YOUNG ATHLETES ARE SEEN IN EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS 1.35 MILLION TIMES PER YEAR

Every 25 seconds a youth athlete suffers an injury severe enough to require a trip to the emergency department, an August 2013 research report by Safe Kids Worldwide found.

Concussions account for 12% of those visits, with athletes aged 12 to 15 making up 47% of those cases-demonstrating the danger of concussions beyond high school football.

Meanwhile, knee injuries account for 10% of youth athlete emergency department visits, with female athletes up to 8 times more likely to have an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury than males.

Concussions and ACL injuries have been topics of previous episodes of Move Forward Radio and are among the multitude of conditions for which physical therapists are part of the medical treatment team. Look into the APTA's website for more information! 

2016'S TOP "MOVE FORWARD" RADIO PODCASTS

It's been a good year for Move Forward Radio, our twice-monthly podcast. Catch up with our top 6 episodes from 2016:

Pro volleyball star and TV host Gabby Reece on her opioid-free approach to total knee replacement rehabilitation

Gabby Reece recounts her decision to participate in physical therapy—and her commitment to recovery without the use of drugs. Along the way, Reece explains how her path is 1 that could be considered by any individual facing decisions about what to do after surgery.

A Cleveland Clinic researcher on physical therapy as first-choice pain treatment

Andre Machado, MD, is leading an innovative pain treatment research project that puts a combination of physical therapy and behavioral therapy at the front lines of pain treatment, and takes a cautious approach to the use of opioids. Machado shares his thoughts on opioids and the need for a cultural shift on attitudes about pain.

Physical therapy's lifechanging effects on chronic pelvic pain

Erin Jackson's pelvic pain, a mysterious, stabbing pain, felt both internal and external, plagued her for over a decade. She saw multiple health care providers in multiple states. She was prescribed multiple medications, none of which worked. Then Jackson began working with a physical therapist who presented a new treatment approach for her pain—and things finally began to change. 

The LA Lakers' "secret weapon" on the challenges of treating elite athletes

Judy Seto, PT, DPT, MBA, who has served as head PT for the Lakers for the past 5 years, talks about what's involved in making sure that Kobe Bryant and colleagues stay healthy through an 82-game regular season, plus preseason, postseason, and the offseason.

The latest on blood flow restriction training

Johnny Owens, PT, MPT, is a high-profile proponent of a relatively new training approach that involves applying a tourniquet to an injured limb to allow patients to make greater strength gains while lifting lighter loads (and reducing overall stress). Owens describes how it works, shares his vision for the potential of the technique within health care, and discusses where research is going.

A patient's journey out of extreme pain thanks to physical therapy

When Morgan Hay broke her big toe, she assumed it was a small injury. Weeks later, however, her foot was still discolored and swollen, and the pain was intense. Hay recounts misdiagnoses, multiple painkiller prescriptions, and finally, the physical therapy treatment that is helping her make real progress.

WHO'S FEEDING THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC?

In 2015, almost 12 million Medicare beneficiaries received at least 1 prescription of opioids (OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin, fentanyl or their generic equivalents), at an estimated cost of $4.1 billion, according to a June 2016 report from the US Department of Health and Human Services - that's nearly 1 in 3 people on Medicare receiving a prescription for opioids in 2015.

The report confirms that the opioid epidemic affects people of all ages. “It’s not just a young person’s problem,” said Frederic Blum, PhD, director of addiction research at the University of Michigan, in U.S. News & World Report (“Nearly 1 in 3 on Medicare Get Commonly Abused Opioids” – June 22, 2016).

Blum calls the magnitude of the opioid use among seniors “astounding.” Each Medicare beneficiary who was prescribed a commonly abused opioid received an average of 5 prescriptions a year.

In 2014, more people died of drug overdoses than any previous year on record, and opioids were associated in 60% of those deaths.

In March 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new guidelines to address the opioid epidemic, recommending safe alternatives like physical therapy for most pain management.

The American Physical Therapy Association launched a national campaign to raise awareness about the risks of opioids and the safe alternative of physical therapy for long-term pain management. Learn more at our #ChoosePT page. There are SAFER ways to manage pain - by PHYSICAL THERAPY. 

APTA'S INTERACTIVE BODY

The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA)'s MOVE FORWARD - Physical Therapy Brings Motion to Life campaign just released the Interactive Body model, for both men and women, to help them research conditions they've already been diagnosed with by their physician. With the help of a physical therapist, these conditions and their symptoms are manageable and many patients find success in relieving their symptoms. 

Remember, early treatment gives you the best results! You don't have to live in pain this year - let CHAMPION Performance and Physical Therapy help you put this behind you and #MOVEFOWARD.

Copy and paste the link below into your URL search box for access to APTA's Interactive Body: http://www.moveforwardpt.com/InteractiveBody.aspx