The Ask Mike Reinold Show

If you treat a lot of knee pain, this week’s episode is for you.

We review a new best-practice guide for patellofemoral pain that pulls together research, patient voices, and expert reasoning into one playbook. But here’s the twist: when you blend the data with what patients actually want and what clinicians really do, one deceptively simple priority rises to the top - something many of us already use, but probably not the way this ...

Returning to sport after an injury is always a challenge. In the profession, a lot of attention has been given to objective testing to determine when and how to progress athletes. This has been a significant evolution that will definitely improve outcomes.

But what do you do when an athlete passes objective testing but not psychological readiness testing?

We talk about what we do in this week’s podcast episode.

To see full show notes ...

There is no doubt that back and hip pain are often linked and sometimes confusing to diagnose. But sometimes it's hard to differentiate the two, and what may be the underlying cause versus the symptoms.

We discuss in this week’s podcast episode.

To see full show notes and more, head to: https://mikereinold.com/how-to-differentiate-between-hip-and-low-back-pain/

A meta-analysis was recently published, suggesting that outcomes may be the same between nonoperative and surgical reconstruction after ACL injury. 

Clearly, social media has been buzzing. 

But are outcomes really the same? 

We discuss this in this episode.

To see full show notes and more, head to: https://mikereinold.com/are-the-outcomes-really-the-same-between-nonoperative-and-surgical-treatment-of-acl-injuries/

One of the most essential parts of ACL rehabilitation is regaining strength in the leg. Traditionally, rehab specialists have been guilty of underloading people during the rehabilitation of these injuries.

Ah, the old “3 sets of 10.”

In this episode, we review a recent journal article that compares the outcomes of two different set and rep schemes during ACL rehabilitation.

To see full show notes and more, head to: https://mikereinold...

Hamstring strains continue to rise in sports.  As we continue to learn more, the evolution of our rehabilitation programs has also evolved.

Here are our current thoughts on how fast to progress athletes back to sports after a hamstring strain.

To see full show notes and more, head to: https://mikereinold.com/how-to-progress-rehabilitation-following-hamstring-strains/

Objective strength testing is always important to document progress and ensure that patients are ready for the next phase of rehabilitation.

But, when do you start testing strength with a hand-held dynamometer after rotator cuff repair surgery?

We discuss on this episode of the podcast.

To see full show notes and more, head to: https://mikereinold.com/when-to-test-strength-after-a-rotator-cuff-repair/

Low back pain injuries are common in athletes, and often present differently than the typical orthopedic disc-related neurogenic pain.

In this episode, we discuss a recent review article on the diagnosis and management of low back pain in athletes.

It was nice to see this topic applied to a specific athletic population and include recommendations on treatment as well as evidence-based lifting modifications.

To see full show notes and ...

As we continue to learn more and more about arthrogenic muscle inhibition after ACL reconstruction surgery, we can continue to build better rehabilitation programs for our athletes.

In this episode, the team discusses a recent review article on AMI and its impact on postoperative rehabilitation and return to sport decision-making.

To see full show notes and more, head to: https://mikereinold.com/management-of-arthrogenic-muscle-inhib...

In this podcast, we review a recent article on the effect of strength training on running economy and performance.

Many people have been advocating for incorporating more strength training into the routine of runners for some time.  It’s nice to see research emerging to continue supporting this.

A simple strength training program can improve running performance.

To see full show notes and more, head to:
https://mikereinold.com/do...

Swelling and quadriceps muscle weakness are not uncommon after ACL reconstruction, and can even persist for several months.

Athletes want to get back to running and eventually their sport as fast as they can. But sometimes using time-based criteria is not optimal.

In this episode, we answer a question about whether an athlete should start running 5 months after an ACL reconstruction, even though they have persistent swelling and very...

Over the last several years, the PT community has grown more convinced that athletes should not return to sport earlier than nine months.

Research reports suggested that 9 months was a magic number. But what if your patient looks amazing at 8 months?

In this episode, we review a recent article that showed that athletes returning earlier than 9 months were not at more risk if they met the proper objective criteria.

To see full show not...

The debate over postoperative rehabilitation after rotator cuff repair continues to evolve.

In this episode of the podcast, we review a recent article that looked at outcomes between two groups, one that was stiff and one that wasn’t.

Here are our thoughts on the paper.

To see full show notes and more, head to: https://mikereinold.com/does-stiffness-lead-to-better-outcomes-after-rotator-cuff-repair/ 

It's important to have objective test data to safely progress patients and return them to sport after injuries like ACL reconstruction.

Isokinetic testing is still the gold standard. However, the machines are large and expensive, and they are used much less frequently.

We don’t even have an isokinetic machine at Champion.

Here’s what we do instead.

To see full show notes and more, head to: https://mikereinold.com/do-you-need-isoki...

Internal bracing is becoming a very popular procedure with orthopedic surgeons. Repairing ligaments and then augmenting the tissue with an internal brace has shown to be promising throughout the body, including the MCL of the knee.

But, what do you do if there is prolonged stiffness?

To see full show notes and more, head to: https://mikereinold.com/knee-mcl-repair-with-internal-brace/

Oblique injuries are common in baseball players, and not so common in other sports.

With baseball players training so much more in the offseason with high volume and max intent, it’s no wonder these injuries are rising.

Here’s how we approach these injuries and how to progress them back to hitting.

To see full show notes and more, head to: https://mikereinold.com/oblique-injuries-in-baseball-players/

Restoring range of motion after a rotator cuff repair is one of the most important factors in long-term patient satisfaction.

Internal rotation is especially important, as a loss of IR can really limit their functional movements.

There are many variables to consider when rehabbing a rotator cuff repair patient. Several factors will alter our speed of progression.

Unfortunately, protocols vary greatly. Here are our thoughts on restorin...

Rehabilitation after ACL reconstruction is a long, sequential process.

We look for specific criteria before progressing our athletes back to running.

Here are the criteria we look for and the progression we follow for plyometrics, running, sprinting, and agility work to help athletes get back to competition after ACL surgery.

To see full show notes and more, head to: https://mikereinold.com/return-to-running-after-acl-surgery/

Little League Elbow is a common injury in youth baseball players. 

Little League Elbow is a growth plate injury typically seen in baseball pitchers around the age of 13.

At this age, the bone is typically the weak link, not the ligament. This is why we see more bony growth plate injuries than Tommy John injuries in youth athletes.

These often take longer to heal than you think, so we don’t usually rush them.

Here’s how we rehab these i...