Category Archives: Cover Story
August 2019
Pregnancy Changes the Body: Here’s What That Means for Gait, Balance, and Falls
About a quarter of women fall during pregnancy and 10% fall more than once. Understanding the biomechanical changes of this transitional period may help researchers find ways to prevent such falls. When Robert Catena’s wife was pregnant and working at a restaurant, she fell. It was scary, he says, but everything was ok.
By Nicole Wetsman Continue reading
July 2019
Wounded Warrior Workforce Enhancement Legislation Introduced as Georgia Tech Deactivates MSPO Program
Will Congress act to provide for the ongoing care of America’s wounded warriors? The unfortunate truth: The need for prosthetic and orthotic (P&O) care is growing in this country, thanks, in part, to events on the other side of the globe—namely, unconventional warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan, although uncontrolled cardiovascular disease and diabetes continue to each play their devastating role.
By Keith Loria and Janice T. Radak Continue reading
May 2019
PRACTICAL MATTER FOR CLINICIANS: Women Are Biomechanically Distinct From Men When They Run
Learn how men and women are constructed differently—and therefore why they each have a distinctive running gait—to be better equipped to manage, and prevent, female-specific lower-extremity sports injury. Starting at puberty, sex hormones begin to affect changes in bone and lean body mass—changes that are different in females than in males.
By Ray M. Fredericksen M.S. C-PED Continue reading
April 2019
Is There a Sprain–Brain Connection That Leads to Chronic Injury?
Research shows that ankle health plays a role in the recruitment of the muscles around it. Millions of people sprain their ankles each year, from athletes to weekend warriors to vacationers stepping off the curb wrong. The injury is common, and for most people, treatable with ice, painkillers, and rest.
By Nicole Wetsman Continue reading
March 2019
How Mountain Biking Is Reshaping the Landscape of Cycling Injury
Differences in equipment, terrain, riding style, and other risk factors mean different types and prevalence of injuries when riding a mountain bike, compared to a road bike. Be prepared to see those differences in your practice. Over the past several decades, mountain biking has become remarkably popular as a competitive and recreational activity.
By Michael Reeder, Do, And Brent Alumbaugh, MS Continue reading
February 2019
Type 2 Diabetes in Youth: A 21st Century Disorder
As obesity and overweight affect more adolescents, this disease, once attributed to middle age and older, is striking an aggressive course that all clinicians will need to address. With the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity and with 18.5% (or 13.7 million) of youth already being obese,1 type 2 diabetes (T2D) in youth is becoming an important part of every healthcare practitioner’s daily practice.
By Neil H. White, MD Continue reading
January 2019
3D Printing Is Changing the Footwear Game
The increasing cost effectiveness of 3D printing sets the stage for disrupting a decades-old process for making orthotics – No doubt: The advent of 3-dimensional (3D) printing technology has had a major impact on the field of medicine.
By Keith Loria and Janice T. Radak Continue reading
January 2019
Digital Process + Technology + Podiatric Expertise = The Future of Orthotics
New partnership puts streamlined manufacturing process in the podiatrist’s office. Three-dimensional (3D) printing has shown promise in improving medical device manufacture, but cost-effectiveness and seamless manufacturing processes have kept it from becoming mainstream. All that is about to change.
By Keith Loria Continue reading
January 2019
An Interview From NY19 Podiatric Clinical Conference
8sole Makes US Debut – “We created an orthotics toolbox for doctors,” said Pavel Repisky, a partner at 8sole, the newest 3D player in the US orthotics market. On the touchscreen monitor in front of him is the page the company believes sets them apart from other 3D providers…
By Janice T. Radak Continue reading
November 2018
Vexing Question: How Soon Should Patients Drive After Lower-Extremity Surgery?
The answer doesn’t come easily; official guidelines are lacking. Ultimately, patients bear responsibility for the decision, but you can still offer them valuable advice for keeping safe. “Doctor, when can I start driving again?” That’s a common question patients ask when they’re headed for lower-extremity surgery. But it’s not always an easy one to answer.
By Keith Loria Continue reading
September 2018
Diabetes, Its Impact, and Protection of the Diabetic Foot
Offloading is key to preventing small concerns from becoming life-threatening, but adherence remains less than optimal. The not-so-secret truth: diabetes and its precursor, prediabetes, have reached epidemic status in the United States: More than 100 million Americans are living with the disease.
By Janice T. Radak Continue reading
August 2018
Slip, Trip, Stumble, Fall: An Overview of Falls in the Elderly and How to Prevent Them
When 88-year-old Doris fell getting out of the bathtub late on a Tuesday in the apartment she shared with her 90-year-old husband of 65 years, the ambulance took her to the hospital. As suspected, she had broken her right hip, which was surgically corrected Wednesday morning…
By Janice T. Radak Continue reading
July 2018
Stress Fractures Of the Foot in Football
High-impact sports expose athletes to greater risk of injury overall. Is there a way to prevent such trauma by applying the lessons of sports science? Stress fractures of the foot result from repetitive microtraumas and chronic submaximal loading of tissues. Among football players, the most common are the Jones fracture, a break in the fifth metatarsal between the base and the middle, and the…
By D. Chris Cothern PT, CES, PES Continue reading
June 2018
Ankle-foot orthoses and functional electrical stimulation for foot drop in MS: Pluses, minuses, progress
Assistive ambulation devices for the ankle can bolster walking speed and safety and lessen the risk of injury to the joint. But which of 2 technologies is best for your patient?
By Hank Black Continue reading
May 2018
Hamstring: Trends in preventing and treating hamstring-strain injuries
High relapse rate from preseason injuries presents significant challenge for athletes and sports teams. Hamstring strain injuries are among the most common in sports, often leading to recurring problems or future injury. Marcus Elliott, director of P3 Applied Sports Science and a former muscle-injury specialist for the National Football League’s New England Patriots, conducted…
By Keith Loria Continue reading
April 2018
Limb Salvage or Amputation of the Diabetic Foot?
The decision often hinges on how a given intervention will affect the patient’s quality of life. How, then, to define optimal QoL for your patient, and to agree on the means to achieve it? As clinicians well know, diabetes puts patients at risk of foot ulcers that can lead to poor outcomes, evidenced by the 40% 5-year mortality in patients with newly diagnosed diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs).
By Cary Groner Continue reading
March 2018
What role for eccentric exercises in conservative treatment of achilles tendinopathy
The authors seek answers to clinical questions regarding the optimal program of eccentric exercises: Does type of tendinopathy predict success? What modifications to exercise duration and repetitions make sense? What is the likelihood of long-term pain relief afforded by such a program of exercise?
By Jonathan L. Hook, DPM, MHA, and Curt Martini, DPM Continue reading
February 2018
Assessing Limb Length Discrepancy
Leg-length discrepancy and its sequelae are best considered a syndrome affecting many regions of the body through the closed kinetic chain. Most cases require comprehensive, cross-disciplinary treatment. The authors present a novel scoring system for diagnosis.
By Jay Segel, DPM; Susan Sanford, PT, L.Ac, C.SMA; Sally Crawford, MS; and Lori Yarrow, DC, BPE Continue reading
January 2018
Patellofemoral pain: More activity means more pain — and then less activity?
People with PFP are less physically active than healthy controls, with regard to both steps per day and minutes of mild, moderate, and intense activity. Increases in activity-related pain may cause…
By Neal R. Glaviano, PhD, AT, ATC; Andrea Baellow, MS; and Susan Saliba, PhD, MPT, Med Continue reading
November 2017
BRAINS, SPRAINS, AND CHRONIC PAIN: Concussion consequences may include osteoarthritis
As a growing number of studies report associations between concussion and musculoskeletal injury risk, new research suggests concussed athletes may also have an increased risk of osteoarthritis later in life.
By Robert C. Lynall, PhD, ATC; Timothy C. Mauntel, PhD, ATC; David R. Howell, PhD, ATC; and Thomas A. Buckley, EdD, ATC Continue reading
October 2017
HANDLE WITH CARE: How sports equipment affects biomechanics and injury risk
Clinicians know that handling a lacrosse stick or other types of sport-specific equipment can affect an athlete’s movement patterns in potentially harmful ways. Now researchers are beginning to quantify these types of effects and explore their clinical implications.
By Jill R. Dorson Continue reading
September 2017
Running shoes and injury risk: Rethinking the importance of cushioning and pronation
In spite of advancements in research and subsequent modifications to running footwear design, rates of running-related injuries have not decreased. That may be because researchers and designers have been focusing on the wrong variables.
By Joseph Hamill, PhD, and Gillian Weir, PhD Continue reading
August 2017
Flip Flops: Biomechanical critiques resonate with clinicians and designers
It’s no secret by now that traditional flimsy flip flops are associated with gait alterations that can contribute to more serious issues, but for many patients, flip flops are a hard habit to break. A new generation of “comfort” flip flops offers an alternative, but clinicians remain wary.
By Shalmali Pal Continue reading
July 2017
Tactical athletes: Maximizing their ability to protect and serve
Increasingly, clinicians and researchers are focusing on tactical athletes—including warfighters, firefighters, law enforcement officers, and other professionals—as a unique population with regard to lower extremity injuries.
By Hank Black Continue reading
June 2017
Slacklining: Trendy sport takes balance training to new heights
As slacklining’s popularity grows, researchers have begun to uncover physiological and neurological evidence for how and why the activity may be beneficial to people with balance, strength, and mobility issues.
By Brigid Elsken Galloway Continue reading
