For gymnasts, cheerleaders, and athletes of all levels, performance is everything. Whether you’re striving for a flawless floor routine, perfecting a tumbling pass, or pushing your limits in competition, your body is your greatest tool. But with high-level training comes the risk of injury—and that’s where smart injury prevention strategies come into play. As a READ MORE
Author: Dr. Charles Baldi PT, DPT
Mobile doctor of physical therapy in Montgomery County, PA.
Understanding Overuse Injuries in Gymnastics and Sports
Gymnastics and high-impact sports require repetitive movements that push athletes to their limits. While this dedication is essential for success, it can also lead to overuse injuries. Joint pain and tendinitis are among the most common issues affecting gymnasts, cheerleaders, and other athletes. Understanding how these injuries develop—and how to prevent them—can keep you performing READ MORE
Back Self Treatment: Exploring Good Posture
Sit up straight! Stop slouching! We’ve all heard it. We’ve all ignored it. Most people recognize that good posture is important. Most people also want good posture. They want it so badly that they are constantly looking for ideas to make good posture easier. The problem? Good posture is HARD! How hard it is? It’s READ MORE
Self Treatment Series: Tracking Pain by Writing Down Baseline Symptoms
The best way to track improvement (or lack of improvement and worsening) with self treatment or clinician based treatment is to accurately record your baseline symptoms. Why bother with baseline symptoms? Baseline symptoms essentially tell us what we are starting with. Later you will revisit your baseline symptoms to determine whether there is any change. READ MORE
Back Self Treatment: Find the Best Exercises With the Traffic Light Analogy
Everyone has an exercise, a trick, and new device to help treat low back problems. “Do a plank while twisting like an owl in the downward Pidgeon position with your eyes squinted to make sciatica go away!” “Never bend forward.” “Never bend backwards.” With contradicting recommendations online, how do you determine which low back exercise READ MORE
Back Self Treatment: Good vs. Bad Changes in Symptoms
Some people say “It hurts so it must be working!” and others say “It hurts so it must be bad for me!” The most important first step in the self treatment of your low back is understanding how to interpret what you feel as a good or bad result from an exercise or activity. There’s READ MORE
Back Self Assessment and Treatment Series: What is it and who should do it?
The Baldi Movement Group believes that everyone deserves an evaluation regardless of background and social class. That’s why we’re dedicated to creating simple to follow guides for self assessment and treatment for the most common orthopedic and spine problems people face. Since low back pain is the #1 orthopedic problem experienced by the general population READ MORE
Posture: How to Find Out if it’s Worth the Effort?
I do not outright tell anyone that they need to fix their posture. It’s good general advice, but not always true. And even if it IS good, is it really WORTH the effort? It is very difficult to form a habit of good posture, no one will go through the battle without an indication of READ MORE
3 Ways to Guarantee Neck Pain (And What You Should Do Instead)
Sitting in a bed or unsupportive couch to read, write, knit, etc is among the most common culprit reported by people with neck and arm pain. It’s also super common to have neck problems when driving and when turning your head due to poor posture. Try out the solutions in the video and let me know if they helped!
The Disc Model of Neck, Back, and Referred Pain
The disc model is very helpful for understanding back, neck, and referred pain from the spine. Especially for those whose pain is worse when sitting, rising from sitting, raising their head, and other similar activities.