A stress fracture occurs when your bone literally cracks because of repeated stress. Based on that definition, you’d think the symptoms of this injury would be super obvious. Unfortunately, stress fractures aren't that straightforward.

“Even in medicine, we probably miss it sometimes or don't think about it as much when maybe we should,” said Dr. McGrath.

Treating a BSI early “shortens the duration of the treatment, as well as prevents a lot of excess treatment [such as surgery],” Dr. McGrath emphasizes.

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In the multiyear renewal, HSS will remain the exclusive official hospital and official orthopedic consultants of the UFC. Robert Marx, MD, sports medicine surgeon at HSS and Todd McGrath, MD, sports medicine physician at HSS, will serve as the UFC’s head consulting orthopedic surgeon and head consulting orthopedic physician, respectively.

HSS will also continue to have highly visible branding inside the Octagon at selected UFC Numbered events.

Read the full article at beckersspine.com. 

According to Dr. McGrath creatine, which is naturally made by your body (and comes from protein-rich foods), does not replace a good diet and exercise, and could be more beneficial in addition to a healthy diet. He said people on a vegetarian diet can benefit from creatine supplements since it is usually found in meat.

Dr. McGrath said that, when taken at an appropriate dose, creatine supplements are safe for adults and teen athletes.

“There seems to be evidence that the benefits are about the same as in the adult population,” Dr. McGrath explained. “It’s a supplement, and not the frontline for everything.”

Read the full article at newsnationnow.com. 

"The running longer, or traditional method, is about slogging through miles at a slower pace," said Dr. McGrath.

Running for a longer distance or time has a number of benefits.

"You also develop more muscular endurance by running longer and slower," Dr. McGrath added. 

Recovery between workouts is crucial. Allowing your body to rest can help the muscles repair themselves and grow.

Running longer and slower is easier on the body. “You’re not beating yourself up quite as much. There’s less overall impact,” Dr. McGrath explained.

Read the full article at today.com. 

Baker began running during the pandemic before setting her sights on the marathon, that was until she started feeling some serious pain last year.

"I began to develop pain in my glute and the pain travelled through my leg to my knee and it began to prevent me from running," said Baker.

The pain led Baker to HSS where she's spent a ton of time after a hip labral tear was discovered three months before last year's race. The initial diagnosis could have meant surgery, but that wasn't on Baker's mind.

Determined to run the 2023 race, Baker and the team at HSS gathered to meet her goal -- all without going the route of surgery.

"I had wonderful support through all the professionals here, and I felt good because it was a very manageable plan," she added.

Todd McGrath, MD, sports medicine physician at HSS explained that surgery would have cost Baker the chance to run last year's event and this year's because of the long rehab process. But with the help of Kate Baird, MA, ACSM-CEP, CSCS, exercise physiologist at HSS, Baker has trained even better and harder in preparation for her second straight marathon.

Watch the full video at ABC7ny.com. 

Mixed martial arts is inherently an endeavor of great physical risk. As a full contact sport, match cards often change with short notice as combatants are forced to miss bouts due to injury. Then there’s the age factor, as many observers feel that being over 35 and entering the cage is a fools errand. Fortunately, whether you compete or not, MMA training is a great way to get fit, and is enjoyed by people of all abilities and backgrounds.

Some of the most common injuries in MMA are head injuries followed by hand/wrist. Lacerations, concussions and fractures.

According to Dr. McGrath, “Regardless of age, MMA is a contact sport with a high rate of injuries. Athletes should have a good understanding of this and take appropriate measures to mitigate risk as much as possible. It is important to recover appropriately and fully before returning to full contact. As athletes experience an age-related decline in fitness/strength/endurance, it may be harder to maintain the high level of fitness needed to fight or recover well enough to continue fighting and this can be an indication to step away from full contact due to increasing risk of injury. This does not mean that the athletes should not continue training. The training involved in MMA certainly leads to a high level of fitness and probably helps to slow age-related declines in fitness.”

Read the full article at muscleandfitness.com. 

The short answer: Yes, it actually does. Fortunately, though, it’s only for a brief period of time. “It is true that people potentially can lose height when they run,” said Dr. McGrath,  “Middle- and longer-distance runners can experience this, but it’s a slight difference and seems to be very transient.”

The exact mechanism responsible for running making you shorter is still unknown, said Dr. McGrath, but it’s likely due to temporary volume loss in the intervertebral discs—the spongy, gummy-like pads between each of the vertebrae that make up your spine.

Read the full article at runnersworld.com. A subscription is required to access. 

But in runners, specifically, that number climbs to about 25 percent he says, adding that there are some reports that middle distance runners are more inclined than others to experience plantar fasciitis, but it's unclear why. 

The good news is that most cases of plantar fasciitis get better explained Dr. McGrath. More specifically, he says that that 80 percent of patients with plantar fasciitis will be better within a year. 

Read the full article at runnersworld.com. A subscription is required to access. 

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“You don’t run the risk of really hurting yourself, perse. You run the risk of not feeling well, negative performance because of it. You can get into the risk of potential injury if you just jumped back into training, but there are ways to do it if you’re going to do it," advised Dr. McGrath. 

“The recovery phase is critical. Look at it as the training was done. You’ve logged the miles. You’ve put the training into that first marathon. The gap in between the two really should be about recovery from the first marathon, getting plenty of sleep, rehydrating or replenishing all the nutrients lost in that marathon early on. Try to eat a well-balanced diet. Don’t try to crash, or lose weight, or anything like that in between. Fill the tank back up, basically," said Dr. McGrath. 

Listen to the podcast at podcasts.apple.com. 

In the days following the marathon, the body is sore. That soreness is the result of microtrauma in your muscle cells from the repetitive stress of intense exercise, explained Dr. McGrath, and it generally peaks around 48 hours after the event.

“It doesn’t matter how fit you are or how fast you go or how hard your effort is relative to your fitness, everyone experiences some degree of muscle damage and breakdown over the course of a marathon,” said Dr. McGrath—and repairing that damage takes time.

“A week or 10 days out, you could certainly start to return to some regular running—nothing to make you too sore, no efforts that are too hard, just loosening up,” noted Dr. McGrath.

Yes, you will lose a little bit of fitness if you stop running for a few weeks, however according to Dr. McGrath it comes back fairly quickly. “You don’t lose the long-term gains and the huge aerobic base that you get from months of training,” he stated.

Read the full article at Womensrunning.com.

“There is a thought that NSAIDS [or anti-inflammatories] may alter the discomfort associated with exercise and thus improve exercise performance; however, this is not true,” said Dr. McGrath. “The pathway by which exercise-induced muscle soreness happens is not significantly altered by NSAIDS." More importantly, he added, there's some evidence that NSAIDS can actually have a negative effect on muscle growth and adaption to exercise.

Dr. McGrath explains five reasons why taking anti-inflammatories before working out is unsafe: they disrupt the body's natural healing process; increase inflammation in the body; can decrease blood flow to the kidneys; alter the blood's ability to clot; and use during exercise has been linked to an increased risk of heart attack and sudden cardiac fatality.

Read the full article at Wellandgood.com.

The treatment involves exposing the body to hot temperatures (via a hot bath or shower or a sauna) followed by an ice-cold plunge or shower. Alternating between heat and cold has a healing effect.

According to Dr. McGrath, “The idea is that the temperature change and the [water] pressure can have a positive impact on recovery after exercise and potentially be good for your overall health.”

The article appeared in the September 2022 issue of the magazine.