Early-stage interventions should be geared toward setting the patient up for success in later stages. Important conversations include education on the role of inflammation in healing, the appropriate level of intensity for activities, the role of pain and pain-threshold in rehab, and short-term goals for early-stage rehab. Exit criteria for progressing into mid-phase rehabilitation include: a normalizing AKE test, improving symptoms in the form of lesser symptom sensitivity and a smaller area of tenderness, restoration of pain-free ambulation, and the ability to tolerate isometric loading in both shortened and lengthened positions.
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