Patient Education

Should You Get Your Disc Injected with Stem Cells?

It seems to be the latest craze; all the cool providers, most after taking a weekend course, are doing it. So should you get your disc injected with stem cells? The question certainly seems simple enough; however, the answer is a bit more complex. This isn’t a new fad for us. We were the first…read more

2017 Orthopedic Bone Marrow Stem Cell Research Infographic

Every year for the last four to five or so, I have compiled a list of the published bone marrow stem cell research. Since I’ve updated this every spring, here’s my 2017 edition. Overall, 2016–2017 has been a mixed year for bone marrow stem cell publications. The good news is that we’ve seen higher quality,…read more

Pain in Base of Thumb: Convincing a Skeptic

More than a year ago I was lecturing at a medical conference, and a woman who was a stem cell scientist approached me. While some scientists usually don’t like physicians using stem cells, this one had pain in the base of the thumb and asked if I could help. I just received an e-mail back from her,…read more

Easy Lower Back and Knee Instability Tests You Can Do at Home

On this page: Knee instability tests Lower back instability tests What if I failed any of these tests? How do you know if you have a knee stability problem? You may have popping or cracking in your knee joint or may feel sudden shifts. For example, when performing cutting exercises, you may feel your knee…read more

Is Playing on a Sprained Ankle Safe?

On this page: What is an ankle sprain? What is joint instability? What happens if you play on a sprained ankle? How can a doctor tell if you have an unstable ankle? How can you treat these lax ankle ligaments? I can’t tell you how many trashed ankles we have seen through the years because the…read more

What Is This Doctor Thankful for on Thanksgiving? New CRPS Treatments

One of the worst diseases you can have is something called CRPS, or complex regional pain syndrome. Think of CRPS like bringing a can of gasoline to your pain bonfire. Or maybe better said, CRPS is like an accelerator stuck to the floorboard of the pain car without any working brakes. It’s awful. This year…read more

How to Heal a Torn Tendon Naturally: The Type of Tear Matters

On this page: What is a tendon or ligament made of? What are the types of tendon and tears? A patient story The patient’s MRI above is from clinic yesterday. It’s of an ankle tendon, but it might as well be a shoulder, knee, or hip tendon or ligament. The problem was that this patient…read more

What Percentage is “Useless Orthopedic Surgery” Based on Research?

This is a post that some orthopedic surgeons will hate but that needs to be written. This week, I decided to try and estimate the number of orthopedic surgeries that were still being done despite research showing they didn’t work. When I was done, I realized that a staggering 53% of orthopedic surgeries being performed…read more