There are many angles to this issue. Not all rotator cuffs that fail to heal actually cause pain for patient. But some do and this is why the issue still matters. So research continues on ways to improve our healing rates – a slow and laborious porcess. Identifying High-Risk Patients Before Surgery In the interim … Read more
The patient was about 40 years old. My hunch was that she had a repair that never healed. The evidence was there: she already had one failed repair, a re-repair and her symptoms were exactly the same as when she first came to the previous doctor: popping, catching, pain with reaching across her body and … Read more
What a Large-Scale Study of Older Adults Found 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. How the Exercise Program Was Structured … Read more
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
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
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
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
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
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