This past Friday, I had the distinct privilege to do a Q&A session with Richard Severin PT, DPT, who is a future PhD student at the University of Illinois - Chicago specializing in cardiopulmonary and orthopedic physical therapy. I specifically reached out to Rich to have him share his perspective and advice in terms of what rehabilitation professionals, trainers, and coaches should be doing from a screening and safety standpoint in working with distance runners and triathletes. As you will soon discover, Rich possesses an incredible command of the field. Perhaps his only pitfall is that he is from Philadelphia (Im a Pittsburgh boy - cross state rivals). Although he is too humble to disclose this, Rich scored a perfect on his physical therapy board exam. Needless to say he is an incredible resource that will have a profound impact on the profession. Without further ado, Rich Severin folks...
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There are relatively pieces of footwear advice that I give to runners with absolute certainty. One of them, however, is the fact that we should always afford adequate space for the forefoot by selecting a shoe that provides appropriate width and volume at the level of the toe box to avoid cramming our feet. While I hate to use a diagnostic image of this nature as it may seem to be a scare tactic, I thought that it would make it readily apparent that runners should strive to take better care of their feet through ensuring proper fit. I gained first hand appreciation for the ill effects of running in a shoe that did not provide enough space for the width of my forefoot a couple years ago when I returned to visit my family in Pittsburgh over the winter holidays. In typical fashion, I went out for a mid afternoon with the only difference being that I was in a new pair of shoes. Despite initially feeling okay, I started to experience a sharp pain at the base of my second toe on the left side about five miles into my run. After stopping to loosen up the laces, which seemed to be a bit too snug, I tried running again only to find myself wincing with every step. Fortunately, I was able to make it home and was relieved to finally get out of my shoes and off my feet. Although the pain gradually subsided over the next few days while I gradually resumed pain free walking, I noticed that I had developed a toe gripping strategy on the left side (see video below) that most likely set in during that run as I was never aware of it prior to that outing. Over the next few weeks, I had to focus extensively on resolving this compensatory strategy of gripping my toes through practicing various toe dexterity drills before I was able to finally return to walking and running without issue.
So the next time you go to buy a new pair of shoes, make sure to select a shoe that is not only comfortable and defect free, but also that affords adequate width and volume in the toe box. Of equal if not greater importance, is to also select dress and casual shoes that do the same since we tend to spend a good deal of time in various shoes outside of our running footwear. Here's to foot health!
If you are a physical therapist and looking to refine your business and entrepreneurial skills, there’s a good chance that you will be interested in the upcoming Healthy Wealthy & Smart: Strictly Business virtual conference for physical therapists.
This unique online event will bring together over 15 experts in physical therapy and business. This virtual conference will serve as a guide to create and grow your physical therapy business. Please join me here: http://healthywealthysmart.com/?ap_id=1510 My colleague Dr. Karen Litzy, PT, DPT, MS is interviewing 15 amazing thought leaders — including me — and she’s putting all of those interviews together in one place. The Strictly Business virtual conference is a guide to help you create and grow your PT practice. The conference will include lifetime access to all of the videos, MP3 downloads of the video interviews, power point and/or notes for some of the interviews, work sheets for each module of the conference, and a bonus gift section with great offers from the speakers. Who: Dr. Karen Litzy, PT, DPT is joined by the following 15 experts: Dr. Shaula Alexander Yemini, Phd, Start up Consultant Alan Siegel, branding expert Gwen Simons, Esq, PT, OCS, FAAOMPT Greta Rose Zagarino, website creator Denise Kovalevich, PR maven Dr. Robert Worth, PT, DPT, MS, OCS, MTC, LAT Dr. Jeff Hathaway, PT, DPT Dr. Sandy Hilton, PT, DPT, MS Dr. Sarah Haag, PT, DPT, MS, WCS, cert. MDT, RYT Rick Gawenda, PT Chris Johnson, PT Tracy Sher, MPT, CSCS Jessica McKinney, PT, MS Karen Yankovich, LinkedIn expert Stephanie Voong, Social Media Queen (Faceboook, Twitter) Plus there is a Live and Learn module where you will learn about stories from PT entrepreneurs from around the country on what worked or didn’t work for their business, what they learned, and what advice they would give to other PTs. When: April 21, 2015 (Put it in your calendar now!) How much: Early Bird rate (April 6-20, 2015): $199.00 Launch Rate (April 21-May 5, 2015): $249.00 Conference Rate (May 6, 2015 onward): $299.00 Student Rate: $99.00 (this rate will never change!) This conference was created because the future success of the physical therapy profession goes well beyond clinical skills! All physical therapists can benefit from having a solid foundation and guide to becoming a PT entrepreneur! Onward! Chris
One of the beauties of running as a sport is that there are relatively few equipment considerations and barriers to participation. All most runners need are shorts (or leaf), a t-shirt or sports bra, and perhaps socks and shoes unless you prefer to go barefoot. As a physical therapist, coach, avid runner, and triathlete, Im well aware of the potential threat that ill-fitting or defective shoes pose to your livelihood as runner. In an effort to help you ensure proper fit while avoiding a lemon, I thought that it would be helpful to provide you with a relatively short video (see below) that goes over several key concepts related to shoe fit and screening. Hope this helps you find your ideal pair of kicks.
In early March, I had the distinct privilege to be involved as a presenter and attendee at the 2nd annual Pacific Northwest Symposium put on by Empiridence Seminars. This topic of the symposium was the lower extremity and the focus of my pre-conference and platform presentations related to running injury management. After being invited to speak, I soon realized that I would be among some heavy hitters in the medical and rehab field between George Davies, Greg and Vicky Johnson, Dr. McClanahan, Matt Walsh as well as many others. Needless to say, I had my work cut out for me and could not disappoint.
After a beautiful drive down to Portland on a sunny Friday morning, I connected with Karl Kolbeck, who heads up Empiridence and was the mastermind (along with his wife and amazing team) behind this event. Im not sure how Karl found the time for lunch given the associated duties of running a conference, but somehow he managed to make time for me (THANKS KARL). After getting some spring rolls from a vendor at a courtyard filled with food trucks, we talked shop for a while before touring Pettygrove Physical Therapy & Sports Rehabilitation while meeting some of his staff. To no surprise, his facility was amazing. After wrapping things up I ventured over to the Doubletree Hotel where the event was being held.
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