Injury to the tendon can be problematic for athletes in a variety of sports. Due to significant stresses with sprinting sports as well as with lower body exercises such as squats, the patella tendon is susceptible to several injuries such as tendonitis, tendon strain or tendon rupture. If the injury is acute and sudden, such as during a slide or jumping movement, the tendon can be strained or even completely torn. Typically te...

As in most things in medicine, there are patterns to watch for when suspecting a stress fracture of the lumbar spine. The first piece of important information is the type of athlete you are dealing with and the volume of activity they are performing. High-risk athletes that do a significant amount of back extension (leaning back), would include gymnasts, dancers, soccer athletes and football lineman. Typically athletes will co...

Triangular Fibrocartilage Complex Tear (TFCC) injuries typically occur from direct trauma or repetitive impact to the wrist. Most individuals will have pain on the back side of the wrist just beyond the tip of the ulna. Typically athletes will have pain with deviating the wrist towards the ulna, which can be performed by the examiner to compress the TFCC and replicate the pain.

Osgood-Schlatter's Disease (Tibial Tuberosity Apophysitis) is specific to pediatric athletes, usually in the age range of 8 to 15 years, with females presenting younger than males. Athletes will usually complain of pain over the front of the knee at the end of a practice or end of a school day. The pain will specifically be at the tibial tuberosity, a growth plate on the lower portion of the knee that appears as a small bu...

A PCL injury typically occurs as a direct contact to the front of the lower leg, when the knee is in a 90 degree bent position. The classic non-sports scenario is when the knee strikes the dashboard in a car accident.  However, sports related injuries usually occur with a direct fall on the knee or a direct impact to the front of the lower leg. n general, the recommendation for a partial or complete PCL tear is to non-surgical...

First, you need to get yourself oriented to the anatomy of the knee. The femur is the upper thigh bone and the tibia is the lower shin bone that meet together to create the knee joint. We then have the ACL that runs directly through the middle of the knee acting as the major stabilizer of the knee joint. Here you can compare these structures of the knee model to the MRI of the exact same area.

The primary stabilizing ligaments over the outside (lateral) of the ankle are called the anterior talofibular ligament (ATFL), calcaneofibular ligament (CFL) and posterior talofibular ligament (PTFL) which, can be seen in the photos below. These ligaments are most frequently injured with a common ankle sprain. Additionally, the primary stabilizing ligament of the medial ankle is called the deltoid ligament. When an ankle injur...

It is certainly possible that he had a small tear in the past but it was felt that he could finish the season. I have seen this type of course of action if the athlete is believed to have a subtle tear on the outer edge of the meniscus which may not be causing significant pain or swelling and can be given a chance to heal on its own. On the other hand it is possible that he has sustained a new injury that we aren't aware o...

Injury to the tendon can be problematic for athletes in a variety of sports. Due to significant stresses with sprinting sports as well as with lower body exercises such as squats, the patella tendon is susceptible to several injuries such as tendonitis, tendon strain or tendon rupture. If the injury is acute and sudden, such as during a slide or jumping movement, the tendon can be strained or even completely torn.

As in most growth plate injuries, the distal radius growth plate is predisposed to injury due to the relatively stronger attachments of the joint capsule and ligaments that apply external forces to unfused growth plate. The underlying cause is believed to be due to repeated upper-body weight bearing exercises and hyperextension, such as handstands, tumbling and vaulting that cause stress at the distal radius growth plate. For...