What is tennis elbow, anyway? The sports medicine team at Orthopaedic Associates of Zanesville explain that it refers to the pain that occurs over time from repeated use of the muscles of the arm and forearm, leading to small tears of the tendons. Tennis is just one way you can get it.

If pain persists after rest and ice, physical therapists may use ultrasound or other modalities to help heal the damage of an injury. Additionally, they may prescribe flexibility and strengthening exercises to allow you to return to the activity. In some cases, a wrist splint or brace may be recommended.

Do you have questions about tennis elbow? Post them here for the Orthopaedic Associates of Zanesville to provide answers.

While the Ohio’s sports medicine team at Orthopaedic Associates of Zanesville encourage healthy exercise and weight lifting, it’s important not to over-train.

When working out too much, muscles don’t have time to recuperate properly. This will break down the muscle tissues faster than they can rebuild and can lead to excessive soreness. Over-training and lack of rest can lead to a net loss of muscle mass, which obviously contradicts the point of training in the first place (to increase muscle mass). Allow your body to rest for 24 to 48 hours between workouts. If you are feeling a little weak, decrease the intensity of your workout or simply skip it.

If you’ve suffered an injury from over-training, contact the Ohio’s sports medicine team at OAZ right away.

Dr. Karl Saunders, head of OAZ and its Ohio Sports Medicine team, is a world-class martial artist. As a trained athlete, he shares the many benefits of martial arts.

1. Self defense
2. Cardiovascular fitness
3. Toned muscular system
4. Improved flexibility
5. Mental tranquility / relaxation

If you’re interested in learning more about martial arts, stop by and talk to Dr. Saunders and OAZ’s Ohio Sports Medicine team.

Stretching is the act of lengthening muscles in order to increase muscle flexibility and joint range of motion. OAZ specializes in Ohio physical therapy and reminds patients that stretching activities are an important part of any exercise or rehabilitation program.

The Mayo Clinic recently released a list of the top five benefits of stretching and OAZ agrees that these benefits are important for people of all ages to consider. Keep in mind that warming up the body prior to activity decreases the risk of injury as well as muscle soreness.

The top five benefits of stretching are:

1. Increased flexibility and joint range of motion:

Flexible muscles can improve your daily performance. Tasks such as lifting packages, bending to tie your shoes or hurrying to catch a bus become easier and less tiring. Flexibility tends to diminish as you get older, but you can regain and maintain it.

1. Improved circulation:

Stretching increases blood flow to your muscles. Blood flowing to your muscles brings nourishment and gets rid of waste byproducts in the muscle tissue. Improved circulation can help shorten your recovery time if you’ve had any muscle injuries.

1. Better posture:

Frequent stretching can help keep your muscles from getting tight, allowing you to maintain proper posture. Good posture can minimize discomfort and keep aches and pains at a minimum.

1. Stress relief:

Stretching relaxes tight, tense muscles that often accompany stress.

1. Enhanced coordination:

Maintaining the full range-of-motion through your joints keeps you in better balance. Coordination and balance will help keep you mobile and less prone to injury from falls, especially as you get older.

The Ohio physical therapy experts at OAZ remind patients that stretching is one of the most important parts of the rehabilitation process.

Often times caregivers do not realize that taking care of a spouse or family member at home can increase their risk of injury. In fact, certain activities put you at a greater risk for back pain, including:

• Pulling a patient in bed up into a sitting position
• Transferring a person from a bed to a chair
• Leaning over a patient for long periods of time
• Lifting or moving a person

The physicians at Orthopaedic Associates of Zanesville offer their patient caregivers the following lifting techniques to be sure that they, too, don’t suffer injury.

• Maintain the proper alignment of your head and neck with your spine
• Maintain the natural curve of your spine
• Don’t bend at your waist
• Avoid twisting your body when carrying a person
• Keep the person who is being moved close to your body
• Keep your feet shoulder-width apart, which will help maintain your balance
• Use the muscles in your legs to lift, not your back
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help

Patient caregivers can avoid back pain by keeping these simple tips in mind.

Foot injuries are always common during the winter season, and the Ohio sports medicine team at Orthopaedic Associates of Zanesville is warning athletes to take care of their feet when they play any sports from basketball to snowboarding.

Ignoring pain or discomfort in your feet can mean ignoring injury. An athlete is better off addressing pain early on in order to fix a problem before it gets bad enough to result in lost playing time.

Common foot injuries in athletes, include:

• Plantar fasciitis – a foot injury resulting from irritation to tissue on the bottom of the foot.

• Turf toe – the hyperextension of the joint of the big toe, often occurs on artificial turf, but can happen on grass too.

• Sprains and strains – frequently caused by hard sprinting.

If you think you are suffering from any of these common foot injuries and your pain doesn’t get better in three days, call the Ohio sports medicine team at Orthopaedic Associates of Zanesville at 740-454-3273.

Orthopaedic Associates of Zanesville has one of the best Ohio sports medicine practices. One of the most common injuries treated at OAZ is a torn ACL. If you’ve experienced an injury, and your knee is popping, giving out or swelling, make an appointment to get an evaluation.

We have state-of-the art technology at OAZ to make diagnosis easy, including digital X-rays and orthopaedic MRIs.

Treatments for a torn ACL include both surgical and non-surgical options. In non-surgical treatment, progressive physical therapy and rehabilitation can restore the knee to a condition close to its pre-injury state and educate the patient on how to prevent instability. This may be supplemented with the use of a hinged knee brace. However, many people who choose not to have surgery may experience secondary injury to the knee due to repetitive instability episodes.

ACL surgeries have a 90% success rate. Reconstruction of the torn ligament is not a repair, but a replacement, which may come from tendons in the front of the leg, hamstrings or even donor tissue.

ACL reconstruction does not require a long hospital stay. Patients generally stay in the recovery room following surgery. Depending on the type of anesthetic that was used, it takes about one to two hours to recover enough to be able to sit up, eat some light food, use the bathroom (with crutches), and feel ready to go home. Hospital release usually takes place anywhere from between four to six hours after surgery to the next day.

OAZ’s Ohio sports medicine practice will work with patients for physical therapy treatment following the surgery. If you have questions, call us at 740-454-3273.

Back-to-school time means fall sports! The Orthopaedic Associates of Zanesville is ready to help athletes in southeast Ohio with our caring sports medicine team. We have board-certified physicians and physical therapists to treat the top ten sports injuries in Ohio.

1. Ankle Sprains: The most common of all ankle injuries, an ankle sprain occurs when there is a stretching and tearing of ligaments surrounding the ankle joint.
2. Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Injuries: ACL partial or complete tears can occur when an athlete changes direction rapidly, twists without moving the feet, slows down abruptly, or misses a landing from a jump
3. Broken Shoulder: A shoulder fracture typically refers to a total or partial break to either the clavicle (collar bone) or the neck of the humerus (arm bone). It generally is from an impact injury, such as a fall or blow to the shoulder
4. Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness: Muscle pain, stiffness or soreness that occurs 24-48 hours after unaccustomed, or particularly intense exercise.
5. Hamstring Pull, Tear, or Strain: Hamstring injuries are common among runners. The hamstring muscles run down the back of the leg from the pelvis to the lower leg bones, and an injury can range from minor strains to total rupture of the muscle.
6. Knee Pain: Knee pain is extremely common in athletes. In order to treat the cause of the pain, it is important to have an evaluation and proper diagnosis.
7. Shoulder Tendonitis, Bursitis, and Impingement Syndrome: These conditions are similar and often occur together. If the rotator cuff and bursa are irritated, inflamed, and swollen, they may become squeezed between the head of the humerus and the acromion.
8. Stress Fracture: Stress fractures in the leg are often the result of overuse or repeated impacts on a hard surface
9. Tendonitis: Tendonitis is a common sports injury that often occurs from overuse. Tendonitis can cause deep, nagging pain that is caused by inflammation of tendons. Treating tendonitis consists of rest, medication, physical therapy or changes to equipment or technique
10. Tennis Elbow: The number one reason people see their doctor is for elbow pain. It is considered a cumulative trauma injury that occurs over time from repeated use of the muscles of the arm and forearm that lead to small tears of the tendons.

If you’re suffering from any of these sports injuries in Ohio, contact Orthopaedic Associates of Zanesville at 740-454-3273.

Joint health should be a concern for everyone. However, it is especially important for runners. Injury prevention is a very serious issue for those who run regularly, especially those who are in training for a particular race or event. At Orthopaedic Associates of Zanesville we offer and sports medicine patients in southeast Ohio some very basic tips for running, which can help prevent injuries and keep you going for miles.

1. Wear running shoes that offer the correct support and cushioning. Specialty running stores can look at the way you walk and recommend the right brand for you. It also is important to remember if you run or walk regularly, you will need to replace your shoes every 350-550 miles.
2. Not all surfaces have the same impact. Vary your running location because of the different impacts involved and the stresses that may affect and strengthen your joints differently.
3. Eat well. Stock up on fresh fruits, vegetables and plenty of water. Eating healthy and keeping your body hydrated can aid the recovery process as well as prevent any long-term damage caused by injury.
4. Stretching regularly also can help runners to avoid injuries. One worthwhile recommendation for stretching is to stretch during and after a run. Too many runners don’t take the time to stretch out throughout their routines; it is crucial for injury prevention.
5. Start slow. Runners can prevent injuries by avoiding doing too much mileage too quickly. Aim to make mileage increases as gradual as possible and try to limit yourself to an increase of no more than 10 percent per week to avoid injuries.

Running is a great way to stay fit and keep your body healthy and strong. These tips help runners avoid painful injuries and potentially long recovery periods. OAZ encourages all runners to take safety precautions seriously and keep at it! If you are seeking sports medicine or physical therapy in southeast Ohio, contact us at 740-454-3273 .

OAZ is known for their expertise in Ohio Physical Therapy and Ohio sports medicine and is the only facility of its kind in the Southeastern Ohio area. For treating strains and sprains, they recommend the RICE theory. RICE stands for Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. It should be applied to an injury in the first 24 to 48 hours. Using the RICE method should reduce swelling and pain and speed the recovery and rehabilitation process.

Rest
When suffering from a strain or sprain, it is important to reduce regular exercise or other physical activities as much as you can. Sometimes your doctor will recommend that you put no strain on your injury for at least 48 hours. Tools like crutches or a sling can help you give your injury the rest it needs to get better.

Ice
It is important to apply a cold pack to injuries regularly during the first few days after it occurs. Do so for 20 minutes at a time, four to eight times a day. This will reduce swelling and help you heal faster. To avoid cold injury and frostbite, do not apply the ice for more than 20 minutes.

Compression
Compression of an injured ankle, knee or wrist may help reduce swelling as well. Your doctor can provide you with compression bandages, elastic wraps, special boots, air casts and splints to help you apply compression.

Elevation
If possible, keep the injured ankle, knee, elbow or wrist elevated. Ideally the injury should be above the level of the heart, to help decrease swelling.

If you have hurt yourself and think you may have a strain or sprain, call the Orthopaedic Associates of Zanesville at 740-454-3273.  We specialize offering Physical Therapy in Ohio.