Sentinel Events for Skiers, Snowboarders, and Mountain Bikers

Ski season is starting here in the Pacific Northwest, so many of my patients are getting ready to enjoy the winter

An important concept with sports like skiing, snowboarding, and mountain biking is a sentinel event, which is a term I use for a small biomechanical mishap that may be a precursor to a more significant injury

The model I base this on is from strokes. If we look at patients who have a devastating stroke, a significant percentage of them have a smaller "mini-stroke" in the month preceding the major stroke. Some patients ignore these mini-strokes because they are either unaware of what happened, don't recognize their significance, or feel a sense of relief that they don't have any long-term disability. This is a shame, because in the period following a mini-stroke, there is a window of opportunity where they can intervene and prevent a more devastating stroke from occurring.

The same concept applies to devastating injuries during skiing, snowboarding, and mountain biking. There are a few common elements of these sports that make them prone to devastating injuries, namely:

A. The body can gather significant momentum

B. Falls are common. High speed falls are common

C. The terrain is inconsistent

D. They require a persistent vigilance to notice changes in terrain so that you don't fall

Prior to having a devastating fall in any of these sports, it's common for the athlete to have a "sentinel event", where they have a smaller stumble that is often ignored. This is a mistake, and athletes should pay attention to these smaller mistakes, even if there is no lasting consequence

For example, a skier may notice that as they become tired, they may not notice a small change in terrain and end up taking a turn more aggressively than they should. They may have a mild fall, or merely require an atypically higher level of exertion

I encourage athletes to pay attention to these sentinel events, they are often a sign of fatigue. Specifically, they can be from two forms of fatigue:

A. Cognitive fatigue. Their brain may not be acclimated to the duration of exercise, so they are paying less attention to the small details

B. Muscular fatigue. They may be using muscles they haven't used in a while, so while their muscles were fine for the first hour of exercise, they are not as efficient after an hour or so

What is the treatment for these sentinel events? Give yourself permission to take a break

This may seem like common sense, but there are a few reasons, particularly for skiers and snow boarders, that may make them less willing to take breaks. The biggest of these is time investment. Especially for people driving to their ski facility, there is a substantial time commitment to even start skiing, so the idea of not "maxing out" their time on the mountain seems wasteful. I encourage these patients to think long term, and taking a short break to prevent a devastating injury is a good use of time and resources.

Big picture - taking a short break following a sentinel event is one of the best investments an athlete can make to prevent permanent disability.

While we can't fix your tight pants, we can fix your frozen shoulder!

This video explains how we can use an ultrasound-guided injection to help fix adhesive capsulitis, also known as a frozen shoulder

Conquer the Halloween Sugar HANGOVER

Raise your hand if you ate too much Halloween candy last night and woke up today feeling sluggish & full of regret.  

Ok, I can't see you, but I know you're out there!  Here are easy tips to conquer the post-Halloween hangover

Drop that candy bar! (or bag, lollie, etc.)

Eating sugar will make you crave more sugar.  Halloween is a holiday, not a holi-week or a holi-month.  Don't allow your one-day indulgence to become a new habit.  You have 100% control of what you put into your body! Make healthy choices today and in the upcoming weeks.Tip- if you are craving sugar, reach for a piece of raw fruit.

Eat whole foods

Adopt a clean eating diet for the next few days (and preferably longer!).  Ditch the processed foods and pick up some real, nutritious foods!  A mix of high-fiber vegetables and lean protein will help your body reset after the sugar storm.

Drink more water

Adequate water intake is essential for the body's function, but it's especially important after a day of indulgence.  Water will help your body process those treats and absorb the healthy nutrients you put back in!

Increase your exercise

Rev-up your metabolism and sweat out toxins with a high-intensity workout.  You'll feel better, have more energy and improve your mood, too!

Get some zzz's

Chances are Halloween festivities and trick-or-treating cut into your sleep time.  Make a point to get to bed early tonight and allow your body proper recovery time.

The MA to DPT Transformation

I’ve been at Lake Washington Sports and Spine since April 2015, and have loved every minute of working here. So it is bittersweet that I will be leaving in late July to start physical therapy school near Phoenix, Arizona. (Know of any hotspots? I have zero experience with Phoenix.)  I have learned so much working as Dr. Chimes’s medical assistant that I am at a loss to put it succinctly into words. However, I can at least try and share some tidbits I have learned through my time at LWSS. The nice thing is that most of these lessons have applications outside the healthcare field. Without further ado, here are a few things I’ve learned, in no particular order of importance.  Maybe I’ll rank them later in honor of Dr. Chimes.

-          Become an expert.

In other words, I want to learn as much as possible regarding physical therapy, the field/specialty I have chosen to pursue. I will never be satisfied, as there is always something new to learn. The biggest mistake I can make is to assume that I know all that there is to know about a given subject. Already I’ve learned about various subspecialties in physical therapy I had no idea existed prior to working at LWSS. I’ll never be an expert in all the specialties, but at least I can be aware of the strengths and weaknesses in order to become a well-rounded, well-informed physical therapist.

-          Admit my knowledge gaps.

This is related to the above point, but an entirely different idea in and of itself. For example, although Dr. Chimes has some experience in all medical fields, he understands and admits that he has definite knowledge gaps. It has been years since he learned about cardiology or hematology, and to further compound the problem, these fields have changed so much in the intervening years. This leaves him in the position that he’s not even sure what he doesn’t know. Did past treatments turn out to cause more harm than good? Are there new diseases that he doesn’t know about? So when patients ask about issues outside of his area of expertise, he gives a clear disclaimer that it is not within his expertise and then refers to another provider who would know better.

What Dr. Chimes is trying to avoid is the Dunning-Kruger effect, which is summed up fairly well by one of the authors during an interview with the New York Times: “… the skills you use to produce the right answer are exactly the same skills you use to evaluate the answer.” In other words, without knowing the skills yourself, you cannot determine whether someone is skilled or not. It then follows, how can you possibly come to an answer without knowing what question to ask? This is a phenomenon I had never heard of prior to working here, but it certainly has shaped how I will treat patients in my future career. I will hopefully get my patients to 100% by focusing on what I know, and referring to, and working with, other healthcare professionals with patients who are beyond my scope of expertise.

-          Know which patients will benefit from my expertise as a physical therapist.

And by extension, and possibly more importantly, when physical therapy is NOT appropriate for a patient. Being able to see patients from the perspective of a Physiatrist, where accurate diagnosis is the name of the game, will help me tremendously as a physical therapist. It is now clearer than ever that I will need to keep an open mind and consider alternate diagnoses if the initial treatment modalities I utilize on my patients do not bring any benefit.

-          Utilize a differential diagnosis process.

Low back pain is one of the most common reasons people go to the doctor. However, there are a multitude of causes for low back pain, and the symptoms often overlap. To compound matters, treatments for one cause are ineffectual for another, or may even make symptoms worse. What I’ve learned from my time here is to tease out the unique features of a patient’s low back pain in order to come to a correct diagnosis. Focusing on symptoms that apply to several possible diagnoses will not help me determine the root cause of a patient’s pain.

-          Be as transparent as possible with my communication.

We have several different iterations of this idea within the office, ranging from a tidy motto to a detailed flowchart/graph. It is never beneficial to be vague with my communication style or vocabulary when talking to another person. Furthermore, not only do I need to be clear with my communication, I need to confirm that the person I am talking to is ready to digest what I’m about to say. Having an disengaged audience can, at best, lead to repetition, and at worst, lead to a complete mishearing of what I have to say.

The above are just a few of the things I've learned while working at Lake Washington Sports and Spine. The effects of these lessons may not even be felt or become apparent for years down the line, but I know that they will only help me in my future as a physical therapist. I cannot begin to express how grateful I am for my time here. 

Wynnie's 4 Hikes for the 4th of July

Searching for ways to stay active this weekend?  Look no further!Wynnie (weekday office dog, weekend adventurer!) has four fantastic hike recommendations just for you.  Click on the links below for hiking guides & trip reports via Washington Trails Association (WTA).

McCLELLAN BUTTE

WALLACE FALLS LAKE LOOP

IRON BEAR TEANAWAY RIDGE

SNOW LAKE