👁️Every picture tells a story 📸
Physical examination of the runner starts with observation. The appearance of the calf muscles can tell you a lot about their current condition, previous injury history & guide further testing.
📸Here are a few examples of some things to look for, so test yourself & see how many you can pick (see answers below) 👉
1️⃣ Right calf atrophy due to chronic knee pain
2️⃣ Left medial gastrocs deficit due to previous high-grade tear
3️⃣ Atrophy of left medial gastrocs with chronic Achilles tendinopathy
4️⃣ Left calf atrophy due to chronic left ankle injury
5️⃣ Right calf atrophy, 1 year post ACL rupture, 3 months post surgery
6️⃣ Right calf atrophy due to right sided L5/S1 disc extrusion
7️⃣ Left calf atrophy with chronic medial tibial stress syndrome
8️⃣ Left calf atrophy 13 weeks post Haglund removal
🔑It's important to remember that observation forms a PART of the physical examination. As we like to say: assess not guess!
👋Runners & health professionals, how'd you do picking the correct leg? Let us know your score out of 8👇
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