Dr. DiPaola's Blog Archives - Page 2 of 2

Physical Activity

Research has shown that the ability to walk unassisted is likely the single most important factor in maintaining your independence as you age. Targeting this simple metric may offer the secret to staying independent and new research supports this conclusion.

A recent study of over 1600 men and women in their 70’s and 80’s with mostly sedentary lifestyles aimed to examine whether a basic exercise program focused on lower body strength could help to maintain independent walking status in older adults.

Frozen Shoulder: A Team Approach May Offer New Hope For Relief

by Matthew DiPaola

As doctors we like quick fixes as much as you do. So it’s hard to see a patient come back to you for months on end and the best you can offer is: “this will get better with time and more stretching…and we will give you some cortisone until it does.” A new technique for … Read more

Shoulder Arthritis: is MRI necessary?

by Matthew DiPaola

If you have shoulder arthritis, an MRI may give you more information than you bargained for Most people think that you need an MRI to “see” everything that is going on in your shoulder. But it’s simply not true. And there are a few ways that you can be fooled by this line of reasoning. … Read more

Obesity: Did You Know It Was Bad For Your Elbow?

by Matthew DiPaola

Overall obese patients had more complications, shorter average survival of the implants, and increased rates of failure of total elbow replacement compared to non obese patients. What This Means for Elbow Replacement Patients The take-home message for patients here is that obesity has adverse effects not only on cardiovascular health but significantly impacts your risk … Read more

Shoulder Dislocation in Adolescents: There’s Still A Lot To Learn

by Matthew DiPaola

What the Research Asked — and Couldn’t Answer We don’t know a millionth of one percent about anything. Thomas Edison The authors examined multiple factors that have been shown to be risk factors for re-dislocation in adults such as bone loss however none of them seem to correlate with an increased risk of dislocation in … Read more

You Can’t Judge A Book By Its Cover

by Matthew DiPaola

The ER staff who gave me her initial story told me that they thought she was a bit incoherent when she came to the hospital. In fact she admitted to drinking a “glass of bourbon” on the night that she fell and injured her hip. I can tell you from experience that when a patient … Read more

Should You Wear A Sling After Shoulder Surgery?

by Matthew DiPaola

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

When Can I Drive After Shoulder Surgery?

by Matthew DiPaola

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

When Having More Money May Be Bad For Your Kids’ Health

by Matthew DiPaola

“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