The Tokyo Marathon was held on Sunday March 5th, a little over a month ago. If you were one of the amazing participants who participated and made it through, congratulations. The completion of a marathon is a huge athletic accomplishment, requiring dedicated preparation and a huge amount of intestinal fortitude. As it’s reported that up to 90% of marathon runners will get injured during training or competition each year, it’s likely that more than a few of you may have suffer

Introduction Engaging in sports offers numerous physical and mental health benefits, but it's essential to recognize that certain sports come with a higher risk of injuries. In this blog post, we'll explore some of the sports that pose the highest injury risks and discuss the factors contributing to their potential hazards. 1. American Football With its high-impact nature, American football is notorious for a range of injuries, including concussions, fractures, and sprains. T

Introduction Engaging in sports and physical activities brings a multitude of health benefits, but it also comes with the risk of injuries. Whether you're a seasoned athlete or a weekend warrior, understanding the most common sports injuries is crucial for prevention and effective management. In this blog post, we'll explore the top 10 sports injuries, shedding light on their causes, symptoms, and preventive measures. 1. Sprained Ankle    Ankle sprains occur when the ligament

The essence of musculoskeletal rehabilitation is taking a patient from where they currently are (often a state of pain, functional impairment, an inability to do the things that are important to them, a lack of confidence in their ability to perform their regular activities or a lack of understanding around the cause of their issues) to where they need to be. As famous Canadian biomechanist says “test the capacity, identify the goal, train the gap”. Therefore, in order for a

We have done several posts recently on ankle sprains. This one discusses the potential for ankle injuries to cause pain in other parts of the body.  Foster, Kaitlyn S., Tina A. Greenlee, John J. Fraser, Jodi L. Young, and Daniel I. Rhon. “The Influence of Therapeutic Exercise after Ankle Sprain on the Incidence of Subsequent Knee, Hip, and Lumbar Spine Injury.” Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise  (2022). #AnkleSprains #InjuryDiscussion #PainManagement #BodyPain #Ankl

RED-S stands for relative energy deficiency in sport, and refers to “impaired physiological functioning caused by relative energy deficiency, and includes but is not limited to impairments of metabolic rate, menstrual function, bone health, immunity, protein synthesis, and cardiovascular health.” (Mountjoy et al., 2014). RED-S is more common in females, but is certainly not exclusively seen in this population. It tends to affect endurance athletes, physique athletes, weight c

In this week’s ‘What does the science say’, we are looking at stretching. Specifically, we will be looking at a 2023 meta-analysis compiling over 77 previous studies into the efficacy of stretching for increasing joint range of motion. The main findings show that consistent stretching over a ≥2 week period can have long lasting benefits to joint ROM. Static stretching and PNF (contract release stretching) have a greater chronic effect than dynamic stretching. There is a stron

Introduction In the world of rehabilitation and fitness, innovation is key to unlocking new methods for faster and more effective recovery. One such innovative approach gaining traction is Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) training. Initially developed in Japan in the 1960s, BFR training has evolved into a powerful rehabilitation tool. This technique involves the application of a tourniquet or specialized cuffs to partially restrict blood flow to the exercising muscles. The result

On this episode of the injury edition, some discusses the management of muscle injuries, with a specific focus on hamstring injuries. TLP Injury Edition - Hamstring (and other) muscle strains #tokyoliving #tokyo #tokyolife #lifestyle #health #fitness #wellness #podcast #injury #pain #rehabilitation #load #rehab #musclepain #hamstringstrain #calfstrain #groinstrain #muscleinjury References: Buckthorpe M, Gimpel M, Wright S, et al Hamstring muscle injuries in elite football: tr

The final injury we will discuss in this series is concussion. A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury (TBI) that causes a temporary disturbance in the function of the brain, and leads to symptoms such as dizziness/balance issues, headache, nausea, confusion, memory loss, grogginess and even psychological symptoms such as depression, anger, frustration, etc. Those in contact with a concussed individual may note delayed response time, memory loss in inconsistency, a d

As with any sports, there is the risk of acute muscle strains with skiing and snowboarding.  Some of the common sights of muscle injury are:  The hamstring: often when a ski becomes stuck and the body is flung forwards, placing excessive stress on the back of the thigh. The quadriceps: often caused by a fall when the knees are bent under and the body bent back, placing the front of the thigh under excessive stretch. The adductors: the two skis move away from each other causin

Our last post discussed rotator cuff injuries. Due to the violent nature of skiing and snowboarding related falls, it is also not uncommon for us to see dislocations of the shoulder. A shoulder dislocation is where the head of the humerus (top of the arm bone), moves out of the normal confines of the shoulder joint socket (glenoid). The most common direction of dislocation is anterior (to the front), and the typical mechanism of injury is a combination of outwards rotation wi

We have previously discussed clavicle fractures and injuries to the AC joint. We also commonly see injuries to the rotator occur with skiing and snowboarding.  The rotator cuff is a group of 4 muscles, the tendons of which intertwine with the capsule of the shoulder and help provide stability to the joint. Because they lie close to the joint they are effective as stabilizing muscles, but are quite small in comparison to other muscles in the region, and as such are vulnerable

Lower back pain is the most common complaint we deal with in orthopedic practice, and while it isn’t the most common winter sports injury, it is still possible to injure this area on the slopes.  Lower back pain may come on due to overuse, especially at the start of the season, when we are getting used to an unaccustomed activity again. Or symptoms may start following an acute injury, usually a hard or slightly awkward landing, or a rapid change of direction movement that the

We mentioned in the last post how twisting movements involving ski poles may cause injury to the wrist. Given the positioning of the thumb with these implements, it is also a common area of injury. The most common injury we see in this region is a tear of the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL). So common is this injury that it is colloquially known as “skier’s thumb” (also “gamekeeper’s thumb in hockey). The ligament lies at the articulation between the thumb and the hand, and d

Concussion, also known as a traumatic brain injury (or TBI) is functional disturbance of the brain, typically caused by direct or indirect trauma. As with any injury, concussion needs to be assessed and treated in the correct manner to optimise recovery and avoid long-term disabilities. The acute evaluation involves questioning (using a specific tool such as the sport concussion assessment tool (SCAT)), to ascertain if the person has suffered a concussion. Acute symptoms of a

Another area that may be affected during a fall is the hand and wrist. This is usually the result of a fall onto an outstretched hand, or a falling mechanism involving twisting the hand and wrist around the ski pole. There are a number of different injuries that may occur to this region, but the two most common ones are a fracture of the scaphoid and an injury to the Triangular Fibrocartilage Complex (TFCC). A scaphoid fracture will result in pain on the thumb side of the wri

Musculoskeletal injury is a complicated, multi-faceted process, and the specific cause(s) of injury will be unique to the individual. However, in an effort to decrease the occurrence of injury, there is a general hierarchy of importance in terms of measures that can be taken. Health professionals often observe people over-emphasising some of the less important facets of injury prevention, in the process ignoring the “big rocks” Of primary importance is management of training

Less common than the clavicle fractures and AC joint injuries discussed in the previous posts, a fracture of the upper part of the arm (humerus) may occur with a direct fall onto the side of the arm, as well as with rapid twisting motions involving the shoulder.  These injuries may present similarly to other shoulder injuries such as rotator cuff strains (to be covered in a future post), but the telltale sign is significant bruising on the side of the arm. Any traumatic injur

We discussed in the previous post how a fall onto the side of the shoulder may cause damage to the AC joint. The same mechanism of injury may also cause a fracture to the clavicle (collarbone). Clavicle fractures are less commonly caused by a fall onto an outstretched hand or elbow.  The clavicle usually fractures in the middle third, the weakest part of the bone, and this will be indicated by the site of pain. There will often be a visual deformity caused by the fracture. An