If you’re an athletes or runner who’s been dealing with persistent pain on the outside of your thigh or knee, there’s a good chance someone has told you to grab a foam roller and go to town on your IT band. And if you’ve tried it, you probably noticed that it didn’t do much.
It’s a tough time for Boston Celtics fans. Star forward Jayson Tatum ruptured his Achilles during the playoffs—effectively ending this season and possibly the next. But what’s even more concerning is that Tatum’s injury is not an isolated case—it’s part of a much larger and troubling trend in professional sports.
This weekend, I came across an article that caught my eye: “A WNBA Veteran Becomes the Latest Player to Suffer an ACL Tear.” The athlete mentioned was Katie Lou Samuelson of the Seattle Storm—shockingly, the third player on her team to suffer an ACL tear before the WNBA season even begins.
I’m now at that age where I have to start being more mindful of the nagging calf and Achilles injuries that seem to pop up for so many of us in our 30s, 40s, and beyond. Whether it’s rec league basketball, tennis, pickleball, or just hitting the gym hard, many active adults still love to move with intensity—but we may not have the same resiliency we had in our 20s.
If you’ve been through physical therapy with us at Cohen Health and Performance — especially after an injury like a tendinopathy or surgery — there’s a good chance you’ve experienced the power of isometric exercises firsthand.
In physical therapy, we see a lot of people who have been told to constantly brace their shoulder blades down and back to “fix” their posture. While that advice might sound helpful, it often causes more problems than it solves.
