Physical Therapy Associates Schenectady NY

Would you like to receive our newsletter?	Physical Therapy Associates of Schenectady, P.C. Our highly trained and experienced staff of physical therapists offers their expertise for a wide range of movement disorders that may limit your full ability to perform work, sports, exercise and fun. Orthopedic, Neurologic, Sports Medicine Treatment of Spinal Disorders Educational Courses - Back injury management and back surgery classes Injury Prevention Programs Fit For Golf Program Women's Health - Pelvic pain and Incontinence Aquatic Physical Therapy Ergonomic Consultation Onsite Job Analysis and Workplace Modifications Functional Capacity Evaluation Return to Work Programs Injury Management and Wellness Rehabilitation following Injury, Surgery, and Illness Homecare Rehabilitation Balance and Fall Prevention
Tennis Elbow (Lateral Epicondylitis)
A common diagnosis seen in our clinics is tennis elbow. Tennis elbow is soreness or pain on the outer part of the elbow. It happens when you damage the tendons that connect the muscles of your forearm to your elbow. The pain may spread down your arm to your wrist. If you don't treat the injury, it may hurt to do simple things like turn a key or open a door. Many patients will say "How did I get this? I do not even play tennis!" More often than not people who present with this condition do not play any sports at all. read more
Tip of the Month Exercises for Lateral Epicondylitis (Tennis Elbow) Recent research and literature reviews have looked at the effectiveness of exercise therapy versus the "wait and see" approach to treating tennis elbow. Based on the available data it has been concluded that the combination of stretching and strengthening exercises improves outcomes for people with tennis elbow. For short term relief corticosteroid injection was more effective but long term relief was greater with physical therapy. Also corticosteroid injection alone had a higher recurrence rate compared to other treatments. Below are examples of appropriate exercises for tennis elbow. Wrist Extensor Stretch Assume position seen in picture. Gently pull wrist/hand toward you until a stretch is felt in forearm. You may feel a pull or tug at outer elbow. As long as this pain does not increase with repetition continue the exercise. As you tolerate stretch more, hold for up to 20 seconds and repeat 6-8 times 3-4 times per day. Wrist Extensor Strengthening When you are cleared to begin strengthening exercises this is one exercise you can try. Place 1 lb. weight in hand with palm facing downward (pronated); support forearm at the edge of a table or on your knee so that only your hand can move. Raise wrist/hand up slowly (concentric contraction), and lower slowly (eccentric contraction). Repeat 10 times. Progress to 2 sets of 10 daily. Concentric contraction Eccentric contraction	Evidence for Physical Therapy	*Previous Issues*
	ACL Tears in Female Athletes Submitted by Dr. Eric Aronowitz Also in this issue: Exercise and Distress: The More the Merrier Controlled Loading of the Lumbar Disc Reducing the Risk of ACL injuries in Female Athletes The ACL is the primary restraint to anterior translation of the tibia on the femur. When the ACL is torn, activities that require running, jumping, twisting, turning, acceleration, deceleration, are difficult to do. If a patient with an ACL deficient knee remains active and has persistent episodes of instability they will develop meniscal tears and arthritis within 15 years. In an active individual who is unwilling to change their lifestyle, an ACL reconstruction should be per-formed. ACL tears are 4-6x more common in female athletes. The increased risk of ACL tears in female athletes along with an increased participation in athletics has led to a rapid rise in ACL injuries in female athletes. The reason for this gender disparity is multifactorial and is just becoming more understood. Anatomical differences between males and females can play a role in the in-creased risk of ACL injury in female athletes. Females typically have a wider pelvis which increases valgus alignment of the lower extremity. Females can also have a tighter intercondylar notch. These two differences place the female athlete at greater risk of ACL injury. Hormonal changes during the ovulation cycle has also been linked in some studies to higher rates of ACL injuries. These studies have shown a higher risk during the luteal phase of the ovulation cycle. Neuromuscular imbalances which occur after puberty in female athletes can also lead to an increased risk of ACL tears. After puberty, males become disproportionately more powerful, whereas females become proportionately more powerful and do not experience a �neuromuscular growth spurt�. This leads to increased stresses on the joints and ligaments and puts the female athlete at higher risk of ACL injury. Neuromuscular imbalances can be broken down into four categories. Ligament dominance occurs because the knee acts as a ball and socket joint. This results in more stress transferred to the ligaments rather than the muscles. Females tend to be quadriceps dominant and therefore land from jumps in relative extension putting increased stress on the ACL. read more Dr Eric Aronowitz sees patients for Schenectady Regional Orthopedic Group.He is an associate team physician for Union College and several local high schools. He is a member of the American Academy of Orthopeadic Surgeons, American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, and the Arthroscopy Association of North America. He is a fellow of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery. Areas of interest include: Sports medicine, shoulder/knee surgery, arthroscopy, and general orthopedics download this issue Hand Therapy at Guilderland Accepting New Patients Located within our Rotterdam/Guilderland office is Hand Therapy at Guilderland. Sheryl Sturn OTR/L, CHT is available for all hand therapy needs. Call 630-6167