Athletico Health Resources

Gymnastics is a unique sport where athletes spend a large amount of time on their hands. Handstands, tumbling, rings, and bars require the athlete to place their entire body weight through the arms and into the hands. Other sports do not place these heavy demands on the upper extremity. When tumbling, the athlete puts not only their entire body weight through the hands but can have up to 16 times their body weight in force going across the wrist². No wonder 80% of gymnasts will experience wrist pain at some point in their career!⁶ In a study comparing injuries in male and female collegiate gymnasts, men suffered more hand and wrist injuries than their female counterparts¹. We will be taking a closer look at the types of hand and wrist injuries both male and female gymnasts may experience and how to treat or prevent these injuries. (more…)

Have you ever been walking, looking at the world around you, followed by a quick moment when you feel your foot catch the edge of the sidewalk and roll your ankle? It’s a pretty common injury and has the potential to cause some pain and swelling with varying degrees of injury. An inversion ankle sprain is the most common way to roll your ankle. This type of sprain involves inward movement of your foot, resulting in a sprain to the ligaments on the outside portion of your ankle. (more…)

With the warm weather across the country, there will be plenty of opportunities to spend some time outdoors. Why not use some time to exercise while you’re at it? Below you will find a handful of easy to moderate level exercises that anyone can perform outside. (more…)

The foot and ankle complex are the powerhouse of the body. It is the first thing touching the ground and absorbing everything the body does. While the foot and ankle are very important structures for the body, they are also very complex. There are 26 bones, 30 joints, and more than 100 muscles, ligaments, and tendons that help to support the foot and ankle. Having a strong foot and ankle is essential for injury prevention. How can you increase the strength of your ankles on the fly? Try doing 3 sets of 10 repetitions of these 5 exercises on the go. (more…)

Kettlebells are some of the most efficient training modalities available. You only need one kettlebell to perform the exercises, which can be done anywhere you take the kettlebell. The exercises are also very easy to set up and transition from one to another, making it an effective cardiovascular activity. There are many options of exercises to choose from, some exercises being more challenging or easier than others and can be scaled to your fitness level. Below I will highlight four exercises that hit just about every muscle in the body, and a full workout can be done in just 20 minutes. These basic exercises should be done for 2-3 months before increasing the technical difficulty of more advanced exercises. A simple routine would be to perform each of these exercises three times per week, doing three sets of each exercise for 15 repetitions. (more…)

“I sprained my hamstring!” “I didn’t break it. I fractured it.” “He had a bad ankle strain.” Physical therapists, occupational therapists, and most medical professionals cringe when we hear this at parties, in the media, or our clinic. The tactful among us do their best to resist the urge to correct, but let’s face it, we are only human. (more…)

Numbness and tingling in your hand can be described as “your hand falling asleep.” But what does this really mean? Tingling and numbness is a type of nerve pain that typically subsides with the limb’s movement. In this case, the pain is usually due to restricted blood flow. The tingling can feel uncomfortable and unpleasant, but it is only temporary. Sometimes people complain of waking up in the middle of the night with numbness or tingling in their hand or arm, they may not experience these symptoms during the day, or the symptoms are not as noticeable. (more…)

We’ve all tweaked our ankles at some point in our lives. Some of us have even done it so forcefully that we have sprained a ligament, broken a bone, or strained a muscle. Hopefully, you took appropriate care and are feeling better, but often in my practice, I hear the dreaded phrase, “oh yeah, that’s my bad ankle. It never got better after I did (insert something youthful and nostalgic here).” There are two forms of untreated ankle issues I see in the clinic regularly. The painful ankle that is effectively avoided or the stiff ankle that the patient thinks is normal. Both can have long-term effects on ankle health and wear and tear on the knees, hips, and even low backs. (more…)