Shake It Up: Vibration Training Improves Balance for Chronic Ankle Instability Group

Whole-Body Vibration Training and Balance in Recreational Athletes With Chronic Ankle Instability

Sierra-Guzmán R, Jiménez-Diaz F, Ramírez C, Esteban P, Abián-Vicén J. J Athl Train. 2018;53(3):000–000. doi: 10.4085/1-62-6050-547-16.

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Take-Home Message: Recreational athletes with chronic ankle instability may benefit from balance training, especially with whole-body vibration.

Whole-body vibration is an increasingly popular technique to challenge and train a patient’s proprioception to improve balance outcomes, especially in patients with chronic ankle instability (CAI). There is also limited evidence that whole-body vibration may increase leg muscle mass. Therefore, the researchers explored the effect of whole-body vibration training on balance and lean muscle mass among 51 recreational athletes with CAI compared to balance training without vibration and a control group.

Tactile Feedback: Is it Really as Good as We Think?

Effects of tactile feedback on lumbar multifidus muscle activity in asymptomatic healthy adults and patients with low back pain

Wang-Price S, Zafereo J, Brizzolara K, Anderson E. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies. 2017; 1-7

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1360859218300494

Take Home Message: Continuous and direct tactile feedback on the lumbar multifidus fails to facilitate muscle activation in people with and without low back pain.

People with low back pain have smaller and more atrophied lumbar multifidus muscles on the involved side. Clinicians often include lumbar multifidus activation training in rehabilitation programs and use multiple strategies to teach and facilitate lumbar multifidus activation; including, tactile feedback through direct hand contact of the clinician.  Surprisingly, there is little evidence that tactile feedback improves lumbar multifidus activation. The authors conducted a descriptive study to investigate the association between tactile feedback and lumbar multifidus activation at rest and during a contracted state in healthy people and those with low back pain.

Don’t Delay, Act(ivate) Now

Altered trunk muscle recruitment patterns during lifting in individuals in remission from recurrent low back pain

Suehiro T, Ishida H, Kobara K, Osaka H, Watanabe S. J Electromyogr Kinesiol. 2018 ahead of print. 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1050641117302742?via%3Dihub

Take Home Message: People with remission of recurrent low back pain had delayed onset of the lumbar multifidus, internal oblique and transverse abdominis muscles during a lifting task compared with their healthy counterparts.

Low back pain (LBP) is a debilitating condition and many patients recover but end up caught in a cycle of symptom resolution followed by symptom recurrence. Adults with LBP have altered trunk muscle recruitment patterns. However, it is unknown if these altered patterns persist when people become asymptomatic. If so, they potentially explain why these people are at risk for the recurrence of LBP. The authors of this study compared trunk muscle onset time and muscle activation of trunk muscles during a lifting task between individuals in remission from LBP and asymptomatic individuals.

Are Youth Sports Coaches Really Aware of Guidelines?

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs of Youth Sports Coaches Regarding Sport Volume Recommendations and Sport Specialization

Post EG, Trigsted SM, Schaefer DA, Cadmus-Bertram LA, Watson AM, McGuine TA, Brooks MA, Bell DR. J Strength Cond Res. 2018 Feb 22. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000002529. [Epub ahead of print]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29481449

Take Home Message: Coaches may be unaware of current recommendations about training volume and sports specialization but express concerns about sport specialization.

Sports specialization is increasingly common despite a lack of evidence that it leads to success and is linked to increased injury risk, particularly overuse injury. Several professional organizations including the National Athletic Trainers’ Association and American Medical Society for Sports Medicine have released position statements to caution against early sports specialization. While coaches profoundly impact an athlete’s decision to specialize and train, we know little about their knowledge and beliefs regarding sport specialization and training volume. Hence, the authors sought to determine the knowledge of youth sport coaches regarding sport volumes and to assess the attitudes or thoughts regarding youth sport specialization.

Are Football Related Concussions Causing a Behavioral Shift Away From Participation?

Traumatic brain injury news reports and participation in high school tackle-football

Feudtner C, Miles SH. JAMA Pediatr. 2018. [Epub Ahead of Print].

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29532090

Take Home Message: A recent decline in high school football participation coincides with an increase in news reports on football and brain injuries.

The recent decline in adolescent boys participating in American football may be influenced by media coverage of football-associated health risks (concussions, chronic traumatic encephalopathy). However, there is little data available to support this notion. Therefore, the authors looked at football participation and news coverage of football-related concussions from 2001 to 2016.

National Football League Head, Neck and Spine Committee's Concussion Diagnosis and Management Protocol: 2017-18 season

National Football League Head, Neck and Spine Committee's Concussion Diagnosis and Management Protocol: 2017-18 season.

Ellenbogen RG, Batjer H, Cardenas J, Berger M, Bailes J, Pieroth E, Heyer R, Theodore N, Hsu W, Nabel E, Maroon J, Cantu R, Barnes R, Collins J, Putukian M, Lonser R, Solomon G, Sills A. Br J Sports Med. 2018 Mar 16. pii: bjsports-2018-099203. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2018-099203. [Epub ahead of print]

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The National Football League (NFL) Head, Neck and Spine Committee synthesized the current evidence for concussion diagnosis and management including the Berlin consensus statement and tailored it to the NFL. “One of the goals of the Committee is to provide a standardised, reliable, efficient and evidence-based protocol for concussion diagnosis and management that can be applied in this professional sport during practice and game day. In this article, the end-of-season version of the 2017-18 NFL Concussion Diagnosis and Management Protocol is described along with its clinical rationale. Immediate actions for concussion programme enhancement and research are reviewed.”

View 154 other recent position statements, consensus statements, guidelines, and recommendations related to sports medicine.

Position Statement of the Arthroscopy Association of Canada (AAC) Concerning Arthroscopy of the Knee Joint-September 2017

Position Statement of the Arthroscopy Association of Canada (AAC) Concerning Arthroscopy of the Knee Joint-September 2017.

Arthroscopy Association of Canada, Wong I, Hiemstra L, Ayeni OR, Getgood A, Beavis C, Volesky M, Outerbridge R, Sheehan B, McCormack R, Litchfield R, Whelan D, Mohtadi N, Coady C, MacDonald PB. Orthop J Sports Med. 2018 Feb 26;6(2):2325967118756597. doi: 10.1177/2325967118756597. eCollection 2018 Feb.

Full Text is Freely Available

The Arthroscopy Association of Canada has released a position statement intended to outline current best practice guidelines for the role of arthroscopy of knees, “taking into consideration the available evidence as well as the clinical knowledge of experienced surgeons”. This statement is “virtually identical to that of the Australian Knee Society on arthroscopic surgery of the knee and consistent with consensus statements published in Europe.” The document offers 8 conclusions and a partial list of abnormalities that may coexist with osteoarthritis and warrant arthroscopic surgery. The document also defined degenerative meniscal tear discuss comprehensive nonoperative management of osteoarthritis and imaging of the atraumatic painful knee.

View 153 other recent position statements, consensus statements, guidelines, and recommendations related to sports medicine.