Comments for MIHP Think Tank Brainstorms...

Comment on Incorporating One “Strong” Walk Into Your Running Schedule by kperzyk

kperzyk — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 21:28:28 +0000

Tracy, I love it! I’ve been walking almost every day since the Boston Marathon last Monday for recovery purposes (and to walk The Moose Dog), and I was already feeling better, but now I’m really going to focus on proper walking form…which I never really gave too much thought to till I read your post!

Comment on Yaktrax “ROCK” by crundell@aipartners.us

crundell@aipartners.us — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 21:52:47 +0000

The Hanson coaches have always been a fan of winter running. Using the environment is one of the basic principles in their training. The environment includes hills, wash board dirt roads, trails and yes, snow and ice! These help strengthen all the stabilizers and core. You will feel a lot stronger training outdoors through the winter come spring!

Comment on Fire up the glutes! by rewiegan

rewiegan — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:50:08 +0000

Thank you Carol! I will try this out with my patients!

Comment on Fire up the glutes! by carol

carol — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 23:45:41 +0000

We also work with many THR patients that come from several different surgeons. The problem is that every doctor seems to have a different protocol restriction for twisting and bending ranging from 6 weeks to a year. Statistics show that only 2% of these patients replacements become dislocated and that is mostly due to surgical error.

Odds are that if your patient walks in the door to your office, he has already violated the twisting restrictions. Walking or reaching to open a door are just a few examples of transverse plane movement that we all do every day. For a new THR, I would focus on the patient’s gait, making sure their toes are pointed straight ahead rather than toed out. It’s also proven that falls are prevented when the person can cross the midline of the body. A good exercise to begin that is the heel/toe walk (they may need assistance for balance). We’ve found that with elderly people, the base of support widens and the gait looks like a shuffle with a wide stance. Although that may feel safer for them, they are the ones that have the most falls which is more dangerous than twisting.

It is still very important to work the glutes in the transverse plane, especially with a THR. The lunge exercise I described in the article can be modified to weight shifting (instead of the lunge) to one side and reaching across with the opposite arm. Just do what they can tolerate. If they’re walking, they are already on their way.

I hope that helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Carol

Comment on Fire up the glutes! by rewiegan

rewiegan — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 21:18:10 +0000

I have a couple of patient that have had total hip replacements. One of the precautions is no twisting. Is there any way to work the gluts in the transverse plane without breaking the precautions? I do some single leg stance exercises as long as their balance is okay and they are safe.

Comment on This could be you… by carol

carol — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:22:00 +0000

Thank you for the reply. I’ve tried SCS which works very well too, but I’ve never had a patient do it with activating the glutes. I’ll have to try it! It’s always good to have a variety of things to try!

Carol

Comment on This could be you… by Poppy37

Poppy37 — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:36:26 +0000

Hi Carol-

I’ll try this with my patients, sounds much simpler than what I might try. The iliopsoas trigger point is surely one of the most common causes for low back pain that I’ve seen.

I’ll share my idea: have your patient assume the Strain Counterstrain position for the iliopsoas, I affectionately call it “The frog-leg position”. It goes like this; patient is supine, hips flexed to 90 degrees with legs and feet supported on a chair. The knees are flexed and allowed to fall passively into abduction and ER. The patient then activates an antagonist to Iliopsoas-the glutes. Contract for a good count of 10. Now relax. Once may be enough but I’ll try a few more for good measure. Slowly move out of the position-trying not to use too much psoas in the effort. I actually used this at a party once with a woman who had been suffering from terrible groin pain. I made a fast friend that night!