Stretch of the Week: Gate Pose
Week two of April is upon us! This weeks side opener is from the yoga world. It’s called “Gate Pose.” You will feel this stretch all the way down into the hip flexors (front of the hip), and all the way up through the hand. Please stretch using the modified version if you have any groin, feet, or ankle issues. (more…)
5 Upper Extremity Overuse Injuries in Growing Athletes
Young athletes today are often practicing three to four hours a day, four to five times per week. Weekends are often spent competing hours at a time. As intensity of sport participation has increased so has the injury level of the upper extremities. Understanding that kids are not little adults and respecting the growing body is key to staying in the game. The good news is that focus on how to prevent overuse injury in sports for growing athletes is also on the rise. Listed below are 5 common upper extremity overuse injuries in young athletes and ways to help prevent these injuries. (more…)
Get in the Swing of Things: It’s Almost Golf Season
After a cold, snowy, and record-setting winter in Chicago, believe it or not, golf is just around the corner. Now that the snow melted, temperatures are increasing, and grass is growing, divots will be flying on the golf course. The last thing you want this season is to be sidelined because of an injury after being sidelined for by the weather. Golf is a dynamic, athletic movement that entails neurological and musculoskeletal components. In order for you to return to mid-season form, you must take care of the most important aspect of your game: your body. (more…)
Are Meniscal Injuries the New ACL Injury?
Knee injuries are back in the news. With recent injuries to high profile players, water cooler chat is shifting from ACL injuries to meniscal injuries. If you want to be the resident sports medicine expert in the office, keep reading for a brief overview of meniscal tears and what they mean for athletes. (more…)
Stretch of the Week: Lunge Twist
The last week of March and the first week of April brings us to the final twist of the month. This is a stretch we did in December, but with a twist, the lunge twist! Feel free to take a look back through our archive and check out the low/high lunge there. Or any of the other stretches posted since the beginning! (more…)
Using Heat or Ice to Treat Injuries
Athletes are often recommended by medical professionals to use a method like ice or heat for injuries. But they may be told by a friend to use which ever one feels better. So how do you know when to use heat or ice to treat injuries? (more…)
Stretch of the Week: Supine Twist
It’s the fourth week of March and we are still going strong with the twist stretches! This week is a supine twist, a twist done while on your back. If you can not get all the way to the floor, you can do this one on the bed! It’s actually a great one to do first thing when you wake up, or last thing you do before you go to sleep, so the bed is a perfect spot:) (more…)
8 Holistic Headache Solutions
According to the World Health Organization roughly 50% of adult individuals will experience at least one headache annually. These range from migraine or tension type headaches to cluster and medication-overuse headaches. Regardless of the type of headache, we can all agree that the pain, in many instances, is very debilitating. Headaches have many causes and it is always a good idea to check in with your physician to get to the root cause at which point different pharmaceuticals or treatments may be suggested or prescribed. Physical therapy and Massage therapy, both offered by Athletico, are two different,effective and more holistic options for headache relief as well. (more…)