Dr Ebonie Rio (Lower Extremity Tendon Management)

In episode 19 Andy McDonald speaks to Dr Ebonie Rio a Sports Physiotherapist who consults at The Victorian Institute of Sport, who is also a Senior Research Fellow at La Trobe University completing her Phd in tendon pain. Ebonies current research focuses on combining neuroscience with rehabilitation to bring innovative approaches to pain rehabilitation. In this conversation Ebonie brings us up-to-date on the fundamentals for managing both Achilles and Patella tendinopathies.

On this episode with Ebonie they discuss:

• Ebonies background
• The misuse of using evidence based practise as a ‘recipe’
• Reading broadly in MSK, neurological and strength training literature to inform practise.
• Tendinopathy in a nutshell
• Tendon Loads
  
  • •  Tensile Load
    •  Compressive Load
    •  Combination Load – The tendon behaving as a spring under compressive load
    •  Repetitive Load – Friction / Shearing the peri tendon/sheath.
•  Differentiating between patella tendon and patella-femoral pain
•  Differentiating between achiles tendon pain and peri-tendon pain
  
  • •  How do you return to loading after offloading a peri-tendon.
    •  Pharmaceutical intervention
•  Diagnosis of Tendon Pain
  
  • •  Heterogeneous vs Homogeneous Inclusion in Tendon Research
    •  What is pain?
    •  Research Variables
•  Isometrics – The way we define tendon pain is so intimately linked with rate of loading that it becomes a circular argument.
•  We need to have more open conversations and use agreed upon Inclusion / exclusion criteria collectively for consistency and comparable results
•  Giving people clinical options and having good clinical reasons for appropriate selection.
•  Heavy-slow-resistance Training as pre-season loading tool
•  Prescriptive listening and education – meeting people at their story or beliefs.
•  How long to leave a stubborn tendon before considering less conservative management options
•  Blood Flow Restriction Training for Tendons and anterior knee pain
•  Ebonies current research and virtual reality for tendon pain