Wearing a walking boot sounds logical to protect the injury, reduce swelling, and prevent further damage. But here’s the truth: in most cases, that advice can actually slow down your recovery and make it harder to return to the sports and activities you love.
A patient walks in excited because their orthopedic surgeon just told them, “You’re cleared.” For the athlete or for a parent of a young athlete that sounds like great news. It feels like full steam ahead, time to get back to the field, the court, or the gym. But being cleared by your surgeon doesn’t necessarily mean your body is ready for the demands of your sport.
When I look back at the things I believed in college, I can’t help but laugh a little, especially when it comes to my views on weight training. At that time, I was all in on free weights and completely against using machines. If it didn’t involve a barbell or dumbbell, I didn’t want anything to do with it.
As a performance physical therapist and avid long-distance runner, I’m no stranger to the aches and pains that can threaten to derail a training plan or race goal. Over the years, both in my own training and while working with runners at Cohen Health and Performance, a leading provider of physical therapy in Bethesda, I’ve noticed something important: most “overuse injuries” are really under-preparedness injuries.
The bench press is one of the most popular exercises in the gym. Walk into almost any weight room on a Monday and you’ll see athletes and adults alike lining up to get their reps in. But as common as the bench press is, it’s also one of the leading causes of shoulder pain in athletes and active adults.
One of the toughest challenges athletes face after ACL surgery is knowing whether they are truly ready to return to play. Getting this wrong can have serious consequences, not only a higher risk of re-tearing the repaired ACL, but also the possibility of injuring the other knee or sustaining a completely new lower body injury.
