Today is part 2 of a 2-part chat about hip health and training load for the youth athlete. Last episode, Dr Sara Lyn Terrell (Florida Southern College) discussed the developing hip, and the important distinction between primary cam morphology and femoroacetabular impingement syndrome.

Many athletes have a bony bump on their hip that doesn't cause any problems - it's the morphology in combination with symptoms that clinicians might worry about.

Today's episode builds on the foundation of the developing hip, and covers appropriate loads for youth athletes. Dr Terrell discusses how to plan, monitor and progress a loading programs, and how you might incorporate strength & conditioning principles into your practice.

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RESOURCES

Strategies to deter primary cam morphology in youth athletes: https://www.jospt.org/doi/10.2519/josptopen.2025.0128

Can we reduce injury risk during the adolescent growth spurt?: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37823577/

“My kid is going through a growth spurt – what should I do?”: https://shorturl.at/FqqCM

The hip health of youth athletes as their skeletons grow and mature while the athlete copes with the physical and mental stressors of sport and life, has been receiving renewed attention.

Today's episode of JOSPT Insights is part 1 of a 2-part chat about training load and the youth athlete's hip. We discuss how primary cam morphology and femoroacetabular impingement syndrome might develop.

Dr Sara Lynn Terrell (Florida Southern College) shares her >20 years of experience in exercise science and strength & conditioning, and walks listeners through the complexity of working with youth athletes to support their best sports performance.

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RESOURCES

Strategies to deter primary cam morphology in youth athletes: https://www.jospt.org/doi/10.2519/josptopen.2025.0128

Oxford consensus on primary cam morphology and FAI (part 1): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36588401/

Oxford consensus on primary cam morphology and FAI (part 2): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36588402/

Patellofemoral pain can affect anyone at any age, which mean you're likely to come across it in your clinical career. What is best practice in managing patellofemoral pain?

Today, Dr Brad Neal (Queen Mary University of London) walks us through how to apply the best research to your practice.

Dr Neal has worked for over a decade in elite sport, private and public health care settings as a specialist musculoskeletal physiotherapist. His PhD work in biomechanics has helped guide understanding of how to manage patellofemoral pain.

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RESOURCES

Best practice guide for patellofemoral pain: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39401870/

Effects of treatment for patellofemoral pain - systematic review with meta-analysis: https://www.jospt.org/doi/full/10.2519/jospt.2022.11359

Patellofemoral pain 2019 clinical practice guideline: https://www.jospt.org/doi/10.2519/jospt.2019.0302

Pain is often what prompts patients to seek the care of a musculoskeletal rehabilitation clinician.

In today's episode, Dr Paul Mintken guides listeners through different ways to work with a person to help make sense of, and explain, unexplained pain.

Dr Mintken (Hawai'i Pacific University) is a board-certified Orthopaedic Clinical Specialist and a Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic and Manual Physical Therapists.

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RESOURCES

JOSPT Viewpoint article - The Worst Pain is an Unexplained Pain: https://www.jospt.org/doi/10.2519/jospt.2025.13167

In Part 2 of our conversation with Dr Olivia Abdoo (Ultimate Fighting Championship), we dive deeper into one of the most common injuries in mixed martial arts (MMA) - concussion.

Dr Abdoo's experience treating UFC athletes provides an insight into working with athletes for whom skills including wrestling, striking, and grappling are crucial to performing well.

How to approach educating the athlete and everyone involved with them about concussion, ensuring the athlete can participate safely while recovering from concussion, what an MMA-specific concussion evaluation looks like, and the importance of sport-specificity in concussion rehabilitation - we hit on it all!

Given how common rotator cuff tears are, chances are you will work with someone who has a tear at some point in your career.

Do you know what patients will want from their rehabilitation? Are you confident with your approach to managing rotator cuff tears?

Today, Dr Kathryn Fahy, physiotherapist and researcher from Aspetar Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine Hospital, Doha discusses the CALMeR Cuff pathway. Dr Fahy developed CALMeR Cuff with patients, clinicians and researchers to guide care for people with large to massive rotator cuff tears.

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RESOURCES

Co-design of the CALMeR Cuff pathway: https://www.jospt.org/doi/10.2519/jospt.2025.13342

A mention of pre-professional or professional dance might conjure thoughts of relentless, gruelling training hours, incredible performances and bodies pushed through high musculoskeletal demands.

Dr Melanie Fuller (University of Southern Queensland) has devoted her clinical career of almost 20 years to working with dancers - helping them stay healthy and performing well - and she has a similar focus in her research work.

Today we discuss the prevalence of musculoskeletal injury, specifically focusing on osteoarthritis.

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RESOURCES

Osteoarthritis in dancers (systematic review with meta-analysis): https://www.jospt.org/doi/10.2519/jospt.2025.12918

Tune in today for the latest consensus on rehabilitation approaches for people who have had meniscus surgery.

Orthopaedic surgeons and physical therapists from Europe and the US debated the best research evidence, and brought extensive clinical experience to the table, ultimately producing a 2-part series of summary papers.

Dr Arielle Giordano (University of Delaware) was one of the physical therapy leads on the project, and today she shares the most important messages from the consensus.

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RESOURCES

EU‐US Meniscus Rehabilitation 2024 Consensus - Rehabilitation after meniscus surgery: https://www.jospt.org/doi/10.2519/josptopen.2025.0162

In the return of Sports Corner, Dr Olivia Abdoo chats all things UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) and MMA (mixed martial arts).

UFC combines wrestling, grappling and striking, which makes for complex demands that contribute to complex injury epidemiology. Whether working with a Championship fighter or a recreational martial arts athlete, Dr Abdoo provides excellent guidance for clinicians who are planning rehabilitation and return to sport.

Concussion is common in UFC, so stay tuned for an upcoming episode with Dr Abdoo about her approach to concussion rehabilitation with UFC athletes.

Researchers are increasingly partnering with patients, clinicians and others who use research to design, conduct, report and disseminate research studies. Today we hear about a conversation that involved over 600 patients, clinicians and carers, who were supported to nominate their top priorities for research on shoulder pain.

Kristian Lyng (physiotherapst, PhD student at Aalborg University's Department of Health Science and Technology, and Center for General Practice) led the work as part of his PhD research looking at interventions for shared decision-making in collaboration with patients with subacromial pain syndrome.

Kristian discusses the challenges and opportunities in translating research to clinical practice, and the benefits to researchers of engaging patients and the public in doing musculoskeletal research.

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RESOURCES

Research priorities for atraumatic shoulder pain: https://www.jospt.org/doi/10.2519/jospt.2025.13059

Patients as partners in research - It's the right thing to do: https://www.jospt.org/doi/10.2519/jospt.2019.0106

Help for researchers wanting to engage patients as research partners: https://www.jospt.org/doi/10.2519/jospt.2020.0104

How to talk about compensation with patient partners: https://www.jospt.org/doi/10.2519/jospt.2020.0106

Engaging patients and the public in musculoskeletal research: https://www.jospt.org/doi/10.2519/jospt.2024.12668