There’s an App for that 2.0

June 15, 2013 by 1 Comment

Picking up where I left off on my last blog post, I wanted to discuss some more of the clinical sports medicine apps I use, with a focus on the apps that have made it on to my smart phone.  As I had mentioned previously, all the apps I discuss are freely available; do not represent an endorsement by CJSM; and are discussed by me without any vested conflict of interest.

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The CJSM iPad app: if you have an iPad, you need this app!

Except for this recommendation!!!  Ironically, the one app that is not on my smart phone, but rather my electronic tablet, is the CJSM journal app.  And yes, I have a vested interest in this, because I’m an Associate Editor of the Journal.  In truth, it is a great resource for accessing the journal contents when on the run.  If you have a tablet, I’d heartily recommend picking up the app here.  Also, get a more in depth appreciation for the app at the CJSM blog post authored by my predecessor (now Executive Editor of the Journal), the illustrious Christopher Hughes, on of the team physicians for Chelsea F.C.

Now, returning to the issue of apps for the smart phone that I use in my clinic, on the sidelines, and in the training room, I need to tell you about my new favorite: Ubersense, a video analysis app primarily produced for coaches, I think, but one I have found invaluable for doing in office gait analysis.  Read more of this post

Filed under General Interest, Technology in Sports Medicine Tagged with

There’s an App for that 1.0

June 11, 2013 by 2 Comments

The official first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere is ten days from now, but it already feels like the season has begun with the temperatures climbing and the sun high in the sky (that is, unless you are attending the U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club, where the heavens have opened and the course is soggy).

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Ah, the glories of summer (with apologies to my friends ‘Down Under’)

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My frequent friend: on the sideline, in the clinic, even by the pool!

It’s time to relax here in Columbus, Ohio:  the kids are out of school, the family is often by the pool, and I have my ever present stack of journals on the desk but the smart phone is in hand. It’s  just plain easier to access a lot of information these days using that device, and so it’s in the spirit of  summer that I offer the readership the next couple of blog posts on some of the sports medicine apps I rely on.

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Filed under General Interest

Nadal’s Knees

June 8, 2013 by 4 Comments

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Rafael Nadal, invincible on clay, just might be beaten by this man in table tennis (Portuguese Table Tennis Coach Afonso Vilela)

What a great week it has been at the French Open in Paris.  As I write, I see that Serena Williams has just closed out Maria Sharapova in straight sets to regain the title she last held 11 years ago in 2002.  The men’s final is set for tomorrow, with the incomparable Rafael Nadal facing his Spanish countryman David Ferrer after outlasting Novak Djokovic in an epic five-set semi-final match.

Like many of this blog’s readers, I have been amazed and entertained by men’s tennis over the last decade.  It truly is a golden era for the sport, with Federer and Nadal and Djokovic and Murray each seeming to outdo the other in feats of tennis heroics.  Just yesterday Nadal made an amazing between the legs shot in the fifth set, but is that perhaps outdone by the amazing forehand Djoko ripped off Federer to save match point in the 2011 U.S. Open (going on then to win the semi-final)?

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Filed under Anterior knee pain / patellofemoral pain syndrome, Elite sport, Tendinopathies Tagged with , , ,

My Final Day at ACSM 2013

June 2, 2013 by 1 Comment

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Drs. Ackerman and Karlson getting ready to talk about rowing!

Where did the time go?

The last day for the 2013 American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting in Indy has come and gone (unbelievably) and I want  to share with you some of the highlights of the sessions I attended.  It was a busy, fulfilling, and energizing few days of a conference that already has me thinking about future meetings:  AMSSM, CASEM and ACSM 2014 (not to mention heading to an Australian Sports Physicians Meeting some day!)

I attended a rowing medicine session delivered by Drs. Kate Ackerman, Timothy Hosea and Kris Karlson which I thoroughly enjoyed.  Dr. Hosea, a Team Physician for the U.S. National and Olympic Rowing teams, chaired the session, and together the three reveiwed a host  of the most common issues in the scientific and clinical care of this special group of athletes.  Among many new pieces of information I walked away with, they pointed out an excellent review article on the subject from Lisa McDonnell of New Zealand which I would commend to the blog’s readership.  In addition, for anyone interested in this topic who was not able to attend the session, and who is not familiar with our journal’s excellent series of journal club articles, I would point you in the direction of the journal club review from 2011 CJSM authored by Seamus Dalton of Australia which reviews a 1997 study by Hickey et al.

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Drs. Andrew Gregory of Vanderbilt, Nashville, TN and Greg Canty of Children’s Mercy Hospital, Kansas City MO

Next, I attended a session on “Injury Prevention Equipment in Youth Sports” delivered by my friends Andrew Gregory, M.D. and Greg Canty, M.D.  This is a topic of special interest to me, as it not only involves pediatric athletes, my area of medical specialization, but addresses the issues of primary and secondary prevention of injuries.

Dr. Canty discussed the issues of head, mouth and neck gear, with a particular focus on their use in mitigating the rate of concussions in contact and collision sports.  Dr. Gregory focused on a broad overview of protective equipment, and the most important facts I took away from his talk concerned the rare but catastrophic injury, commotio cordis.

This injury cannot be prevented by commercially available chest protectors:  there are no data in any peer-reviewed study that have shown a decrease in the rate of commotio cordis for athletes playing baseball, softball, hockey or lacrosse.  There is, however, evidence in favor of using “safety baseballs,” a softer version of a baseball which meets specifications set by the National Operating Committee on Standard for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE).

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Filed under General Interest, Injury Prevention Tagged with ,

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