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SPC Blog

We share actionable advice about pain management, injury, strength training, exercise, rehab, and how to make healthcare work for you.

The 5 Big Problems Facing Clients with Pain and Injury Who Want to Get Back to an Active Lifestyle
By defining the problem, you know where to start during rehab and developing an active lifestyle. Once you know your problem, you can focus on what needs to solve it.
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The 8 Reasons All HHP Clients Go Through a Movement Assessment
There is an entire area of research devoted to what behaviors keep people moving and what makes them stop. Keeping people active is not simple and there are numerous reasons why a person will stop. The purpose of the movement assessment is to figure out issues that will stop you from moving.
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7 Signs Your Heel Pain Is Not Coming From Your Plantar Fascia
As a general rule, you will be diagnosed with plantar fasciitis if you have heel pain. I have not seen a patient reporting heel pain that was diagnosed with anything other than plantar fasciitis for the last 5 years. This is not the only structure on the bottom of the foot that can cause pain.
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Trigger Management Plan in Physical Therapy

Why physical therapy exercises are not enough to get you better?

What is a Trigger? We use the term trigger as a catch-all term for the activities and movements during the day that makes symptoms worse.  Trigger investigation is critical because they are the bane of feeling better. ​ The term, trigger, is an event that causes something else to happen.   You trigger the headache when you look over your shoulder. You trigger back pain when you move from sitting to standing. You trigger the shoulder pain when you reach for the shelf.   Sounds simple?  Unfortunately, determining all of the triggers to your symptoms is as difficult as it is important.   Why do we obsess on trigger management instead of building a huge list of physical therapy exercises? Imagine this scenario.  I am

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Smith Performance Center Tucson

Imaging & Pain

In the clinic, we get a lot of questions about pain because it is the main reason people walk through the door.  Today I am going to go through a brief review of pain and imaging. Imaging refers to radiographs (x-rays), MRIs, and CT scans. These are typically used to help a medical provider determine what is causing the pain and the best intervention to resolve the problem.   What do we know?  Numerous imaging studies ranging from the knee to the low back show that the level of pathology cannot predict a person’s pain experience.  We cannot predict pain, the level of disability, or long-term activity based on an image.  Individuals with chronic low back pain have been compared to those with no back

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How & When to Use a SERF Strap

What is the SERF Strap? The SERF Strap is the first patellofemoral brace designed to treat PFP due to poor hip control. Basically, the strap is a really long elastic band that you anchor at the knee (my term is foundation 1), tension over the outside of the thigh, and anchor around the pelvis (foundation 2). When you create these anchor points, the strapped leg will now have support for external rotation at the hip joint.  This reduces pelvic drop and knee valgus.  You can take someone whose knees hit together and immediately correct this dysfunction. While the marketing material and websites talk just about patellofemoral pain, I use this tool for symptoms in the leg (sometimes the back) during the stance phase of running

Read More »
Smith Performance Center Tucson

Tuck Jump Assessment for Physical Therapy

A review of our publications and the impact on physical therapy, injury screening, and protocol In the last few months, some of our research efforts in physical therapy, strength training, and injury screening have been published by the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research and the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy along with a commentary in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine. The publications were focused on jumping test performance and the underlying methods. These tests are useful in a full rehabilitation program to determine readiness for activity, however, even the best tests have limitations that need to be understood. There is no such thing as a perfect test but we can use a variety of tests to gain a more complete perspective. 

Read More »
Trigger Management Plan in Physical Therapy

Why physical therapy exercises are not enough to get you better?

What is a Trigger? We use the term trigger as a catch-all term for the activities and movements during the day that makes symptoms worse.  Trigger investigation is critical because they are the bane of feeling better. ​ The term, trigger, is an event that causes something else to happen.   You trigger the headache when you look over your shoulder. You trigger back pain when you move from sitting to standing. You trigger the shoulder pain when you reach for the shelf.   Sounds simple?  Unfortunately, determining all of the triggers to your symptoms is as difficult as it is important.   Why do we obsess on trigger management instead of building a huge list of physical therapy exercises? Imagine this scenario.  I am

Read More »
Smith Performance Center Tucson

Imaging & Pain

In the clinic, we get a lot of questions about pain because it is the main reason people walk through the door.  Today I am going to go through a brief review of pain and imaging. Imaging refers to radiographs (x-rays), MRIs, and CT scans. These are typically used to help a medical provider determine what is causing the pain and the best intervention to resolve the problem.   What do we know?  Numerous imaging studies ranging from the knee to the low back show that the level of pathology cannot predict a person’s pain experience.  We cannot predict pain, the level of disability, or long-term activity based on an image.  Individuals with chronic low back pain have been compared to those with no back

Read More »

How & When to Use a SERF Strap

What is the SERF Strap? The SERF Strap is the first patellofemoral brace designed to treat PFP due to poor hip control. Basically, the strap is a really long elastic band that you anchor at the knee (my term is foundation 1), tension over the outside of the thigh, and anchor around the pelvis (foundation 2). When you create these anchor points, the strapped leg will now have support for external rotation at the hip joint.  This reduces pelvic drop and knee valgus.  You can take someone whose knees hit together and immediately correct this dysfunction. While the marketing material and websites talk just about patellofemoral pain, I use this tool for symptoms in the leg (sometimes the back) during the stance phase of running

Read More »
Smith Performance Center Tucson

Tuck Jump Assessment for Physical Therapy

A review of our publications and the impact on physical therapy, injury screening, and protocol In the last few months, some of our research efforts in physical therapy, strength training, and injury screening have been published by the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research and the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy along with a commentary in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine. The publications were focused on jumping test performance and the underlying methods. These tests are useful in a full rehabilitation program to determine readiness for activity, however, even the best tests have limitations that need to be understood. There is no such thing as a perfect test but we can use a variety of tests to gain a more complete perspective. 

Read More »