Ann Arbor Foot and Ankle Treatment

Are you an active individual who is tired of dealing with foot & ankle pain and searching for treatment that provides lasting results?

At On Track Physio we help you overcome foot and ankle pains such as plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendinitis, and bunions WITHOUT unnecessary surgeries, injections, expensive orthotics that may or may not be helpful, or boring/mind numbing exercises.

Arch integrity and ankle mobility/dexterity can create problems for you in any activity. From walking a mile, to running a marathon or squatting at the gym.

 If you currently are experiencing foot and ankle pain. Know this:

1. The arch is another muscle just like any other in the body. It was designed to be used! Have strength and stability. If you have “flat feet” stop blaming genetics and start learning how to use your foot!

2. High arch foot pain might be genetic related but that does not mean you can not improve the mobility of the arch. Having arch mobility and control with movement is just as important as having arch integrity and strength!

3. : Seek out a provider that understands the foot and can create a exercise program that is full body oriented but has specific detailed attention to HOW your feet play a role in full body movements.

If you would like our help at On Track Physio. Schedule a Free Discovery Session to learn more about how our specific approach can help you achieve sustainable results!

We look forward to speaking with you soon :)

Simple Shoe Recommendations For Your Next Daily Footwear Purchase

A question I hear very frequently at On Track Physio is:

"I'm thinking about getting new shoes. What would you recommend?"

Word for word as they say it...

The problem with giving a specific shoe recommendation is that shoe companies tend to drastically change footwear models or come out with a new type every year. So the moment you find a shoe you like, the shoe company stops making them :(

Leaving you with the trial and error of trying to find a new shoe that fits good for YOUR foot.

So the purpose of this video below is to give you the specific qualities I look for in a shoe that I would wear on a daily basis. These are not recommendation for a specific shoe for a specific sport as that might vary depending on the sport. However, these are good overall concepts you should consider the next time you purchase a pair of shoes. Especially if you plan on wearing them on a daily basis. 

Watch the video below for these 3 simple tricks! Plus watch till the end and see a new sandal that is sure to make waves ;)

Ease Nagging Shin Splints While Continuing To Run

Shin Splints seem to be one of the biggest nagging complaints I hear from a variety of runners.

While many times some simple warm up and strengthening exercises can help. Often times the discomfort continues to linger, and as mileage accumulates things can start to become more and more of an issue.

On Track Physio provides alternative solutions to address this very injury. We have seen this issue many times before and won't waste your time with exercises or stretches that you are already doing. 

As a collegiate track athlete myself, I know exactly what you are dealing with. I can talk with you about strengthening, stretching, and running form. But I also recognize that sometimes certain muscles tend to respond well to some TLC treatment. 

We offer cupping and dry needling as a treatment of choice, which tends to work well if you already have the basics down.

The pictures below show the recovery modalities we use which on contrary to popular belief are actually quite comfortable (or at least should be! You do not need to aggressively dig into these already aggravated tissues to get reults). 

Contact us today to see how we can help you continue doing what you love!

Ann Arbor, Mi

About the Author: Dr. Greg Schaible is a physical therapist/strength coach specializing in athletic performance. He attended The University of Findlay, graduating in 2013 with his Doctorate of Physical Therapy (DPT). As a Track and Field athlete, he was as a 5x Division II All-American and 6x Division II Academic All-American. Greg is the owner of On Track Physiotherapy in Ann Arbor, Mi. You can stay up to date with helpful information and news on Facebook.

3 Ways To Stay Running Even If You Have Achilles Pain

When starting a running program, or if you have been running for quite some time. Chances are you may have encountered some achilles tendon pain. 

Chances are if you went to your physician or some other healthcare provider they may have told you to rest, ice, stretch, and perform some generic exercises. If this is all that you are doing, then it's no wonder why you still have not noticed any improvement.

I tell you why you should not stretch here.

I show you what to do instead here.

Finally, there are some other considerations you should make.

#1 ) Shoes 

Shoes do matter! Often times I will see people who just started running in zero drop heel shoes get pain because there tendon was never acclimated to this much range of motion under dynamic loading conditions such as running. Another thing I notice is that people become very patterned in their shoe. Either they put a lot of use on the inside of the shoe or outside of shoe. You want a shoe that allows you to feel the whole foot evenly. 

#2) Increase stride frequency and decrease stride distance while running. Think swift and quick with your legs. Often times people will report more comfort while running or jogging when they shorten their stride up and quicken their stride frequency. The result of this will be decreased impact on ground contact time, which results in decreased impact on the Achilles.

This modification often helps allow you to continue jogging or running if that is your goal. It does take some practice and coordination though, which is something we can definitely help you learn in addition to the specific exercises and treatment that will resolve the pain. 

#3) Land on whole foot, watch amount of heel drop when running. Usually sprinters have the most trouble with modification to achilles pain because sprinting requires them to be on the balls of their feet. 

A distance runner has more options on how they contact the ground when running. Landing on the whole foot while jogging or running tends to be the most comfortable. By decreasing the space and contacting the ground with the whole foot or rearfoot then we decrease the amount of dynamic stretch that is placed on the achilles.

The dynamic and quick stretch is often the pain generator. 

If you are a sprinter, the modification is making as rigid of a foot as possible so the heel does not drop into a quick stretch of the achilles. This modification allows you to stay on the balls of your feet, but decreases the distance the heel will drop when contacting the ground. 

In some instances we can not get around the pain and need to shut things down for a little bit until pain is more manageable. However, often their is a compromise that we can find.

If you'd like to see how we can help you recover FASTER. Fill out the short form below:

Ann Arbor, Mi

About the Author: Dr. Greg Schaible is a physical therapist/strength coach specializing in athletic performance. He attended The University of Findlay, graduating in 2013 with his Doctorate of Physical Therapy (DPT). As a Track and Field athlete, he was as a 5x Division II All-American and 6x Division II Academic All-American. Greg is the owner of On Track Physiotherapy in Ann Arbor, Mi. You can stay up to date with helpful information and news on Facebook.

Why you should STOP stretching your Achilles Pain!

I see people with achilles pain stretching their achilles constantly. 

The problem with this is that tightness is just a sensation. Often people feel tight in the calf because of the position they stand in all day long.

Likewise if you have pain, the body is going to protect you from going through any extreme range of motion for safety reasons. So it provides a sensation that encourages you to stop. 

Below is a picture of a common posture or position that many people stand in often.

As you can see, the hips are forward as compared to the lateral portion of the ankle joint. So if your hips and your ribs flare forward you are essentially leaning forward on the balls of your feet. In order to prevent yourself from falling forward, you calf muscles have to contract in a lengthened position to hold you upright. 

So in other words you calf muscles are always on. So just by position, this individuals calf muscles are already on stretch.

The other reason you should avoid stretching an achilles injury (especially the closer it gets to the insertion on the heel) is because a tendon injury implies the the tissue/tendon is compromised. We all know that muscles are elastic. So I like to use the analogy of a rubber band. If you stretch a rubber band too much it becomes weaker. Furthermore, if the structure of the rubber band is compromised, it doesn't hold up to well to aggressive stretching. So why would you treat your muscles this way?

This image I think explains a lot about how the structure of your heel (calcaneus) impacts the achilles tendon. And why if you have consistently been stretching your tendon it can cause friction against the bone....

More than likely you need to introduce a strengthening program. This is done through an appropriate range of motion depending on your presentation. Addressing some positional faults as well, which we eluded to earlier would just be icing on the cake.

To learn more about how we can help you with this process, apply for a free discovery session.

Ann Arbor, Mi

About the Author: Dr. Greg Schaible is a physical therapist/strength coach specializing in athletic performance. He attended The University of Findlay, graduating in 2013 with his Doctorate of Physical Therapy (DPT). As a Track and Field athlete, he was as a 5x Division II All-American and 6x Division II Academic All-American. Greg is the owner of On Track Physiotherapy in Ann Arbor, Mi. You can stay up to date with helpful information and news on Facebook.

Alfredson Protocol for Achilles Tendinopathy

If you have ever experienced an achilles injury or dealt with chronic achilles re-injuries or tendinopathy chances are your physician may have recommended something called the Alfredson Protocol.

This is an aggressive loading program with the intent of building back the strength and capacity back up in the tendon so that it can withstand normal daily movement as well as the activity levels your more than likely looking to regain. 

The Alfredson Protocol consists of 2 exercises performed for 3 sets of 15 reps that would be repeated 2x per day (which is a total of 180 reps every day). 

This is one of the exercises below. There are ways to make this activity easier or more challenging depending on the clients symptoms, strength, and skill level.

Now I know what you are thinking....thats a lot of reps, and that is probably going to hurt!

The reality is that this is a protocol which is standardized for research purposes. Many people do not do well with this aggressive approach. This approach is modified or altered depending on location of achilles pain as well. The exercises for mid achilles tendon pain are different than insertion (or at base of heel).

Having seen numerous achilles tendon cases before, we at On Track Physio have found that while this strengthening approach certainly works, we also need a menu of exercises to choose from which allows the client to perform the activity comfortably. 

Depending on your case and presentation we may also recommend less repetition or utilizing a heavier weight. This very much depends on the person.

Likewise, to make things even more comfortable, we have found that utilizing soft tissue techniques in conjunction with this will allow you to perform the exercise more comfortably. Below is a picture of cupping, which applies a distraction force to the tissue. This sensation seems to work better than compressive massage techniques possibly because achilles tendinopathy tend to be a repetitive compression based injury. In some instances we will perform dry needling, but not always.

The more comfortable you are able to perform the exercises, the more likely we can continue to progress the exercises and perform them on a daily basis. On a daily basis is a very important part of this process, which is why once we determine the correct exercise for you, it's just a matter of doing it. We do not need to see you very often, we just need YOU to do the exercise daily and remove or modify the aggravating factors (something we will also help you do). Our goal is never to stop you from being active, however we may need to modify things slightly so that it gives the tendon a chance to recover.

To learn more about how we can help you with this process, apply for a free discovery session.

Ann Arbor, Mi

About the Author: Dr. Greg Schaible is a physical therapist/strength coach specializing in athletic performance. He attended The University of Findlay, graduating in 2013 with his Doctorate of Physical Therapy (DPT). As a Track and Field athlete, he was as a 5x Division II All-American and 6x Division II Academic All-American. Greg is the owner of On Track Physiotherapy in Ann Arbor, Mi. You can stay up to date with helpful information and news on Facebook.

How To Stay Active and Recover from Achilles Tendinitis

Achilles tendinitis is a common complaint in the active population. It starts becoming more common with people in their early 30s or 40's, but can certainly impact people of all ages.

It tends to develop for a variety of factors. Usually the onset is associated with some type of quick spike in activity levels. Something such as increasing mileage of a run, or summer starting and you jog outside on different terrain, etc. It could have also been the addition of playing another sport or including more dynamic movements in an exercise program.

Either way, looking at the activity levels over the last month usually (not always) gives you a better idea of what may have predisposed the area to aggravation if it wasn't first gradually exposed to the task over time.

Once you are in pain or dealing with an achilles issue the game starts to change. As usually just resting and icing does not seem to alleviate the problem. If it would, you would notice relief in 3 weeks or less.

The other problem is that maybe you did get quick relief from resting, but you continue to re-injure or aggravate the issue when you try to resume your normal activities.

Aside from activity modifications that do not place as much dynamic demand on the achilles, the second order of business is to start building strength and capacity back up into the tendon.

After an achilles injury or strain happens, the tendon itself is weaker and does not have the loading tolerance it used to have.

We address this through the Alfredson protocol. The alfredson protocol is a well researched exercise protocol that helps with achilles tendon injuries. The one caveat is that this is a pretty aggressive and demanding exercise program and is not appropriate for everyone. Being too aggressive with this protocol can cause a lot of extra unnecessary soreness. 

We have treated a number of these cases over the years and found ways to make the exercise easier or harder based upon the clients skill and injury level. Furthermore, we have found great success with modifying the load and reps to what is correct for the particular individual. 

On top of this, we perform various soft tissue treatments in conjunction with the exercise program. The purpose of this would be to allow for more comfortable performance of the exercises. We tend to favor cupping for this but other methods may certainly be used as well. 

In total, most clients do not see us more than 1x per week for this issue. In some more extreme cases we go 2x per week until the pain is more under control.

To learn more about how we can help you recover FASTER from this issue, sign up for a free discovery session below.

Bonus content: Why you should avoid stretching Achilles Tendon Injuries

Ann Arbor, Mi

About the Author: Dr. Greg Schaible is a physical therapist/strength coach specializing in athletic performance. He attended The University of Findlay, graduating in 2013 with his Doctorate of Physical Therapy (DPT). As a Track and Field athlete, he was as a 5x Division II All-American and 6x Division II Academic All-American. Greg is the owner of On Track Physiotherapy in Ann Arbor, Mi. You can stay up to date with helpful information and news on Facebook.

Ankle Sprain Answer

Ankle sprains are one of the most common injuries.  Some have estimated that ~2,328 people sprain their ankle a day. For some individuals it takes months to recover, others a couple days/weeks.  In either scenario, the treatment of choice most people would have you believe is to rest and ice.  However, very rarely is resting the treatment of choice for any injury, but for whatever reason this seems to be the common recommendations given to individuals with ankle sprains.  This could be one reason why your recovery from an ankle sprain is taking so long. The other problem is that it often leads to limited ankle mobility down the road even if the pain is gone. Limited ankle mobility has further implication such as knee pain, ACL injuries, hip pain, and low back pain.

Unfortunately some individuals will experience frequent ankle sprains. Which can be frustrating, as they seem to happen more and more often. Preventing you from playing, practicing or performing the activities you enjoy on a regular basis.

So what should be done?

First, start moving in a pain free or tolerable range of motion, no matter how small this may start out to be. Also, a very effective treatment to try is submaximal isometrics.

Tip: Do not discount the effectiveness of this simple exercise and its ability to get rid of your pain and start to improve you walking quickly. As an added benefit, this strategy can often be started immediately after spraining the ankle to facilitate the healing process.

Finally, retraining your foot and ankle positional awareness is important to prevent future ankle sprains from occurring. When individuals experience frequent ankle sprains, most commonly they have a reduced ability to react to situations and stabilize the ankle for protection. In many circumstances, this exercise can be started day 1 as well as better help prevent you from experiencing frequent ankle sprains in the future.

If you would like to recover faster from ankle sprains and prevent future sprains from happening so you can stay active or playing the sport you enjoy. Check out the Ankle Sprain Answer.

Sports Specialist Physical Therapy Clinic| Ann Arbor, Mi | FREE Discovery Session|

About the Author: Dr. Greg Schaible is a physical therapist and strength coach specializing in athletic performance. He attended The University of Findlay as a student athlete. As an athlete he competed in both Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field where he earned honors as a 5x Division II All-American and 6x Division II Academic All-American. In 2013 he completed Graduate School earning his Doctorate of Physical Therapy (DPT). Greg is the owner of On Track Physical Therapy in Ann Arbor, Mi. Follow On Track PT and Performance on Facebook.

Stop Achilles Tendinitis and Foot Pain BEFORE it causes another Problem

Have you ever heard someone say that after they hurt such and such body part that all of a sudden a whole slew of other injuries started?

I hear this all the time, and there is a lot of truth behind it. Especially when it comes to the foot and achilles tendon!

You see the foot is the body’s first line of defense to absorb and transmit force, your achilles tendon plays a major role in this. The foot hits the ground first thing in the morning and with every step you take during the day it must absorb and transmit force. However, when injured this capability becomes impaired.

So what happens when you have achilles pain? The body says “next man up”. Meaning your knee, hip, and back on either side start to take the brunt of the impact. If you do this repetitively, there is a pretty good chance something will start getting a little cranky.

I’ve treated a variety of Achilles injuries. Runners with chronic Achilles pain, partial tears, and post-surgical clients. I can tell you from firsthand experience that individuals who have been dealing with this for a prolonged period of time tend to have other issues as well. Most common tends to be the opposite hip from working overtime, but it could manifest itself in other forms as well.

Achilles Tendon Injury (bottom)

Often times the problem with these individuals is that they have been performing the same stretches over and over again for months on end without much improvement in symptoms or overall ability because that is what their doctor, PT, or Chiropractor told them to do.

Stretching could be part of the solution. However, chances are if you have not made improvement by now, then that is not the answer. Remember how I said the Achilles tendon's job is to absorb and transmit forces? Well stretching does not necessarily accomplish this mechanism. Think about a rubber band. The more you stretch it, the more it becomes loose and decreases its ability to create force or tension. The same concept applies to your tendons. Don't get me wrong, they need a baseline level of flexibility, but more does not necessarily mean better.

The solution? Creating useful stiffness and strength in the tendon so that it has the resiliency to absorb force all day long when you are walking, going up/down stairs, jogging, or playing a sport.

You have probably seen a calf raise before. This exercise, especially done at particular tempos and angles proves to be effective for a lot of people. However, a lot of times people will have pain with this activity so it makes it really hard to progressively load the tendon.

At On Track Physical Therapy we also utilize a method called blood flow restriction training. This allows us to make strength gains with very low loads of resistance. Research has also shown how it can increase human growth hormone (this hormone has been known to improve tendon recovery).

Another method for pain reduction used is Dry Needling. Which has been shown to improve pain in the short term. Allowing us to effectively strength train the tendon in a more pain free environment.

Finally, if you are an athlete, you need to progressively start including dynamic exercises and drills that will ultimately translate to sport by improving your body’s ability to efficiently transmit forces. Such as the exercises below:

For free tips on how the pros recover faster from injury, click the picture on the left. If you'd like to get help AS SOON AS possible then enquire about a FREE discovery session below.

Sports Specialist Physical Therapy Clinic| Ann Arbor, Mi | FREE Discovery Session|

About the Author: Dr. Greg Schaible is a physical therapist and strength coach specializing in athletic performance. He attended The University of Findlay as a student athlete. As an athlete he competed in both Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field where he earned honors as a 5x Division II All-American and 6x Division II Academic All-American. In 2013 he completed Graduate School earning his Doctorate of Physical Therapy (DPT). Greg is the owner of On Track Physical Therapy in Ann Arbor, Mi. Follow On Track PT and Performance on Facebook.

Improve your Ankle Mobility and Squat

Ankle mobility is often limited in many individuals. A lack of ankle range of motion can reduce ones ability to squat among other things. Unfortunately typical methods of stretching the calf or foam rolling your calf muscles leads to results that are temporary and less than desirable. I have found these couple drills to be very effective at improving ones ankle mobility. 

The key to this activity is the duration that it is performed which imposes a stress to the joint/tissue and forces it to adapt. The second key to the exercise is the isometric contractions of the muscles around the joint in the end range of motion. This teaches the body how to display control in the outer limits of its current mobility. 

A pattern that rehab professionals will often strive to improve when working on ankle mobility is the squat. The rules of specificity would say that we would then need to squat with the newly acquired ankle range of motion. I like this drill as it imposes similar stresses as the exercise above, but it is done with a squatting movement.

Give it a try and see what you think. Don't forget to test the squat before the exercises, then after the exercises and see if you feel or see a noticeable difference.

Enjoy!

Sports Specialist Physical Therapy Clinic| Ann Arbor, Mi | FREE Discovery Session|

About the Author: Dr. Greg Schaible is a physical therapist and strength coach specializing in athletic performance. He attended The University of Findlay as a student athlete. As an athlete he competed in both Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field where he earned honors as a 5x Division II All-American and 6x Division II Academic All-American. In 2013 he completed Graduate School earning his Doctorate of Physical Therapy (DPT). Greg is the owner of On Track Physical Therapy in Ann Arbor, Mi. Follow On Track PT and Performance on Facebook.

Repeated Plantarflexion

At  On Track Physical Therapy we are constantly looking at ankle range of motion. Ankle range of motion can have a large impact on the body's ability to move functionally i.e. squat, jump, run, lunge. Here is a quick ankle fix that often works well to improve ankle range of motion.

Repeated plantarflexion ankle mobilizations are a great way to improve a stiff ankle and increase both ankle dorsiflexion and plantarflexion. Often time people will only stretch or mobilize the ankle into dorsiflexion to improve dorsiflexion. It may seem a little counter intuitive, but actually moving the ankle through a full range of motion in the opposite direction will work wonders. This is possibly due to the mechanical stimulus that reaching end range of motion and gaping the ankle mortise can have an effect on global ankle mobility.