Muscles, Joints, Ligaments & Bones

Surgical repair of a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), says Lyle Micheli, M.D., Director, Division of Sports Medicine at Children's Hospital Boston, is "big surgery" requiring replacement of the ACL and lengthy rehabilitation before return to sports.

Working collaboratively, a team of physical therapists, strength and conditioning coaches, head coaches, and athletic trainers designed an ACL injury prevention program that has reduced the incidence of non-contact anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries among female athletes at the University of Pennsylvania, says the school's head athletic trainer, Eric Laudano, M.H.S., ATC.

Overuse injuries occur when an athlete does too much, too soon, causing pain, says Eric Laudano, head athletic trainer at the University of Pennsylvania.

Athletes should work hard, but taking a no pain, no gain approach can turn a small problem into a big one, says physical therapist Patricia Ladis, because pain is the body's first line of defense against injury and a red flag that something is wrong which should not be ignored.

William H. Caddoo, DC suggests that parents looking for someone to treat their child's soft tissue sports injury consider a doctor, physical therapist, chiropractor, or even athletic trainer certified in Active Release Techniques^® (A.R.T.^®), and, that if they are looking for a doctor of chiropractic, they ask their child's pediatrician or friends for a recommendation.

William H. Caddoo, DC explains how Active Release Techniques® (A.R.T.)®, a patented, state-of-the-art soft tissue system/movement-based massage technique, can be used to effectively treat overuse injuries in growing athletes such as Sever's Disease and Osgood-Schlatter's, and other soft tissue sports injuries.