International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy

BACKGROUND: Interval throwing programs (ITP) have been used for decades to enable baseball pitchers to return to competition after injury or surgery by gradually applying load to the throwing arm. Past programs have been based on personal experience; however, advances in our understanding of the biomechanics and workloads of throwing allow for a more modern data-based program to be developed. HYPOTHESIS/PURPOSE: To 1) develop a updated ITP for rehabilitation of modern baseball pitchers based upon biomechanical and throwing workload data, and 2) compare the updated program with a past program to determine differences in chronic workload and acute:chronic workload ratios (ACWR)...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Hamstring strength testing is crucial in assessing this important muscle group during rehabilitation and injury prevention. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of measuring strength in a maximally lengthened position using a handheld dynamometer (HHD) compared to isokinetic testing. METHODS: Twenty healthy and active participants were recruited, and isometric strength testing was performed both on the Biodex machine and isometric end-range hamstring testing with the HHD on two occasions...

INTRODUCTION: Lateral ankle sprain is the most common ankle injury and up to 40% of those who sustain a lateral ankle sprain will develop chronic ankle instability (CAI). The aim of this study was to explore the thoughts and expectations of CAI-patients concerning their condition and expectations of care in an orthopedic setting. . STUDY DESIGN: Qualitative study. METHODS: Nine semi-structured one-to-one interviews were conducted with CAI-patients who were referred to an orthopedic setting...

Accurately diagnosing pectoralis major injuries, particularly in athletes, often presents a challenge for healthcare practitioners. Although pectoralis muscle injuries are relatively uncommon, the diagnosis of a tear may be overlooked without careful screening by a thorough physical examination of both the injured and uninjured sides. While magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has traditionally held the gold standard, musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSKUS) has emerged as a viable alternative. This article delves into the power of MSKUS in evaluating and diagnosing pectoralis major injuries, highlighting its dynamic capabilities, real-time visualization, and cost-effectiveness in comparison to MRI...

UNLABELLED: Pre-participation and return to activity functional assessments are commonly used in clinical practice to assess movement quality and identify athletes' limitations. While there are slight differences between each specific test battery, general guidelines suggest that the tests be completed without a warm-up. This has been suggested because dynamic stretching may improve range of motion and athletic performance. However, athletes typically warm up prior to participating in sport...

After anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR), return to sprint is poorly documented in the literature. In soccer, return to sprint is an essential component of return to play and performance after ACLR. The characteristics of running in soccer are specific (velocity differences, nonlinear, intensity). It is important to address these particularities, such as curvilinear running, acceleration, deceleration, changes of direction, and variations in velocity, in the patient's rehabilitation program. Force, velocity, and acceleration capacities are key elements to sprint performance...

One of the most important milestones of the International Federation of Sports Physical Therapy (IFSPT), a specialty group of the World Physiotherapy (WP) group, was the creation of the Sports Physiotherapy Competencies and Standards document. This statement, finalized by an international panel of experts almost twenty years ago, under The European Union-funded Sports Physiotherapy for All (SPA) project, describes effective professional behaviours and integrates specific knowledge, skills and attitudes in the context of practice...

Many if not most of us watched in utter disbelief and horror last September 11th as Aaron Rogers, the newly acquired $75 million dollar quarterback with the New York Jets just 4 snaps into the new season, suffered an Achilles Tendon ruptures (ATR) in his inaugural game on nationally televised Monday Night Football with his new and excited team and demanding fanbase. With cell phones in hand, we watched as our X apps lit up with claims of an excess of ATRs in the NFL in recent years and much of the blame placed on the new rubberized turf surfaces in place in most of the NFL stadiums...

BACKGROUND: Individuals who sustain an ACL injury and undergo reconstruction (ACLR) are at risk for the development of osteoarthritis. Recent investigations have applied the Englund criteria to categorize people with a history of ACLR as someone with a symptomatic or asymptomatic knee. PURPOSE/HYPOTHESIS: The purpose of this study was to examine differences in health-related quality of life (HRQL) and psychological outcomes in people with a history of ACLR who were categorized as symptomatic or non-symptomatic by application of the Englund criteria...

BACKGROUND: Low back pain (LBP) is a leading cause of disability. Recurrent low back pain (rLBP) is defined as two or more episodes of LBP in a 12-month period, each lasting more than 24 hours and separated by at least one pain-free month. Many studies have shown that hip and trunk variables have an influence on LBP. However, most of these are studies of participants with acute or chronic LBP rather than rLBP. PURPOSE: To examine the difference between hip and trunk variables of university students with and without rLBP...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

INTRODUCTION: Effective rehabilitation strategies for upper extremity injuries in softball pitchers are scarce in current literature, especially among youth athletes. Additionally, there continues to be ambiguity regarding the interpretation and clinical practicality when treating an overhead athlete with scapular dyskinesis. The purpose of this case report is to highlight the examination and treatment of a youth softball pitcher referred to physical therapy with the diagnosis of scapular dyskinesis...

BACKGROUND: Concussions are often accompanied by balance disturbances. Clinically accurate evaluation systems are often expensive, large, and inaccessible to most clinicians. The Sway Balance Mobile Application (SWAY) is an accessible method to quantify balance changes. PURPOSE: To determine the known groups and convergent validity of the SWAY to assess balance after a concussion. STUDY DESIGN: Case-Control Study. METHODS: Twenty participants with acute concussion and twenty controls were recruited...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: In the rehabilitation of injured baseball pitchers, there is lack of consensus on how to guide a player back to pitching. It is unknown how different contemporary interval throwing programs (ITPs) progress in the amount of throwing workload. PURPOSES: To 1) evaluate three prominent ITPs commonly employed in baseball pitcher rehabilitation and assess whether these ITPs produce training loads that increase in a controlled, graduated manner and 2) devise an ITP that produced training loads which increased steadily over time...

BACKGROUND: Previous research has reported that people with Joint Hypermobility Syndrome (JHS) and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) generally experience a high rate of muscular injury and pain. However, there is limited research comparing the recovery times and length of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) in individuals with JHS to non-hypermobile individuals in response to exercise. HYPOTHESES/PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate JHS and its effects on DOMS and its recovery time...

BACKGROUND: Physical therapists use tests that could determine strength and weaknesses of the shoulder for overhead throwing athletes to enhance performance, prevent injury, and safely progress rehabilitation. The Closed Kinetic Chain Upper Extremity Stability Test (CKCUEST) has been proposed to assess muscular capacity and dynamic shoulder stability in overhead athletes, which could provide information to determine a risk of injury. PURPOSE: To investigate if the CKCUEST is an appropriate test to implement within team elite handball players to evaluate dynamic shoulder stability across sexes and in the screening of shoulder pain...

BACKGROUND: Despite increasing interest in psychological factors that affect the impact of self-efficacy on readiness to return to play, few clinical tools are available to assess self-confidence in performing sports-specific movement patterns in the pediatric/adolescent population. HYPOTHESIS/PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to test the psychometric properties of sports-specific modules to supplement a general measure of movement self-efficacy, the Adolescent Measure of Confidence and Movement Performance (AMCaMP)...

INTRODUCTION: Chronic low back pain is a common musculoskeletal healthcare presentation with an expense of over $100 billion annually. The clinical effect of myofascial cupping on pain and function is not clear, especially when different cupping techniques are combined. The purpose of this case series was to explore changes in pain and function following local static and distal dynamic myofascial dry cupping treatments in patients with chronic low back pain. CASE DESCRIPTIONS: Three adults from the general population received three ten-minute treatment sessions, 48 hours between each session, of static dry cupping to the low back followed by dynamic myofascial cupping of the quadriceps and hamstring musculature...

BACKGROUND: Research is limited investigating injuries/illness incidence among National Hockey League (NHL) players. This study sought to establish injury/illness incidence, initial versus subsequent injury risk among NHL players, and determine temporal trends of injury and illness incidence. HYPOTHESIS: Variations in injury incidence by body region, and initial versus subsequent injury would be observed among positions. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study...