Rehabilitation and Therapy Commons^™

The Effect Of Joint Mobilization On Functional Outcomes Associated With Chronic Ankle Instability, Matthew C. Hoch

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Ankle sprains are among the most common injuries sustained by physically active individuals. Although ankle sprains are often considered innocuous in nature, a large percentage of individuals experience repetitive sprains, residual symptoms, and recurrent ankle instability following a single acute sprain; otherwise known as chronic ankle instability (CAI). In addition to repetitive ankle trauma, those with CAI experience reductions in functional capacity over the life span. This indicates that current intervention strategies for CAI are inadequate and require further investigation.

The objective of this dissertation was to explore differences in walking and running gait parameters between individuals with and without …

Injury-Induced Hand Dominance Transfer, Kathleen E. Yancosek

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Hand dominance is the preferential use of one hand over the other for motor tasks. 90% of people are right-hand dominant, and the majority of injuries (acute and cumulative trauma) occur to the dominant limb, creating a double-impact injury whereby a person is left in a functional state of single-handedness and must rely on the less-dexterous, non-dominant hand. When loss of dominant hand function is permanent, a forced shift of dominance is termed injury-induced hand dominance transfer (I-IHDT).

Military service members injured in combat operation may face I-IHDT following mutilating injuries (crush, avulsion, burn and blast wounds) that result in …

The Role Of The Hip Abductor Muscle Complex In The Function Of The Pathological Hip Joint, Maureen Kelly Dwyer

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

The number of patients electing to undergo total hip arthroplasty (THA) in the United States has been projected to double by the year 2030, with a growing number of these patients below the age of 65 years. This cohort of patients not only desires to return to pain free daily activity, but wishes to participate in recreation and sporting activities. However, many of these patients report pain, impairments, and functional limitations following THA. The number one deficit observed for patients who fail conventional post-operative rehabilitation is persistent weakness of the hip abductor muscles. In order to safely progress these patients …