Matthew DiPaola 
The Tough Cases and Lasting Impacts Unfortunately, he still has limitations: mostly weakness and pain with lifting beyond 10 or 20 lbs. He also has difficulty supporting his weight on the involved arm. These impairments are likely permanent. We have talked about this on multiple occasions. Sadly, I cannot make everyone 100% better. These are … Read more
Why the Study’s Conclusions Should Be Read Carefully No major differences in clinical outcome were identified between compliant and non-compliant patients. However, two significant limitations are worth noting before drawing broad conclusions. First, the sample size was too small to be statistically meaningful. Only 12% of patients — roughly six individuals — did not follow … Read more
This is one of the most frequent questions that I get from patients. And it’s not an easy one to answer. Understanding the Complexity Of Shoulder Surgery Recovery New Research Provides Insight Recently a team at The Hospital for Joint Diseases led by one of my shoulder fellowship mentors Dr. Laith Jazrawi produced a study … Read more
“More money, more problems”The Notorious B.I.G. Single-Sport Specialization Is Driving the Problem Early sport specialization has been closely observed among higher-income youth athletes. Travel teams and select leagues are heavily participated in by families with the financial means to support them. Single-sport focus was found to correlate directly with increased injury rates. Year-round training in … Read more
What a New Study Revealed About Rotator Cuff Pain A new study on rotator cuff tears is no less counterintuitive. The study demonstrated that if you have a rotator cuff tear that was not caused by trauma (atraumatic), there is no link between the amount of pain you experience and the size of your tear. … Read more
It is not always clear whether patients should have hardware removed after healing is complete. However there are a few instances when it is absolutely necessary to take out hardware. Below is a list of a few of those reasons. Three Reasons Hardware May Need to Be Removed 1. Infection Unfortunately sometimes people get infections … Read more
I think both doctors and patients use them, but in different ways. How Patients Judge Competence I was thinking about shortcuts that patients use to help them decide on whether their doctor is competent or not. This is different from how they choose their doctors — that’s another topic. I mean after the patient has … Read more
Truth #1: Shoulder Arthritis Often Affects Both Arms For a given patient, shoulder arthritis in the ball and socket portion of the joint usually occurs in both arms. We don’t totally understand why this is. There is likely some genetic predisposition that we have yet to fully figure out. But it’s true: if you’ve got … Read more
Bone Loss Below the 25% Threshold This new study takes things a step further. It shows that results after instability surgery tend to be worse in direct proportion to the amount of bone loss one has even below the 25% threshold. This study is extremely interesting. What we are finding out now with the use … Read more