Athletico Health Resources

Running season has arrived and a lot of you wanted to hit the ground running, but instead, you hit the ground hurting…hurting on the outside of your knee. If that’s the case, you could have iliotibial band syndrome (ITBS) or IT band syndrome for short. IT band syndrome is an overuse injury that is common in endurance athletes like runners and bikers. It affects a tissue that runs from the side of your hip all of the way down past your knee. Most of the time, the inflammation manifests itself as pain on the outside of the knee. It can be incredibly painful and is typically a frustratingly stubborn injury to deal with. (more…)

* Editor's Note: For the past 5 years, Athletico has supported and participated in a week-long medical brigade in Honduras through Global Brigades. Athletico volunteers have helped in supportive roles such as interpreting, running the pharmacy, triage, dental staffing, and this year, formal physical and occupational therapy. Over 600 patients were seen this year by Athletico volunteers, physicians, nurses, dentists, and other volunteers. This special entry is written by Athletico physical therapist Sarah Holt, who shares with us her experience as a volunteer with this year's brigade. (more…)

Let’s be honest, with a newborn at home, exercising may be the last thing on your mind, but there are many benefits to exercise after pregnancy. Exercise can promote weight loss, improve cardiovascular fitness, improve your energy level and mood, relieve stress, prevent or improve the recovery from baby blues or 4th trimester depression, improve the strength and condition of abdominal muscles, and even give you a much needed break from your little bundle of joy. (more…)

In honor of May being Arthritis Awareness Month, I visited the Arthritis Foundation’s website for some inspirational thoughts for this blog post. There is a wealth of information on their website including practical tips for individuals living with arthritis. After perusing through many different articles and pages of information, there seemed to be one underlying message to help avoid arthritis: Stay active! This seems simple enough, but we must make sure we stay active in a safe way to ensure our joints are well protected. (more…)

Plantar fasciitis can be a real pain in the foot. Plantar fasciitis is the medical term for inflammation of the plantar fascia, which is the connective tissue that runs along the bottom of your foot. If you’ve ever had pain in the bottom of your foot with the first few steps out of bed in the morning, you’ve probably had some experience with this painful condition. (more…)

The term “shin splints” gets tossed around a lot among athletes. What exactly are shin splints, what causes them and how can you alleviate them if you already are affected by them? Shin splints are not caused by one thing because they are actually a symptom of deeper issues and are not a medical condition. The term shin splint generally refers to achiness and/or acute pain in the front side of your tibia (shin bone) while your foot is dorsiflexed (your foot is flexed). Depending on the person, the pain may be during exercise, immediately following exercise or even all the time. This pain and/or discomfort can be caused by a variety of things. This post will cover the most common causes of shin splints and how you can resolve them. (more…)

*Editor's note: Today's post was written by Melissa Boger, ATC, CSCS, NASM-PES/CES. When I am working with golfers, the number one complaint that I hear is low back pain (LBP) while golfing. Many golfers think that LBP is something that they just have to live with or play through. The good news is that LBP during golf can be prevented or significantly reduced by taking some simple steps to help your body move in a healthier more efficient way. LBP can be caused by a number of different reasons ranging from muscle weakness to muscle inflexibility to poor golf posture, but no matter what the reason is, most LBP during golf can be treated by improving on 3 major components:  Mobility, Stability and Strength. (more…)

Spring in Chicago came early this year, and with that many recreational runners took advantage of the weather and returned to running after several months of inactivity or running indoors. Also, many of these runners in their excitement did not progress slowly back into the activity and thus were more susceptible to injuries, including patellofemoral syndrome, which is often referred to as “runner’s knee.” (more…)