A Question about knee pain

The Question (from a real patient):

Hi, Glenn

You sucessfully treated me over a year ago for tarsel tunnel syndrome. I had my left knee scoped about four months ago to remove torn cartilage. I went through several months of PT and regained reasonable strength (it took me longer than some people because I had lots of edema and the VMO had been shut down for months.) However, I still have tightness, localized tenderness and restricted range of motion when I attempt to get back into certain yoga poses or do deep squats. My ortho and PT suspect that I have some scar tissue. I’ve been receiving deep tissue massage, which is helping but feel I need to do more to recover normal function. Have you treated similar issues before and do you think that ART would be helpful in my situation?

Dr. Glenn’s answer:

Residual scar tissue often follows arthroscopic surgeries. In my experience, the targeted techniques of Active Release are the best way to access and break up this scar tissue. On average, 4-8 sessions are required, but the results are usually good.

Back from the USAT certification

I just finished up at the USA Traithlon Coaching
Certification clinic in Colorado Springs. Had a great
room for 2 nights at the Broadmoor. What a place.

But that’s not why I’m writing. During one of the breaks,
a coach from New York asked if I could take a look at
her shoulder. Somehow she had been googling Active
Release and found my website. It was kind of strange that
she knew who I was.

Anyway, she had been dealing with shoulder pain while
swimming for over a year. It hurt to raise her arm
over her head, hurt to put a shirt on, hurt at night,
etc.

Fear of needing surgery had kept her from saying
anything about the pain to anyone. She was hoping
maybe I could give her an opinion.

I put her through some ranges of motion and her
problem was obvious. Scar tissue in her subscapularis
was keeping that muscle from firing. This was causing
her humerus to ride a little too high in the joint.
Classic impingement syndrome.

I treated her during the first two days at the clinic,
mostly breaking up the scar tissue in the subscap.
On the third day she swam and reported it was
about 90% better. I referred her to an ART doc in
NY to finish up. She was so excited that she cried.
I love that kind of case.

This was no miracle. Many shoulder problems start in
the subscap. They can usually be fixed. The first step
is finding the right person to help. I’ve treated
hundreds, probably over a thousand.

So, I’m back in the office after the certification.
If you or anyone you know is having shoulder pain,
I can probably help. Call 303.300.0424.

You can read more about shoulder pain here:
http://www.denverback.com/q_shoulder.html

Changes for 2009 at Denver Chiropractic Center

We’re back in the office after a nice 2-week break. We
hope you enjoyed your holidays, too. Here are a couple
of things to look forward to in 2009:

1. As you know, Brittany is now running the office. She’s
been doing a great job and will keep doing a great job in ’09.

2. No price increase for 2009. Considering how bad the
economy seems to be, we’ve decided to keep our prices
the same this year.

3. Massage therapy starting February 2nd. We’re presently
interviewing therapists, and are looking forward to offering
massage therapy in the office. If you know of any we should
consider, please let us know.

4. A 1-week extension on the end of the year package
special. Many of you wanted to take advantage of the $50
discount on package renewals at the end of 2008. We decided
extend that discount until the end of business on Friday
January 9.

5. The formation of the Denver Chiropractic Center
triathlon team (Team DCC). I’m looking for some beginner
level triathletes who are interested in coaching and
support. I’ll become a USAT certified level-1 coach next
week, and I’d like to specialize in working with beginners.
So, if you’ve thought about doing a triathlon, I might be
your guy. You should be willing to commit to doing either
the Buffalo Creek Xterra Short Course on June 20
http:// www.youtriit.com
or the Crescent Moon Sprint September 19
http://www.racingunderground.com/crescentmoontri/

For $300, you will get a complete coaching program with
ongoing support, group training rides & runs, and a super-
cool Denver Chiropractic Center cycling jersey. All
profits will be donated to charity. I’ll accept a maximum
of 5 athletes for 2009. If you want in, let me know soon.

That’s it for now!