable as it is better able … Read the rest of this post »

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Osteoarthritis of the knee and physiotherapy – Part 1

Osteoarthritis of the knee What does recent physiotherapy research tell us? I just returned from Amsterdam where I attended the World Physiotherapy Congress. I was fortunate to be able to present a poster of my Master’s research to a large international audience.  I previously summarized and posted my whiplash related master’s research on the West 4th Physiotherapy blog, http://www.west4thphysio.com/archives/645 so in this post I decided to focus on summarizing some of the most interesting research presentations I attended which focused on osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. Can osteoarthritis be prevented … Read the rest of this post »

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Bike fitting in the clinic

I had a trip up to Kelowna this past weekend to participate in a professional seminar on bike fitting. The sport of road cycling continues to grow for various reasons. Always popular in the past, it is now attracting a large group of people who don’t feel inclined to do a lot of running anymore but want to continue to be physically active. Plus, you get to go really fast! With the success of  events such as the Grand Fondo, The Ride to Conquer Cancer and increasing membership in cycling clubs throughout … Read the rest of this post »

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