Physical Therapy Clinic Spokane Blog
Top 3 Priorities AFTER Total Knee Replacement (TKR) Surgery
If you’ve just had Total Knee Replacement (TKR) surgery, you’re now in what we call the “post-surgical” or “post-op” phase of your recovery.
This can be a busy time, between follow up appointments with your knee surgeon, physical therapy appointments, and trying to rest and recover.
With that in mind, there are 3 things you want to prioritize during this period:
->> Keep your pain and swelling down
->> Increase your flexibility (aka “range of motion”)
->> Increase your quad muscle activation
If you can focus on these 3 priorities in the first 4 weeks after your total knee replacement surgery, you’ll have a much better chance at making a full recovery.
Inversion Tables! Do they work for Back Pain & Sciatica? And how do I use one? (2 videos)
One of the most common questions I get from our clients with chronic lower back pain, as well as those experiencing sciatica, is whether or not using an inversion table will help ease their pain.
The answer to that question depends largely on one key factor: the Root Cause of their back pain (and/or their sciatic nerve pain).
For example, clients with degenerative types of back pain, such as degenerative disc disease (DDD), degenerative joint disease (DJD) and stenosis tend to do really well with using an inversion table.
That’s because the underlying cause of the pain has to do with too much compression of the spine.
And, when you decompress the spine by using an inversion table, the lower back pain often improves.
Other types of back pain (and nerve root compression) may not respond as positively to inversion.
So how do you know if you should try an inversion table for your back pain (and/or for your sciatic nerve pain)?
Piriformis Syndrome – What Is It? Plus 3 Simple Piriformis Stretches
“Piriformis Syndrome” refers to irritation of your piriformis muscle, which is located deep in your buttocks, beneath larger muscles like your gluteus maximus.
I affectionately refer to this issue as a “pain in the butt”… and for good reason!
That’s because most people with an irritated piriformis muscle explain it as pain localized in one of their buttocks.
However, in addition to localized pain in the buttocks, people with piriformis syndrome can also experience “sciatica” or sciatic nerve pain, which causes pain shooting down the back of the leg.
Today’s blog post features 2 videos about piriformis syndrome…
In the first video, I’ll explain what the piriformis muscle is, how it gets irritated, and how it can cause sciatic nerve pain (aka “sciatica”).
Eccentric Strengthening for “Rotator Cuff Tendinosis” (Shoulder Pain)
If you’ve seen any of my videos about “tendinosis” in general, you’ve probably heard me say how doing “eccentric strengthening” is an important part of the healing process.
Tendinosis in the rotator cuff muscles is a very common cause of shoulder pain.
On an MRI report, it will be described as things like “supraspinatus tendinosis” or “infraspinatus tendinosis”.
If you’re looking for a simple and effective way to perform eccentric strengthening for “Rotator Cuff Tendinosis”, I’ll show you the best way to do so at home.
4 Videos on Shoulder Pain & the Rotator Cuff
Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of questions from clients at the clinic and people online about some common conditions related to shoulder pain and the rotator cuff.
This includes questions about certain key terms, including the following:
– Supraspinatus
– Infraspinatus
– Tendinosis
– Impingement
Those first 3 terms are very common on MRI reports. For example, if you’ve had an MRI for your shoulder pain, the report may have found that you have “moderate tendinosis” of the “supraspinatus” muscle… or maybe you have “mild tendinosis” of the “infraspinatus” muscle.
Since these terms are so common, and they aren’t exactly self-explanatory, I just made a new round of videos to explain these terms. Check them out!
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Gordon Physical Therapy - Spokane Valley, WA
626 North Mullan Road #4, Spokane Valley, WA 99206
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