“I was told I need a knee replacement.” I hear some version of this all the time in my office. Usually, the person has been dealing with knee pain for months or even years. They finally get an X-ray, they’re told they have arthritis – sometimes “severe” or “bone-on-bone” arthritis – and suddenly a total knee replacement feels inevitable. And sometimes it is the right choice. Knee replacement...
Fall Hiking and Knee Pain: Why Your Knees Hurt Going Downhill Fall hiking is officially here, and it’s my favorite time to be on a trail. The air is cooler, the leaves are changing, and a climb that felt miserable to do in August weather now sounds like a great idea. Until the way down. You may feel perfectly fine (okay, more like out of breath) climbing to...
People rarely notice the first signs of physical decline when they’re in the gym. They notice them while carrying groceries up the stairs, getting off the floor after playing with a grandchild, lifting a suitcase into an overhead compartment, or declining that pickleball match or regular walk with friends. You can still get the job done. It just feels harder than it used to and certainly less enjoyable....
Ten years ago, you could play 18 holes on Saturday, mow the lawn on Sunday, and barely think about it. Now your back tightens up halfway through a round. Your elbow aches for two days afterward. Maybe your knee complains every time you walk a hilly course, or your shoulder feels stiff before you’ve even reached the back nine. The frustrating part is that it often feels like...
A meniscus tear is one of the most commonly diagnosed knee injuries – and also one of the most misunderstood. If you’ve recently been told you have a torn meniscus and that surgery is your only option – I want you to take a deep breath and pause for a moment… Because in most cases – especially if you’re over 40 – there’s a very good chance you...
If I were lucky enough to be on Jayson Tatum’s rehab team following his Achilles tendon repair, I’d be pulling out all the stops to help him recover quickly, fully, and most importantly, safely. An Achilles injury is no joke – even for the fittest, most elite athletes in the world. But with the right approach and the right technology, a full recovery and return to play is...
Approximately 500,000 Americans undergo back surgery to relieve their pain every year. But the American Society of Anesthesiologists estimates that 20 – 40% of those surgeries fail – leaving folks worse off than before they were considering back surgery in the first place. And what happens when your first back surgery fails? You get a second surgery – and maybe even a third – to try and repair...
If you love to run, then you’re probably no stranger to running injuries. But if you love to run and you’re over 50, not only are you more likely to suffer a running-related injury compared to runners half your age, but you’ll tend to suffer from different categories of injuries as well. In older runners, we tend to see more soft-tissue related injuries versus problems with joints and...
Approximately 7 million people undergo an orthopedic surgery each year in the United States. Topping this list are elective procedures (meaning they are not life threatening or urgent) such as ACL reconstruction, total hip and knee replacements, arthroscopic surgery (meniscus repairs, shoulder decompression, etc), and spinal fusions. Now, what if I told you that of the top 10 elective orthopedic surgeries performed, only one (carpal tunnel syndrome) has...
Skiing can put a lot of stress on your knee joints and if you’re not careful – lead to pain and injury. Your knee joint requires both mobility and stability to function well. It’s important for your knee joint to be mobile enough to allow for a full range of motion. But, it also needs to be stable enough to support your body weight and absorb the forces...
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Portsmouth, NH’s people-first physical therapy studio. We help active adults 40+ find the root cause of their pain and build a long-term plan to fix it, so they can get back to doing what they love most.
