Music to my ears. Movement to my steps...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music

"The applicable contribution of these novel findings is that music tempo could serve as an unprompted means to impact running cadence. As increases in step rate may prove beneficial in the prevention and treatment of common running-related injuries, this finding could be especially relevant for treatment purposes, such as exercise prescription and gait retraining."

Van Dyck E, Moens B, Buhmann J, Demey M, Coorevits E, Dalla Bella S, Leman M. Spontaneous Entrainment of Running Cadence to Music Tempo. Sports Med Open. 2015;1(1):15. Epub 2015 Jul 14.

link to free full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4526248/

image credit: http://pressplay.pbworks.com/w/page/82954552/Loebner%20Keith%20HW%203

Podcast 139: STEM &PRP therapies for athletes

Topics:
We are all over the board today folks, topics like PRP but more so we go down some paths that are more fundamentally clinical and neurologic with a sprinkling of orthopedics to round things out. Sometimes these are our best shows.

Links to find the podcast:

iTunes page:

http://traffic.libsyn.com/thegaitguys/pod_139finalfull_-_92218_7.16_AM.mp3

Google Play:

https://play.google.com/music/m/Icdfyphojzy3drj2tsxaxuadiue?t=The_Gait_Guys_Podcast

Direct Download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/thegaitguys/pod_139finalfull_-_92218_7.16_AM.mp3

Permalink URL: http://thegaitguys.libsyn.com/podcast-139-stem-prp-therapies-for-athletes

Libsyn URL: http://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/id/7077174

Our Websites:
www.thegaitguys.com

doctorallen.co

summitchiroandrehab.com

shawnallen.net

Our website is all you need to remember. Everything you want, need and wish for is right there on the site.
Interested in our stuff ? Want to buy some of our lectures or our National Shoe Fit program? Click here (thegaitguys.com or thegaitguys.tumblr.com) and you will come to our websites. In the tabs, you will find tabs for STORE, SEMINARS, BOOK etc. We also lecture every 3rd Wednesday of the month on onlineCE.com. We have an extensive catalogued library of our courses there, you can take them any time for a nominal fee (~$20).

Our podcast is on iTunes and just about every other podcast harbor site, just google "the gait guys podcast", you will find us.

Is there a need for "Gait Retraining'?...We think so

photo source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Severe_(Tönnis_grade_3)_osteoarthritis_of_the_hip.jpg

There seems to be some controversy with regards to gait retraining. Some folks seem to believe that it should be “left to itself” and they are fully compensated already (1). Perhaps this is true…or not. We have not seen any studies that compare gait retraining vs non gait retraining as a whole, but there seems to be plenty for specific conditions (2). We all see folks AFTER THE FACT and seek to correct the problems and reverse, halt or slow the progression of further pathology. That seems to be what many of us do.

This recent study (3) looks ate altered loads and muscle recruitment patterns in patients with osteoarthritis. they conclude:

“This study documents alterations in hip kinematics and kinetics resulting in decreased hip loading in patients with hip OA. The results suggested that patients altered their gait to increase medio-lateral stability, thereby decreasing demand on the hip abductors. These findings support discharge of abductor muscles that may bear clinical relevance of tailored rehabilitation targeting hip abductor muscles strengthening and gait retraining.”

There is substantial evidence that hip pathomechanics lead to osteoarthritis (4, 5). Wouldn’t it make sense to assist in altering motor patterns and correct those biomechanical faults before it becomes a problem? Lets change our focus (if we haven’t already) and concentrate on skill, endurance and strength, in that order for the betterment of ourselves, our patients and humanity.

1. Nigg BM, Baltich J, Hoerzer S, Enders H. Running shoes and running injuries: mythbusting and a proposal for two new paradigms: “preferred movement path” and “comfort filter” Br J Sports Med. 2015 Jul; doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2015-095054. bjsports - 2015-095054. 

2. Davis IS, Futrell E. Gait Retraining: Altering the Fingerprint of Gait. Physical medicine and rehabilitation clinics of North America. 2016;27(1):339-355. doi:10.1016/j.pmr.2015.09.002. FREE FULL TEXT

3. Meyer CAG, Wesseling M, Corten K, Nieuwenhuys A, Monari D5, Simon JP, Jonkers I, Desloovere K. Hip movement pathomechanics of patients with hip osteoarthritis aim at reducing hip joint loading on the osteoarthritic side. Gait Posture. 2018 Jan;59:11-17. doi: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2017.09.020. Epub 2017 Sep 22.

4. Christian Egloff, Thomas Hügle, Victor Valderrabano: Biomechanics and pathomechanisms of osteoarthritis Swiss Med Wkly. 2012;142:w13583 FREE FULL TEXT

5. https://www.the-rheumatologist.org/article/get-out-of-your-oa-box/?singlepage=1&theme=print-friendly

People who are injured move differently

Like we have said before, often times when folks are injured they often lose cortical function (afferent input) from a particular area, and their gait becomes more primitive, often taking a broader base, slower movement, increased amplitude of movement and sometimes requiring assistance or something to help them balance, like our post here: 

"Findings suggest that movement variability in those with a musculo-skeletal injury differs from uninjured individuals. Interestingly, there was an overall trend toward greater movement variability being associated with the injured groups, although it should be noted that this trend was not consistent across all subcategories (eg, injury type). "

Baida SR, Gore SJ, Franklyn-Miller AD, Moran KA. Does the amount of lower extremity movement variability differ between injured and uninjured populations? A systematic review. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2018 Apr;28(4):1320-1338. doi: 10.1111/sms.13036. Epub 2018 Feb 14. (

Zonas vs K Tape

image source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kinesio_Taping_for_Soleus_and_Achilles_tendon.jpg

In this case, flexibility and an elastic component (K Tape), which adds proprioception, rather than rigid (Zonas), which takes it away, seems to work better. 

"Compared to Athletic Tape, Kinesio Tape (KT)  provides a flexible pulling force that facilitates foot eversion during early stance, while not restricting normal inversion in late stance during walking. KT may be a useful clinical tool in correcting aberrant motion while not limiting natural movement in sports."

Yen SC, Folmar E, Friend KA, Wang YC, Chui KK. Effects of kinesiotaping and athletic taping on ankle kinematics during walking in individuals with chronic ankle instability: A pilot study. Gait Posture. 2018 Aug 28;66:118-123. doi: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2018.08.034. [Epub ahead of print]

What specific movement pattern(s) does a person with chronic ankle instability have?

image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ligament

...it is unique and depends on their compensation

"The researchers concluded that multiple distinct movement patterns were found in a high percentage of CAI subjects and each person likely incorporates unique positions and loads that contribute to the chronic nature of instability. Additionally, the data revealed distal joint stiffness was lower in those with CAI than controls generally, while proximal joint stiffness was greater than controls. These data support the theory that the hop plays a vital role in controlling lower extremity movement in CAI subjects."

Hopkins JT, Son SJ, Kim J, et al. Joint Stiffness Alterations, Grouped by Movement Strategy, in Chronic Ankle Instability.

http://lermagazine.com/special-section/conference-coverage/identifying-cai-through-specific-movement-patterns

Muscle Spindles and Proprioception

image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fusimotor_action.jpg

And what have we been saying for the last 6 years? 

Connected to the nervous system by large diameter afferent (sensory) fibers, they are classically thought of as appraising the nervous system of vital information like length and rate of change of length of muscle fibers, so we can be coordinated. They act like volume controls for muscle sensitivity. Turn them up and the muscle becomes more sensitive to ANY input, especially stretch (so they become touchy…maybe like you get if you are hungry and tired and someone asks you to do something); turn them down and they become less or unresponsive.

Their excitability is governed by the sum total (excitatory and inhibitory) of all neurons (like interneuron’s) acting on them (their cell bodies reside in the anterior horn of the spinal cord).

Along with with Golgi tendon organs and joint mechanoreceptors, they also act as proprioceptive sentinels, telling us where our body parts are in space. We have been teaching this for years. Here is a paper that exemplifies that, identifying several proteins responsible for neurotransduction including the Piezo2 channel as a candidate for the principal mechanotransduction channel. Many neuromuscular diseases are accompanied by impaired  muscle spindle function, causing a decline of motor performance and coordination. This is yet another key finding in the kinesthetic system and its workings. 

Remember to include proprioceptive exercises and drills (on flat planar surfaces, like we talked about here) in your muscle rehab programs

 

Kröger S Proprioception 2.0: novel functions for muscle spindles. Curr Opin Neurol. 2018 Oct;31(5):592-598. 

Woo SH, Lukacs V, de Nooij JC, Zaytseva D, Criddle CR, Francisco A, Jessell TM, Wilkinson KA, Patapoutian A. Piezo2 is the principal mechanotransduction channel for proprioception.Nat Neurosci. 2015 Dec; 18(12):1756-62. Epub 2015 Nov 9.

Fusimotor control of proprioceptive feedback during locomotion and balancing: can simple lessons be learned for artificial control of gait?

Hulliger M. Fusimotor control of proprioceptive feedback during locomotion and balancing: can simple lessons be learned for artificial control of gait? Prog Brain Res. 1993; 97:173-80.

All that creaks may not be pathological...

image source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Runners-knee_SAG.jpg

Gal with creaky knees? Patellar crepitus? Does all that noise mean something?

Well, it means that knee function is suboptimal and more than likely, there is abnormal patellar tracking. But is that clinically significant? The answer is ....maybe.

This study (1) looked at over 300 women, about 1/2 with patellofemoral pain and half without looking at the following outcomes: 

• the knee crepitis test
• anterior knee pain scale
• self reported knee pain in the last month
• knee pain after 10 squats 
• knee pain after climbing 10 stairs

They found that if you had patello femoral pain, you were 4 times more likely to have crepitus than not, but there was no correlation of crepitus with  Knee crepitus had no relationship with function, physical activity level , worst pain, pain climbing stairs or pain squatting. 

We would have loved to have seen any correlation in this group with knee valgus angles (i.e. "Q" angles 2 ) and how much tibial or femoral torsion was present (as these things change pressure and contact area 3), but that will hopefully be found in the literature elsewhere. 

1. , Pazzinatto MF, Priore LBD, Ferreira AS, Briani RV, Ferrari D, Bazett-Jones D, Azevedo FM. Knee crepitus is prevalent in women with patellofemoral pain, but is not related with function, physical activity and pain. Phys Ther Sport. 2018 Sep;33:7-11. doi: 10.1016/j.ptsp.2018.06.002. Epub 2018 Jun 6.

2. Emami MJ1, Ghahramani MH, Abdinejad F, Namazi H. Q-angle: an invaluable parameter for evaluation of anterior knee pain. Arch Iran Med. 2007 Jan;10(1):24-6.

3. Thay Q. Lee, PhD, Garrett Morris, BS, Rick P. Csintalan, MDThe Influence of Tibial and Femoral Rotation on Patellofemoral Contact Area and Pressure Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2003;33:686-693.