Brian Schiff’s Blog

I have been attending the 26th Annual Cincinnati Sports Medicine Advances on the Shoulder and Knee conference in Hilton Head, SC.  This is my first time here and the course has not disappointed.  I have always known that Dr. Frank Noyes is a very skilled surgeon and has a great group in Cincinnati as I am originally an Ohio guy too.

So, I thought I would just share a few little nuggets that I have taken away from the first three days of the course so far.  I am not going into great depth, but suffice it to say these pearls shed some light on some controversial and difficult problems we see in sports medicine.

Shoulder Tidbits

1. Fixing SLAP tears may not always fix shoulder pain as in many cases it may be in part due to posterior capsule tightness and anterior instability leading to internal impingement.  Additionally, many of the docs here choose not to repair type 2 tears in those over 40 tears and provide a biceps tenotomy or tenodesis to instead to deliver more predictable pain relief as opposed to a labral repair.
2. Intraoperative pain pumps in the shoulder are causing glenohumeral joint chondrolysis in the shoulder in many cases. According to the panel of docs, this has been seen in teenagers and patients in their twenties as well.  They have often undergone other procedures from outside docs and then developed increasing pain afterward.  Many have had to even undergo a total shoulder replacement after a few years post-op.  The MDs here have suggested even post-operative Marcaine injections for pain relief in the shoulder should probably not be used.  It was very sad to see an 18 y/o shoulder x-ray they put up that looked as if the patient was 80 years old.
3. Double row rotator cuff tendon repairs seem to outperform single row repairs with respect to tendon healing (90% for DR and 76% for SR techniques in a comprehensive review of the literature)
4. Stretching cross body horizontal adduction may be more important for throwers and overhead athletes than the sleeper stretch – best to have a therapist stabilize the scapula and then move the shoulder across the body keeping the shoulder in neutral rotation (it will tend to externally rotate)
5. Arthroscopic stabilization is better than open surgery for posterior shoulder instability as the posterior cuff and deltoid are not violated, ROM recovery is more predictable, patient satisfaction is higher and there is a more predictable return to sport

Knee Tidbits

1. Increased femoral anteversion and torsion is a developmental factor that does in fact control the knee to a great extent. The tibial tubercle-sulcus angle, thigh-foot angle and foot alignment is also key according to Dr. Lonnie Paulos.  In cases of miserable patella mal-alignment, many will need de-rotation and re-alignment procedures to improve their symptoms.
2. The consensus among the orthopods here was that using a bone-tendon-bone patella tendon autograft to reconstruct torn ACLs in the younger more active athletes (soccer players and football players) is preferable to a hamstring graft or allograft.  Allografts did not seem to be the graft of choice by any of the docs for the younger patients.  Some would use a hamstring autograft provided there was no MCL pathology.  The PTG autograft was the gold standard for years (always my favorite graft choice for high level/demand athletes) so I was pleased to see the trend for this population moving away from the ST/gracilis HS grafts.
3. Kevin Wilk, DPT (primary PT for Dr. James Andrews), was advocating restoring full and symmetrical ROM after ACL surgery.  I tend to agree with this principle myself.  However, Dr. Noyes was not in agreement and rather cautiously noted he would be okay with about 3 degrees of hyperextension on the repaired side no matter how much hyperextension was available on the other side.  Kevin also noted that restoring full flexion was paramount to restoring running mechanics and speed in higher level athletes.
4. The golden time to repair a MCL tear is in the first 7-10 days.  Dr. Paulos also suggested it is absolutely necessary to fix the deep layer as well as the superficial layer.  His talk emphasized how big of a mistake it is to not repair the deep layer.  He also warns that the strength of the repair is less important than restoring proper length, tension and collagen.
5. For PCL augmented repairs, a 2 bundle repair is repaired.  Most of the docs like to use a quad tendon autograft from the contralateral thigh, but will take it from the same leg if patients insist.  The consensus seemed to be that a repair should be done if there is 10 millimeters or more of drop off.

These are just some of the highlights I wanted to pass along.  There was lots of other good stuff (much of it a nice review of anatomy, biomechanics and protocol guidelines for rehab) but I wanted to pass along some of these key items while they were fresh in my head.  I will likely be sharing more in the future, particularly with respect to patello-femoral pain and SLAP tears as these are just so controversial in terms of surgical and rehab management.

In most gyms and training circles, people are performing bench press or push-up exercises.  There is no doubt in my mind that repetitive heavy full range bench press causes many of the labral and cuff injuries among males I have seen over the years These injuries are often the attritional type – developing over many months and years.

What about push-ups?  Is the force development pattern the same?  Are they safer?  Honestly, I believe in keeping the elbow at a point at which it does not drop below the plane of the body (bench press) or move above the body (push-up).  Essentially that means keeping to a 90 degree angle or less.  Why?  Well, regardless of load, I feel the real risk is not so much in the motion itself but the very repetitive manner in which it occurs with external loads, often lending itself to acquired anterior shoulder laxity, strain on the proximal biceps anchor (think SLAP lesions) and secondary shoulder impingement.  The picture below hurts my shoulders just looking at it, and over time this technique will hurt your shoulders too.

But, I say all that to set up today’s post.  In a recent article in the February edition of the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, David Suprak et al. looked at the effect of position on the % of body mass supported during traditional and modified push-ups.

The study looked at 4 static positions in 28 males (about 34 years old) who were highly trained and members of the special forces or SWAT team (the up and down position for regular and modified push-ups) to determine the change in body mass (BM) supported by the upper body in different ranges of motion.  The down positions studied were at approximately 90 degrees (the lowest depth I safely recommend) and all holds were performed for 6 seconds.

Continue reading…

Well, today is Thanksgiving.  It should be a relaxing time to get together with loved ones and reflect on all we have to be thankful for.  I know 2008 has been full of triumphs for me personally and professioanlly speaking.  It has also had its challenges.  I am thankful for both as I reflect back on the year.

Oddly enough, I believe the challenges often lead to the most growth even though they can be very painful.  I feel so blessed to get up every day and help make the lives of others better through my fitness programs and knowledge about injury prevention and rehab.  So, thanks ot all of my clients and customers for putting your faith in me.  You only have one body on this earth, and making it the best body should be a goal shared by all.

With that said, I promised an update about my new e book.  As advertised, you can grab a copy online at www.HealthyGolfShoulders.com for only $19.95 from now until Sunday November 30.  This is half price!  Take advantage of this special Holiday offer.  I think it has great content that will help anyone has shoulder issues and/or plays golf.  You can get a sample online prior to buying if you like.

I look forward to hearing what people think.  If you have questions or comments, please send them to info@thefitnessedge.cc.   I have included another photo from the manual below.  This exercise is one of my preferred core strengthening exercises.  Lots more fun ones in the manual too. 

3 Point Plank

Be sure to tell all your golfing friends and family about the site even if you do not golf so they can test drive the book risk free for 60 days.  Now go enjoy your Thanksgiving feast!