Week 2

ASSESSMENT
s:
Pt presented with patella femoral pain. Pain with stairs, hill walking and squating at home. In the clinic: pain on squat 7/10 from 30 degrees - 60 degrees.

T:
To identify the cause of the pain and treat the Pt accordingly as to acheive a pain free squat.

A:
I applied a medial glide to the patella whilst the Pt actively performed the squat. The Pt reported 0/10 pain with the medial glide. From this feedback i knew it was a patella tracking problem so i decided to look at the VMO. I used emg, to measure VMO activation throughout the squat. The Pt's VMO activity was below the threshold untill approximately 60 degrees.

R:
These objective findings matched my subjective findings. The patient had a strong VMO contraction but the timing was too late in knee flexion resulting in a lateral patella position during the early stages of the squat.

E:
I was really happy with this assessment technique. The emg gave me the evidence that i needed to back up my objective and subjective findings. It was great feed back for the patient, and was an excellent guide for my treatment.

S:
I feel the use of emg has been very helpful in the assessment of this Pt. I will continue to use it as feedback for the patient throghout treatment sessions as i work on timing and recruitment of the VMO.