What is Kinesiophobia?

 

   

By Ashley Pena, DPT Student

Patients with re-occurring injuries that become chronic conditions such as chronic low back pain or chronic ankle sprains can be a challenge for medical professionals for many reasons. Risk factors for the array of chronic conditions have been studied and identified. However, one problem in this population that is less frequently discussed is that of Kinesiophobia. Kinesiophobia (KPB), or Fear Avoidance Beliefs, are defined as “excessive, irrational, and debilitating fear of physical movement and activity resulting from a feeling of vulnerability to painful injury or re-injury.”8 While this may sound like an extraordinary occurrence, these beliefs to some degree are often a factor in chronic conditions.

To summarize, KPB can be broken down into “Harmful factors” (HF) which reflect the patient’s belief that something is seriously wrong with the body; and “Activity avoidance factors” (AAF) which represent the belief that avoiding exercise/activity will prevent an increase in pain. These beliefs generally lead to a vicious cycle involving an avoidance of movement or any activities that might cause pain or reinjury (see Figure above). Over time, the inactivity that stems from this fear leads to physical consequences such as muscle atrophy, loss of spinal range of motion, and psychological consequences. Psychological consequences include reduced calibration to painful stimuli and behavioral changes. This in turn can affect patient prognosis and healing times.10

Figure 2

The physiological and psychological changes that occur in chronic pain conditions are well- studied and is described in David Butler’s “Explain Pain.”1 Essentially, your body adapts to what is being sent it’s way, so if pain or “danger” messages keep being sent to the brain, the sensory neurons become more sensitive to incoming excitatory chemicals, the sensors stay open longer, eventually more sensors are produced and neuronal sprouting can occur. Another change which occurs in the brain is homunculus “smudging”. With this occurrence, the area of the cerebral cortex which is devoted to sensation and representation of the involved body part becomes larger, with less distinct outlines and overlaps with surrounding areas of the cortex. All of these things can contribute to perpetuating pain.

Figure 3

The good news: many of these changes are reversible. As depicted below, after injury the body has a new tissue tolerance level (Figure 2). The key to combating this over-sensitivity is pacing and graded exposure (Figure 3). Finding a Baseline tolerance to a task which you can perform without a flare up is essential, since your body will alert you of the need to stop at the “New Protect By Pain” line (Figure 2). By exercising just below the “Flare Up” line one can begin to slowly make changes in their tolerance and eventually resume to their original Tissue Tolerance.1

Blog Post written by Ashley Pena, DPT Student from Cal State Northridge. Ashley is currently in her final clinical rotation with me at Catz PTI.

References:

1. Butler DS, Moseley GL. Explain pain. Adelaide: Noigroup Publications; 2015
2. Crombez G, Vlaeyen JWS, Goubert L. Muscle Pain, Fear-Avoidance Model. Encyclopedia of Pain 2013:1963–1966. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-28753-4_2531.
3. Crombez G, Vlaeyen JW, Heuts PH, Lysens R. Pain-related fear is more disabling than pain itself: evidence on the role of pain-related fear in chronic back pain disability. Pain 1999;80(1):329–339. doi:10.1016/s0304-3959(98)00229-2.
4. Feitosa AS, Lopes JB, Bonfa E, Halpern AS. A prospective study predicting the outcome of chronic low back pain and physical therapy: the role of fear-avoidance beliefs and extraspinal pain. Revista Brasileira de Reumatologia (English Edition) 2016. doi:10.1016/j.rbre.2016.03.002.
5. Guclu DG, Guclu O, Ozaner A, Senormanci O, Konkan R. The relationship between disability, quality of life and fear- avoidance beliefs in patients with chronic low back pain. Turkish Neurosurgery . 2012. doi:10.5137/1019-5149.jtn.6156-12.1.
6. Heymans MW, Ford JJ, McMeeken JM, Chan A, de Vet HC, van Mechelen W. Exploring the contribution of patient-reported and clinician based variables for the prediction of low back work status. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation 2007; 17(): 383-397. doi:10.1007/s10926-007-9084-1.
7. Lethem J, Slade P, Troup J, Bentley G. Outline of a fear-avoidance model of exaggerated pain perception—I. Behaviour Research and Therapy 1983;21(4):401–408. doi:10.1016/0005-7967(83)90009-8.
8. Neblett R, Hartzell M, Mayer T, Bradford E, Gatchel R. Establishing clinically meaningful severity levels for the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK-13). Eur J Pain European Journal of Pain 2015;20(5):1–10. doi:10.1002/ejp.795.
9. Peña A, Plotkin L, Eagle M, Riehl J, Mathiyakom W. American Physical Therapy Association: Combined Sections Meeting. In: San Antonio; 2017.
10. Vlaeyen JW, Kole-Snijders AM, Boeren RG, Eek HV. Fear of movement/(re)injury in chronic low back pain and its relation to behavioral performance. Pain 1995;62(3):363–372.

BFR & Post-op ACL

   

One of the biggest challenges in ACL rehab is regaining adequate strength in the surgical leg. Even at 1 year post-op, many patients still demonstrate significant strength deficits compared to the non-surgical leg. Traditional early post-op ACL rehab consists of ROM, swelling control, gait training, muscle activation and proprioceptive exercises. Unfortunately the leg continues to atrophy and remain in a state of anabolic resistance caused by the trauma of the surgery and subsequent relative or literal immobilization. Early post-op treatments and exercises, while necessary, do very little to help the muscles hypertrophy. The ACSM recommends that in order for hypertrophy to occur, resistance training needs to be loaded at 70% of 1RM. While in the early stages of rehab, loads in that range are unrealistic and potentially dangerous.

Blood Flow Restriction Therapy can be introduced as early as a few days post-op and can also help stop anabolic resistance by initiating protein synthesis, which leads to muscle hypertrophy even at loads of 30% of 1RM and lower. This is possible because the tourniquet creates a hypoxic environment which forces the recruitment of type 2 muscle fibers, even though the load is more appropriate for type 1. Type 1 muscle fibers require oxygen and are important for endurance and low load exercises. While exercising under BFR the stored oxygen becomes depleted and the remaining reps are carried out by type 2 muscle fibers. Type 2 muscle fibers are responsible for speed and power and their byproduct is lactate. The cuff not only restricts the venous return flow, it also holds the lactate in the limb which initiates a systemic response that causes the pituitary gland to release Growth Hormone.  Growth hormone is responsible for collagen synthesis which is how muscle, tendon, ligament, cartilage and bone heal.

Equipment

Tourniquets are considered medical devices and their use needs to be monitored, there are inherent dangers to improper use of tourniquets. Currently a few types of BFR tourniquet systems and wraps are available and present on social media, but only one is FDA approved as a medical device. The Delfi Personal Tourniquet System contains a Doppler that can accurately measure the amount of blood flow restriction and can adjust for pressure changes during exercise. The Delfi System comes with 3 cuff sizes, each one is wide and tapered for comfort and safety. When deciding to incorporate BFR into your rehab, look for a certified provider on the Owens Recovery Science website.

Treatment Session

A typical treatment session will usually consist of 3-5 different exercises.  Each exercise will be performed for 75 reps broken down into 4 sets.  1 set of 30 reps and 3 sets of 15 reps.  There is a 30 second rest period between sets with the cuff inflated.  The cuff will be deflated for at least 1 minute between exercises.  You can expect to see swelling, color change and muscle fatigue after each treatment.  Because loads are very low there is no muscle breakdown and little to no subsequent DOMS.

For more information visit  OwensRecoveryScience.com

Forward Head Posture

   

By Ashley Pena, DPT Student

Although “forward head posture” (FHP) has long been regarded as a problem leading to pain and disability, with increased time spent on smartphones in recent years, it is becoming a very common source of pain. In a study performed by Kim et. al. which studied the effect of duration of smartphone use on muscle fatigue and pain caused by forward head posture in adults using EMG analysis, it was found that prolonged smartphone use resulted in increased upper trapezius and cervical erector spinae fatigue.

As a result of FHP, compensatory motions occur such as severe extension of the upper cervical spine. Often seen in conjunction with FHP, rounded shoulder posture (RSP) occurs when the acromion protrudes anterior to the shoulder joint. Scapular elevation, protraction, and downward rotation are also seen. Several studies have found that this combination of FHP and RSP promote an imbalance in muscle strength and length leading to Janda’s Upper Crossed Syndrome:

• Weakness of the deep neck flexors, middle and lower trapezius, and serratus anterior
• Stiffness of the pecs, upper trapezius, levator scapulae, SCM and suboccipitals.

Together, these impairments can lead to dysfunctions at the OA joint, C4/C5 segment,  CT junction, or GH joint resulting in neck and/or shoulder pain and increased disability.

Below is a 3 part video series to help you gain mobility and build postural strength to combat our love affair with cell phones and laptops.

Blog Post written by Ashley Pena, DPT Student from Cal State Northridge. Ashley is currently in her final clinical rotation with me at Catz PTI.

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❗️4th Student of the year❗️ Welcome Ashley, from my alma mater Cal State Northridge. Continuing with the BFR hazing. Stay tuned for some 💻blog posts from her soon. #CSUN @ashpena3r

A post shared by Chris Butler, MPT, CSCS (@cbutlersportspt) on Jun 13, 2017 at 12:18pm PDT

References:

1. Kim E-K, Kim JS. Correlation between rounded shoulder posture, neck disability indices, and degree of forward head posture. Journal of Physical Therapy Science. 2016;28(10):2929-2932. doi:10.1589/jpts.28.2929.
2. Kim S-Y, Koo S-J. Effect of duration of smartphone use on muscle fatigue and pain caused by forward head posture in adults. Journal of Physical Therapy Science. 2016;28(6):1669-1672. doi:10.1589/jpts.28.1669.
3. Kwon JW, Son SM, Lee NK. Changes in upper-extremity muscle activities due to head position in subjects with a forward head posture and rounded shoulders. Journal of Physical Therapy Science. 2015;27(6):1739-1742. doi:10.1589/jpts.27.1739.
4. Upper Crossed Syndrome. Muscle Imbalance Syndromes RSS. http://www.muscleimbalancesyndromes.com/janda-syndromes/upper-crossed-syndrome/. Accessed June 13, 2017.

Lateral Ankle Sprains

    

By Michael Joseph, DPT Student

Ankle sprains are a common injury; in the United States there is an incidence rate of 2.15 ankle sprains per 1000 people every year. Nearly half of all ankle sprains (49.3%) occurred during athletic activity, with basketball (41.1%), football (9.3%), and soccer (7.9%) being associated with the highest percentage of ankle sprains during athletics.

This article will focus on lateral ankle sprains, which occur as a result of excessive ankle inversion, when the foot rolls inwards under the leg. The three lateral ligaments that may be affected are the anterior talofibular ligament, calcaneofibular ligament, and posterior talofibular ligament. Ankle sprains are divided into three categories: Grade I, where the ligament is stretched and may have slight tears. Grade II where the ligament is partially torn. And Grade III where the ligament is completely torn.

Management:

The PRICE (Protection, Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) protocol is an important part of treatment during the acute phase, as it is an effective method for reducing pain and inflammation. However, combining PRICE with exercise may be more beneficial. A randomized controlled trial from Bleakley, et al. evaluated the effectiveness of accelerated rehab after an ankle sprain. One group of subjects followed the PRICE protocol for the first week after injury and then began exercise rehab during the following four weeks. The experimental group began the PRICE protocol and exercise rehab immediately, during the first week post injury, and then followed the same 4 week exercise rehab. The authors stated the early exercises were from a “general protocol” that included ankle range of motion and strengthening exercises. The study found short term outcomes (4 weeks) were significantly better in the group that began exercising immediately, but there was no significant difference in long term outcomes (16 weeks).

 Rehabilitation and Prevention:

There is some evidence to support that taping and/or bracing is effective at reducing the risk of recurrent ankle sprains in sports. However, the decision between tape or bracing depends on the individual and the requirements of the sport. There is no evidence that one is significantly more effective than the other.

Kerkhoffs et al, identified four intrinsic risk factors that predispose individuals to lateral ankle sprains: strength, proprioception, range of motion, and balance. A rehab exercise protocol should address all four of these risk factors in order to prepare the athlete to return to sport and to prevent recurring sprains. Proprioception exercises should be sport specific and should focus on the demands of the sport. For example, a basketball player’s program needs to include takeoff and landing ankle mechanics in an square stance (jump shot) and off of one leg (lay up).

Blog Post written by Michael Joseph, DPT Student at Mount Saint Mary’s University. Michael is currently in his final Clinical Rotation with me at Catz Physical Therapy Institute.

Sources:

1. Bleakley CM, O’connor SR, Tully MA, et al. Effect of accelerated rehabilitation on function after ankle sprain: randomised controlled trial. BMJ. 2010;340:c1964.
2. Kerkhoffs GM, Van den bekerom M, Elders LA, et al. Diagnosis, treatment and prevention of ankle sprains: an evidence-based clinical guideline. Br J Sports Med. 2012;46(12):854-60.
3. Waterman BR, Owens BD, Davey S, Zacchilli MA, Belmont PJ. The epidemiology of ankle sprains in the United States. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2010;92(13):2279-84.