Sports injury, rehabilitation, injury prevention

Creatine is one of the most popular nutritional ergogenic aids for athletes. Studies have consistently shown that creatine supplementation increases intramuscular creatine concentrations which may help explain the observed improvements in high intensity exercise performance leading to greater training adaptations. In addition to athletic and exercise improvement, research has shown that creatine supplementation may enhance post-exercise recovery, injury prevention, thermoregulation, rehabilitation, and concussion and/or spinal cord neuroprotection...

CONTEXT: Recent advances within the field of genetics are currently changing many of the methodologies in which medicine is practiced. These advances are also beginning to influence the manner in which physical therapy services are rendered. Rotator cuff pathology is one of the most common diagnoses treated by the sports physical therapist. The purpose of this commentary is to educate sports physical therapists on the recent advances regarding how genetics influences rotator cuff pathology, including rotator cuff tears, and provide a perspective on how this information will likely influence post-operative shoulder rehabilitation in the near future...

CONTEXT: Kinesio taping is commonly used in sports and rehabilitation settings with the aim of prevention and treatment of musculoskeletal injuries. However, limited evidence exists regarding the effects of 24 and 72 h of kinesio taping on trunk and lower limb neuromuscular and kinetic performance during a vertical jump. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the short-term effects of kinesio taping on the height and ground reaction force during a vertical jump, in addition to trunk and lower limb muscle latency and recruitment order...

In the quest for a viable non-gravity dependent method to "lift weights" in space, our laboratory introduced iso-inertial resistance (YoYo™) exercise using spinning flywheel(s), more than 25 years ago. After being thoroughly tested in individuals subjected to various established spaceflight analogs, a multi-mode YoYo™ exercise apparatus was eventually installed on the International Space Station in 2009. The method, applicable to any muscle group, provides accommodated resistance and optimal muscle loading through the full range of motion of concentric actions, and brief episodes of eccentric overload...

OBJECTIVES: To update the incidence rate, aetiology and injury characteristics of acutely-injured adults with traumatic spinal cord injury in Stockholm, Sweden, using international standards of reporting. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective, (regional) population-based observation. SUBJECTS: Forty-nine consecutively enrolled individuals. METHODS: A surveillance system of newly-injured adults with traumatic spinal cord injury was implemented for an 18-month period...

BACKGROUND: Reinjury rates after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) are highest among young athletes, who consequently suffer from low rates of return to play. Historically, quantitative measures have been used to determine readiness to return to sport; however, they do not assess modifiable risk factors related to the quality of movement. PURPOSE: To determine the effectiveness of a criteria-based rehabilitation progression and return-to-sport criteria on efficient return to activity and prevention of second injury in young athletes post-ACLR...

Mid-portion Achilles tendinopathy is a common injury in sporting populations. There is conflicting evidence about the best approach to conservative management. This report focuses on the rehabilitation of an Achilles tendinopathy utilising osteopathic manual therapy (OMT) and a structured exercise program in a semi-professional volleyballer. The patient presented with a 4-month history of right mid-portion Achilles tendon pain that begun after a lateral inversion sprain of the right ankle. The primary complaint was pain impacting the patients vertical jump performance...

Football is currently the most popular sporting activity in the world. Multiple reports have shown that a high incidence of osteoarthritis is found in football players. Evidence clearly shows that traumatic injury significantly predisposes players for such pathophysiology. Injuries are frequent in amateur as well as professional football players, with knee and ankle accounting for the most severe injuries. Many professional athletes lose playing time due to injuries and many are forced into early retirement...

PURPOSE: Rehabilitation professionals typically use motor imagery (MI) or action observation (AO) to increase physical strength for injury prevention and recovery. Here we compared hamstring force gains for MI during AO (AO + MI) against two pure MI training groups. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Over a 3-week intervention physically fit adults imagined Nordic hamstring exercises in both legs and synchronized this with a demonstration of the same action (AO + MI), or they purely imagined this action (pure MI), or imagined upper-limb actions (pure MI-control)...

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the accuracy and reliability of a novel dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scanning method in the frontal plane for total, fat, and lean mass quantification of the anterior and posterior upper leg compartments. METHODS: Twenty-one (11 females; X¯age = 20.3 ± 1.3 yr) college athletes were assessed for total and regional body composition using DXA. The segmentation of anterior/posterior thigh compartments was measured with participants lying on their right and left sides and the scanned leg elevated with two foam pads...

BACKGROUND: With their unremittingly high incidence rate and detrimental functional repercussions, hamstring injuries remain a substantial problem in male soccer. Proximal neuromuscular control ("core stability") is considered to be of key importance in primary and secondary hamstring injury prevention, although scientific evidence and insights on the exact nature of the core-hamstring association are nonexistent at present. HYPOTHESIS: The muscle activation pattern throughout the running cycle would not differ between participants based on injury occurrence during follow-up...

BACKGROUND: Athletes often are cleared to return to activities 6 months after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction; however, knee function measures continue to improve up to 2 years after surgery. Interventions beyond standard care may facilitate successful return to preinjury activities and improve functional outcomes. Perturbation training has been used in nonoperative ACL injury and preoperative ACL reconstruction rehabilitation, but has not been examined in postoperative ACL reconstruction rehabilitation, specifically return to sport rehabilitation...

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears are among the most frequent knee injuries in sports medicine, with tear rates in the US up to 250,000 per year. Many patients who suffer from ACL tears have persistent atrophy and weakness even after considerable rehabilitation. Myostatin is a cytokine that directly induces muscle atrophy, and previous studies rodent models and patients have demonstrated an upregulation of myostatin after ACL tear. Using a preclinical rat model, our objective was to determine if the use of a bioneutralizing antibody against myostatin could prevent muscle atrophy and weakness after ACL tear...

OBJECTIVES: Numerous risk factors have been identified for patellar tendinopathy (PT), often in small population studies. The aim was to use an international online questionnaire to generate a large database and identify significant risk factors. DESIGN: Case-control study. SETTING: Private practice and sporting teams recruited from England, Spain, and Italy with the questionnaire available in all 3 languages (equivalence between online and self-administration shown previously)...

Sports trauma frequently involves insult to oral soft and hard tissues resulting in loss of tooth structure and tooth loss. Multiple sporting equipment's are employed to prevent irreversible damage to oro-facial structures, and to reduce the overall cost of treatment. However in the undesired consequence of loss of oral structures, multiple treatment options are utilized to restore, esthetics, comfort and function. Osseointegrated implant supported rehabilitation of oral structures in trauma cases provides highly predictable treatment outcomes along with preservation of remaining tissues...

The array of dysfunction occurring after ligamentous injury is tied to long-term clinical impairments in functional performance, joint stability, and health-related quality of life. To appropriately treat individuals, and in an attempt to avoid sequelae such as post-traumatic osteoarthritis, investigators have sought to better establish the etiology of the persistent dysfunction present in patients who have sustained joint ligament injuries to the lower extremities. Recent evidence has suggested that changes within the brain and central nervous system may underlie these functional deficits, with support arising from direct neurophysiologic measures of somatosensory dysfunction, motor system excitability, and plasticity of neural networks...

BACKGROUND: Ankle sprain is the most common sport-related injury and eccentric weakness of ankle evertors is regarded as a significant muscular deficit related to chronic ankle instability. However, the eccentric performance of the evertors is rarely assessed by clinicians because procedures used for research purposes (i.e. isokinetic tests) are not easily applicable in daily practice. METHODS: The present study assessed the ability of two different testing procedures to distinguish between groups of 12 healthy subjects or 12 patients suffering from chronic ankle instability...

Sensorimotor training with a wide variety of available devices represents an important component in rehabilitation and prevention of different sports injuries and chronic diseases. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a sensorimotor training with a newly developed device, which consists of an instable platform moving on an air cushion, providing dynamic balance training by tilting and unanticipated stochastic translations on postural control. Seventy-two healthy young subjects were included in this prospective, randomized, controlled, and observer-blinded study...

PURPOSE: Investigate the accuracy and reliability of a novel dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scanning method in the frontal plane for total, fat, and lean mass quantification of the anterior and posterior upper leg compartments. METHODS: Twenty-one (11 female; X[Combining Overline]age=20.3±1.3 yrs) college athletes were assessed for total and regional body composition using DXA. Segmentation of anterior/posterior thigh compartments was measured with participants lying on their right and left sides and the scanned leg elevated with two foam pads...

PURPOSE: Achilles tendinopathy (AT) is a prevalent injury in running sports. Understanding the biomechanical factors associated with AT will assist in its management and prevention. The purpose of this study was to compare hip and ankle kinematics and kinetics in runners with and without AT. METHODS: Fourteen male runners with AT and 11 healthy male runners (CTRL) ran over ground while lower-limb joint motion and ground reaction force data were synchronously captured...