Since the World Cup is on everyone’s mind these days, we thought it would be only fitting to make you aware of a crucial paper published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine which analyzed score-celebration injuries among soccer players.

The authors of the study observed professional and amateur soccer players over the course of two seasons, looking at the incidence and nature of injuries sustained by players during their goal celebrations. Over the study period, 152 players were evaluated for injuries sustained in matches. Of these, 6% (9 players) sustained injuries during their goal celebrations. The pertinent findings were as follows…

7 of the 9 players were male and their average age was between 17 and 29.
The injuries happened on real grass in 8 of the 9 cases.
Most injuries occurred in the second half.
Sliding injuries (on the stomach, back or knees) accounted for 5 cases.
Piling up or over-excited teammates were the other major cause.
Injuries included fractures to the ankle, clavicle and rib. Other injuries included knee ligament sprain, lower back strain, and lower limb muscular strains.
Perhaps the most interesting statistic is that the average recovery time for these injuries was 6.2 weeks! Perhaps enough reason to take it easy when celebrating a goal!

References

Zeren B, Oztekin HH. Score-celebration injuries among soccer players. The American Journal of Sports Medicine 2005; 33(8): 1237-1240.

Disclaimer
The purpose of this blog is to educate patients and those interested in improving their health and wellbeing. We recommend that you always consult with a qualified health care professional before applying any of the topics or suggestions mentioned on this website. This information is not intended to diagnose or treat your condition. Our chiropractic clinics in Burlington, Dr. McIntyre or Dr. McDowall accept no responsibility for any complications arising from the use of any suggestions, exercises or topics of discussion on this site. Should you have any further questions about these topics please contact our chiropractics clinic in Burlington.

Whiplash injury is a condition that involves damage to both the muscles and joints in the neck after it has been “whipped” backwards.  Most commonly associated with rear-end motor vehicle collisions, whiplash is a common yet often complicated condition to resolve.  Due to this, a great deal of literature has been published on whiplash and different pieces of the puzzle are slowly being put together. 

The cervical facet joint is a joint at the back of the neck that compresses together when the head is extended (like the motion of whiplash).  To challenge the right facet joint, we turn the head to the right and extend the neck backward. Likewise, to challenge the left facet joints, we would turn the head to the left and extend the neck backward.  A recent study published in the journal Spine investigated the affect of having your head turned when rear-ended and whether or not that made injury to the facet joints (whiplash) worse. Perhaps predictable, this study indeed found that a head-turned posture increases the facet joint injury associated with whiplash.  Unfortunately, it is common for drivers to turn their head to the right and look out the rear-view mirror a split second before an impending collision.  Of course, we hope that none of us are ever in this situation, but in the unfortunate event of a rear-end collision remember to keep your head straight! 

Our Burlington Chiropractic and Physiotherapy Clinic treats many patients with injuries that stem from car accidents.  If you’ve been in a car accident it is very important to get examined and diagnosed as quickly as possible.  Call or email our clinic today to have your whiplash injury examined by one of our doctors. 

References

Lord SM, Barnsley L, Wallis BJ et al. Chronic cervical zygapophysial joint pain after whiplash. A placebo controlled prevalence study. Spine 1996; 21: 1737-44.

Siegmund GP, Davis MB, Quinn KP et al. Head turned postures increase the risk of cervical facet capsule injury during whiplash. Spine 2008; 33(15): 1643-1649.

Sturzenegger M, Radanov BP, Distefano G. The effect of accident mechanisms and initial findings on the long term course of whiplash injury. Neurology. 1995; 242:443-9.

Disclaimer
The purpose of this blog is to educate patients and those interested in improving their health and wellbeing. We recommend that you always consult with a qualified health care professional before applying any of the topics or suggestions mentioned on this website. This information is not intended to diagnose or treat your condition. Our chiropractic clinic in Burlington, Dr. McIntyre or Dr. McDowall accept no responsibility for any complications arising from the use of any suggestions, exercises or topics of discussion on this site. Should you have any further questions about these topics please contact our chiropractic clinic in Burlington.

Laser therapy has been used in clinical practice for the treatment of musculoskeletal injuries for over 26 years. As with other healthcare applications utilizing laser technology, knowledge of this modality has grown considerably since its inception.  A recent study published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine examined the usefulness of low intensity laser therapy for the treatment of achilles tendon injury. A significant difference was found between the treatment group and the placebo group, with the laser patients healing much faster.  Specifically, the laser group achieved the same level of healing in 4 weeks that the placebo group achieved in 12 weeks. (Eccentric strengthening of the tendon was given to both study groups since this has been established in the literature as beneficial for overuse tendon injuries). For those readers seeking a viable treatment approach for their Achilles tendon injury, this recent research supports an approach combining low intensity laser therapy and eccentric exercise.

From a practitioner standpoint, this paper provides some other useful information. The success of laser therapy for various injuries largely depends on the settings chosen by the practitioner.  A longer, more intense setting is not necessarily better.  Through clinical trials like this one, it has been discovered that the use of certain lower settings for tendon injuries will benefit the patient more.  Perhaps another example of how scientific evidence can guide practitioners and patients in choosing the best treatments available.  If you have an achilles injury (achilles tendinopathy, achilles tendinosis, achilles tendonitis, achilles rupture, achilles tendon pain) call or email our clinic right away…we can help!

References

Stergioulas A, Stergioula M, Aarskog R et al. Effects of low-level laser therapy and eccentric exercise in the treatment of recreational athletes with chronic achilles tendinopathy. The American Journal of Sports Medicine 2008: 36(5); 881-887.

World Association for Laser Therapy (WALT). Laser dosage recommendations. Available at http://www.walt.nu/dosage-recommendations.html

Disclaimer
The purpose of this blog is to educate patients and those interested in improving their health and wellbeing. We recommend that you always consult with a qualified health care professional before applying any of the topics or suggestions mentioned on this website. This information is not intended to diagnose or treat your condition. Our chiropractic clinics in Burlington, Dr. McIntyre or Dr. McDowall accept no responsibility for any complications arising from the use of any suggestions, exercises or topics of discussion on this site. Should you have any further questions about these topics please contact our chiropractics clinic in Burlington.

The Q-Angle (quadricep angle) is a measurement used by many health care practitioners to assess patello-femoral alignment. It is often mentioned in running magazines and on different websites because of its apparent ability to identify those persons at risk of certain knee injuries. But is it a valid measurement tool?

The basic premise of the Q-Angle is that a higher angle (such as what might be expected in women with a wider pelvis) would affect the way that the patella (knee-cap) lines up with the lower limb. Some practitioners use it to identify those patients at risk of patella-femoral injury. According to the scientific literature though, the Q-Angle is a measurement which over-simplifies knee biomechanics. It only examines a person in one plane of reference (like a two-dimensional object) and does not take into account the complex forces that occur during running, walking and jumping. Numerous publications in very reputable journals have scrutinized its ability to accurately identify those people at risk of injury. Despite this, many practitioners continue to use it and many magazine articles and websites continue to present it as reliable. Perhaps again, an example of something that’s popular but not validated by science.

As always, we do our best to bring you the most current and accurate information both in our clinic and on our website. References are provided below. We encourage your questions or comments!! Want more? Sign up for our complimentary email feed (on the right of the page) which gets sent out every two weeks.

References

Duffey MJ, Martin DF, Cannon DW et al. Etiologic factors associated with anterior knee pain in distance runners. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2000; 32: 1825-1832.

Nguyen AD, Boling MC, Levine B, Shultz SJ. Relationships between lower extremity alignment and the quadriceps angle. Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine. 2009; 19(3): 201-206.

Thomee R, Renstrom P, Karlsson J et al. Patellofemoral pain syndrome in young women. A clinical analysis of alignment, pain parameters, common symptoms and functional activity level. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 1995; 5: 237-244.

Witvrouw E, Lysens R, Bellemans J et al. Intrinsic risk factors for the development of anterior knee pain in an athletic population. A two-year prospective study. American Journal of Sports Medicine 2000; 28: 480-489.

Disclaimer
The purpose of this blog is to educate our patients and those interested in improving their health and wellbeing. We recommend that you always consult with a qualified health care professional before applying any of the topics or suggestions mentioned on this website. This information is not intended to diagnose or treat your condition. Burlington Sports Therapy, Dr. McIntyre or Dr. McDowall accept no responsibility for any complications arising from the use of any suggestions, exercises or topics of discussion on this site.

Our bones are constantly remodeling, a balance between the cells that breakdown and the cells that rebuild bone.  When we place excessive demands on an area (from something like excessive running or walking) there can be a net balance of bone breakdown, which can result in a stress fracture.  A stress fracture is a painful bone injury that can affect anyone.  Common with runners and military personnel, stress fractures are most frequent in the lower extremity.  Specifically, the metatarsals (small bones in the foot) and the tibia (the bone in our leg below the knee) are common sites.  X-ray is often the first step in diagnosing a stress fracture.  Unfortunately, it is not the most sensitive tool for detection.  The literature suggests that on average, pain is usually present between two weeks and three months before an x-ray will detect a stress fracture.  In addition, 85% of stress fractures are missed on the first x-ray and follow-up x-rays only detect them 50% of the time. Therefore, bone scans or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are more useful for detecting stress fractures, but x-rays can serve as a good starting point.

The primary treatment for a confirmed stress fracture is rest.  In doing this, the bone is allowed to remodel with the net balance in favour of bone building (instead of breakdown).  At present, there are no proven methods for preventing stress fractures in the lower extremities, but there is some research that suggests shock absorbing insoles being potentially helpful.  Common sense would perhaps indicate that a gradual progression of mileage and distance for runners and walkers would help the bone in adapting to increased demands.

As always, we do our best to bring the most current and accurate information to our clinic and our website. References are provided below if you are interested in further reading.  We encourage your questions or comments!  Want more?  Sign up for our complimentary email feed (on the right of the page) which gets sent out every two weeks.

References

Arendt E, Agel J, Heikes C et al. Stress injuries to bone in college athletes: a retrospective review of experience at a single institution. American Journal of Sports Medicine 2003; 31(6):959-968.

Moran DS, Evans R, Hadad E. Imaging of lower extremity stress fracture injuries. Sports Medicine 2008; 38(4): 345-356.

Rome K, Handoll HH et al. Interventions for preventing and treating stress fractures and stress reactions of bone of the lower limbs in young adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2005; 2:CD000450.

Shaffer SW, Uhl TL. Preventing and treating lower extremity stress reactions and fractures in adults. Journal of Athletic Training 2006; 41(4): 466-469.

Yeung EW, Yeung SS. Interventions for preventing lower limb soft-tissue injuries in runners. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2001; 3: CD001256.

Yochum TR, Rowe LJ. Essentials of Skeletal Radiology 1996, Williams and Wilkins.

Disclaimer
The purpose of this blog is to educate our patients and those interested in improving their health and wellbeing. We recommend that you always consult with a qualified health care professional before applying any of the topics or suggestions mentioned on this website. This information is not intended to diagnose or treat your condition. Burlington Sports Therapy, Dr. McIntyre or Dr. McDowall accept no responsibility for any complications arising from the use of any suggestions, exercises or topics of discussion on this site.