Johnny Owens, BS, MPT, and his blood flow restriction rehabilitation was first introduced to Arkansas at the very first OPTimize Conference in 2015.  By the end of the day, we had members saying they wanted to take his certification course so the following year the APTA Arkansas partnered with Johnny and Owens Recovery Science to bring the very first Personal Blood Flow Restriction Rehabilitation to Arkansas.  Other than 2020 when COVID first appeared in AR, the APTA Arkansas has brought this course here for our members and others.  Together we have educated around 150 people here in Arkansas.

In 2022, we had our first course at OrthoArkansas thanks to their director of rehabilitation, Blake Wagner.  Blake has invited us to come back to their facility in Little Rock in 2024 and we are excited about bringing this course to Arkansas for the 8th year.

Personalized Blood Flow Restriction Rehabilitation (PBFR) is a paradigm shifting intervention for the rehabilitation professional with hundreds of peer-reviewed articles in the scientific literature. By applying a tourniquet briefly and intermittently to an exercising limb you can induce significant and substantial strength, hypertrophy and endurance changes while using a very light load. By attending this one day training course for PBFR training, clinicians will be able to:

• Communicate the physiology behind mechanical tension compared to metabolic accumulation training and the downstream effects.

• Manipulate blood flow restriction protocols to create a local or systemic response within the soft tissues.

• Differentiate limb occlusion pressures objectively for each individual athlete/patient.

• Translate appropriate tourniquet safety measures to the outpatient/training room setting.

• Recommend and implement a rehabilitation blood flow restriction protocol for patients after injury or surgery.

BFR represents a way to decrease stress placed on the joints without compromising improvements in strength, whereas for postoperative, injured, or load-compromised individuals BFR represents a way to accelerate recovery and prevent atrophy. There is also growing evidence to suggest that it augments cardiovascular fitness and attenuates pain. The purpose of this review is to highlight the physiology and evidence behind the various applications of BFR, with a focus on postoperative rehabilitation. While much remains to be learned, it is clear that blood flow restriction therapy stimulates muscle hypertrophy via a synergistic response to metabolic stress and mechanical tension, with supplemental benefits on cardiovascular fitness and pain. New forms of BFR and expanding applications in postoperative patients and athletes hold promise for expedited recovery. Continued adherence to rehabilitation guidelines and exploration of BFRs physiology and various applications will help optimize its effect and prescription.

Lunch will be provided at the course.