ProActive PT would like to give a big congratulations to Xander Schauffele for his win at The Greenbrier and for his fifth-place tie at the US Open. Our resident golf expert and Titleist Performance Institute certified Physical Therapist Alberto Pesqueira, met Xander at Bernardo Heights Country Club eight years ago. The two started working together three years ago when Xander was a student-athlete at San Diego State University. Alberto’s work with Xander focuses on maintaining good alignment, soft tissue mobility, and recovery when in season. In the off season, they work on improving strength, speed, and power. When Xander is home for a week or two, they try to work in two to three sessions which include both body prep and training.

Every year nearly 7.5 million people schedule doctor’s visits due to shoulder problems. Shoulder injuries are frequently caused by athletic activities that involve excessive, repetitive, overhead motion, such as swimming, tennis, pitching, and weightlifting. Injuries can also occur during everyday activities such as scrubbing or washing, working overhead such as with hanging curtains or painting, and gardening. Although many of these injuries are traumatic and prevention is difficult, many of the non-traumatic injuries are preventable. Continue Reading »

While rock climbing was previously thought of as an extreme sport, an increase in the number of climbing gyms in the past 30 years has made the sport more accessible and increasingly popular. As more non-skilled climbers have taken up the physically and emotionally challenging activity, they have put themselves at an increased risk of injury. Besides the risk posed by traumatic falls, physical therapists have also noticed an increase in overuse injuries. Due to the repetitive, high torque movements in rock climbing, we are seeing climbers push their abilities without proper form, technique or cross training.

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Lateral epicondylitis, commonly known as tennis elbow, is often a result of overuse. Computing and using the mouse, stirring food in a pot, lifting heavy objects repeatedly, turning a screw driver, and playing tennis are common causes of pain felt on the outside of the elbow.

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Plantar fasciitis is an injury commonly associated with overuse or overtraining. Plantar fasciitis (foot or heel pain) often occurs when the patient changes or increases their running program or is traveling and increases their walking distances quickly. A change in shoes or running/walking surfaces can also initiate the symptoms of plantar fasciitis.
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Do your feet hurt when you walk? Do you get cramps in your feet or lower legs? Feel tight and achy after a long day of work? There are many reasons why the feet can be painful, but there are also easy solutions that you can implement into your day to keep your feet happy and healthy.

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Ever wonder why many baby products or spas have a lavender or sweet/floral smell? This is because lavender is often used as an aromatherapeutic tool to reduce anxiety and emotional stress and increase relaxation to improve sleep. Can this same concept be applied to pain, swelling, muscle soreness, etc? How can we use essential oils and aromatherapy to assist in our healing?

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Anterior knee pain, also known as patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS), is one of the most common conditions affecting active individuals. It is estimated that 2.5 million runners are diagnosed with PFPS each year, with females being at greater risk. Studies have also shown that PFPS can be very stubborn, with the majority of cases affecting function for at least 5 years, and a very large percentage of individuals suffering more than one episode of pain.

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Frequently, individuals experience shoulder pain without any specific cause or trauma. As most people think, the smart thing to do in this situation would be to stop using the shoulder – avoiding any movement that would cause further pain. In the case of frozen shoulder, or adhesive capsulitis – conventional wisdom in this case is not so wise!

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Usually we are thinking and talking about backpacks at the beginning of the school year. But, now that we are mid way into the school year, our kids may be complaining about the weight of their backpacks. Of course they need to use their back pack everyday and generally they are good at distributing the heavy load across their strong back and shoulder muscles. But we should be also be aware that overly stressing the back with a heavy backpack could strain the back, neck, or shoulders and cause back pain in our children.  A heavy weight carried in backpacks can:

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