Medical, Physical Therapy & Chiropractic Blog


Sometimes your source of pain is indeed where you feel it. There was probable tissue trauma from a specific event you can recall and there now resides pain and inflammation where the damage happened. These are easier cases to understand. What about that ongoing nagging pain you have that came out of nowhere? You didn’t “injure” your shoulder specifically that you can recall. Does that mean your shoulder pain stems from a shoulder dysfunction? Maybe. Maybe not. Of course, nothing works in isolat… Read More

High Level Class IV Laser Successfully Used to Treat Meniscus Pain Here at Arvada Sport and Spine Group we see many conditions of the lower extremities, particularly conditions in knees. The type of problem producing the pain can be anything from an acute injury like sprain/strain of the knee, to a more chronic knee pain that has been present to some degree for years. Even these more chronic knee issues usually stem from a particular incident years ago where the patient remembers doing somethi… Read More

Shoulder impingement syndrome is a generalized term to refer to pain and pathology due to compression of tendons and soft tissue in the shoulder region. Most commonly the diagnosis is referring to subacromial impingement where the space between the acromion and the humeral head is narrowed (see picture below). This frequently entraps tendons of the rotator cuff muscles (particularly supraspinatus and infraspinatus) and/or the long head of the biceps brachii. Typically, you will have pain with … Read More

​Ahhhh, WATER

May 25, 2020
You’ve heard it before, many of us don’t drink enough water. It’s constantly encouraged yet most of us are still deficient and don’t consume enough. Instead we turn to more flavorful drinks that may fulfill our palate, but don’t meet our needs. Water is important because it provides the medium our blood needs to transport nutrients and waste products. This is how so many reactions can occur in our body because of blood circulation and its medium, water. Water also serves as a catalyst to… Read More

Image by mohamed Hassan from PixabayBack pain can be very debilitating and stressful. Particularly when you don’t know what is going on. Here is a quick comparison of two of the most common injuries. Disc injury Types of disc herniations: Protrusion: disc material (nucleus pulposus) bulges outward into the outer cartilage ring (annulus fibrosis) without damage to the annulusProlapse: the nucleus pulposus bulges into the annulus and there is some damage to the annulusExtrusion: the nucleus bre… Read More

​The Science of PAIN

May 11, 2020
Photo by Ash Wood on UnsplashWhat is pain? The true definition is “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage.” The process of feeling pain begins with activating the nociceptors in our body. These sense mechanical, chemical and thermal threats. This signal is communicated through our nervous system to our brains. Our brain then computes this information and determines what to pay attention to, how to cope or how to react. Our brain uses … Read More

We all have known that person that just seems to be able to excel at whatever physical activity they are involved in. Conversely there are also those among us that seem to struggle at similar tasks. When speaking of the very capable individual we might say or hear statements like: That person has tremendous ability. Or that person is very skilled. Well, which is it then ability or skill? From a motor control and performance perspective let’s dive into this. Let’s first discuss what ability me… Read More

No matter how clean your diet is chances are you still have a deficiency in something. What? Yeah, you can eat keto, paleo, or whole foods and still have at least a few deficiencies. Luckily, if you consider yourself a healthy eater then your deficiencies may be smaller because of it. If you’re someone who doesn’t necessarily eat a healthier diet, then start there first to gain more vitamins and minerals you could be deficient in. Even if your deficiency is small, it’s important to be mind… Read More

Let's Get Balanced

Apr 20, 2020
“I have terrible balance.” Have you ever heard that? Or… have you said that?Over 15% of Americans 70 years old and older have been diagnosed with “abnormal balance.” Falling affects 1/3 of community dwelling older adults. Falls are the 2nd leading cause of accidental or unintentional injury deaths worldwide. Both falls and fear of falling can greatly reduce a person’s participation in the things they love. Some of the main causes of decreased balance include: Muscle weaknessJoint mobility re… Read More

One doesn’t have to be an athlete in order to experience many conditions that seem to be related to athletic activities and exercise. One of these conditions we often see in our clinic, no matter if you are an athlete or not, is Plantar Fasciitis. This is a condition characterized by inflammation and pain of the plantar fascia, a thick band of tissue located on the bottom of the foot that connects the heel bone (calcaneus) to the toes. This pain is typically a sharp or stabbing pain usually loca… Read More