INERTIA: A Therapist's Thoughts

INERTIA - Archive

3/28/2012

Spring Break

We recently had a little Spring Break here at the Sports Medicine Center. No, we didn't head off to Florida for some fun in the sun. This is the time of the year we host our annual Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin Sports Medicine Symposium.

It was a great two days of continuing education from some great guest speakers. This year's lecturers included Dr. Elizabeth Arendt from the University of Minnesota, Dr. Robert Dimeff from the University of Texas, Southwestern, and Paul Reuteman, a physical therapist and athletic trainer from the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. Combined with our own staff presentations, a lot of great information was offered to a large number of attendees this year.

A good portion of the sessions dealt with hip and knee pain, which is something that we see in the clinic on a regular basis. As always, we were able to come away with some very practical tips on treatment to better address these issues with our patients. I have already been able to incorporate some of the exercises into my patients' programs with good results.

As with other spring breaks, it's great to get back in the clinic more energized with new information and ideas. I'm already looking forward to next year's symposium.

Posted 11:18 AM

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Time to get the upper extremities involved in the "Exercises I Love" series. We treat a lot of shoulder injuries in the Sports Medicine Center, so I want to make sure to include some of the exercises that I use a lot for these injuries also.

Prone Scapular Strengthening

Some call these “Y,” “I” and “T” exercises, and I understand that I am kind of cheating adding three exercises into one here, but they go together well and I usually give them out all at once. Most people do not address the posterior shoulder stabilizers with workouts, and combining that with poor posture, leads to weakness around the shoulder blade. I hate to say all, but I’m pretty sure that all of my patients with shoulder issues get these exercises (or some variation) as part of their home program.

Prone Extension

Lie on stomach with involved arm hanging off the table. Set shoulder blades back and hold position. In a thumb-up position, slowly raise your arm behind you to table height keeping your elbow straight.

Prone Shoulder Abduction

Lie on stomach with the involved arm hanging off the table. Keeping the elbow straight, pull the shoulder blades back and hold. In a thumb-out position, slowly lift arm sideways to table height and maintain the retracted position as you return to the starting position.

Prone Shoulder Flexion

Lie on stomach with the involved arm hanging off the table. Keeping the elbow straight, pull the shoulder blades backward and hold. Slowly lift arm forward to table height and maintain the retracted position as you return to the starting position.