Orthopedic Conditions

Neck and Thumb Pain: A Doctor’s Personal Story

Are neck and thumb pain connected? Can a nerve in your neck cause hand arthritis? In the early summer, I had a pinched nerve in my neck and shortly thereafter, on the hand that was getting numb, evidence of early arthritis appeared in that thumb joint. Believe it or not, these two things are quite…read more

Orthopedic Stem Cell Research: Is There Enough?

(Click here for a larger view) While stem cells are clearly gaining ground in orthopedics, there are still some physicians and many scientists that argue that there just isn’t enough research yet for physicians to use this therapy in patients. Since I’ve been following the research since 2005 and watching it develop, I have a…read more

The Side Effects of Lumbar Radiofrequency Can Be Worse Than the Relief

On this page: What is lumbar radiofrequency? What are the side effects of lumbar radiofrequency? Radiofrequency lesioning is a common treatment for chronic back and neck pain. However, the side effects of lumbar radiofrequency may be worse than the relief it supplies. Let me explain. What Is Lumbar Radiofrequency? Radiofrquency (RF) treatments for low back…read more

My Hip X-ray is Bad so this Means I Need My Hip Replaced, Right? Not So Much…

Almost all patients and many physicians still treat x-ray and MRI images like the Oracle of Delphi, yet study after study continues to show that there isn’t great correlation between what we see on these images and pain. The most recent entry in this debate was just published last month and it shows how few…read more

Carpal Tunnel Surgery Recovery: Does Cutting the Ligament Have Consequences?

Carpal tunnel surgery has become a standard surgical treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome, a problem that occurs when the median nerve gets chronically pinched at the wrist. The surgery is simple, cut the ligament that normally covers the carpal tunnel to give the nerve more breathing room. However, does cutting the transverse carpal ligament (TCL)…read more

Lateral Release Recovery: Do We Know this Knee Surgery Actually Works?

Why undergo lateral release recovery at all? If I had to create a list of bad knee surgeries just based on the hundreds of patients I’ve seen with failed knee surgeries, lateral release for knee cap tracking problems would be near the top of that list. Based on that experience, it’s another knee surgery with…read more

More Knee Replacement Side Effects: Bald and Itchy…

I’ve blogged extensively about knee replacement side effects. This has included microscopic wear particles that break off from knee and hip replacement prostheses that have been found in the blood stream. Studies have also reported that a surprising number of patients have allergies to the metals used in the devices. Now a new case report recounts the experience of a…read more

New Study: Your Meniscus Tear may be Caused by a Bad Nerve in Your Back

You don’t often hear meniscus tear and bad back nerves in the same sentence.  But we see patients all the time who have low level issues in their low back causing problems in the knee. Most of these patients don’t think they have a back issue because their back doesn’t hurt much. However, a new…read more