Patient Education

What Is a Flexion-Extension X-Ray?

On this page: What is spinal instability? Can instability be seen on an x-ray or MRI? What is a flexion-extension x-ray? The problem with flexion-extension x-rays How to make sure your test is worthwhile Back and neck pain patients and doctors are often confused by the idea of instability in the spine. From the patient’s…read more

Are Squats Supposed to Hurt your Knees?

Are squats supposed to hurt your knees? I was in an exercise class yesterday and my left knee was hurting a bit while doing squats. Thankfully, I was able to correct the muscle activation sequence and my knee stopped hurting. But given the fact that squats are a mainstay of every cross fit or exercise class, learning how…read more

Knee Surgery Side Effects? New Research Raises Questions

Could it be that the naked in Times Square moment is approaching for knee arthroscopy? The most common orthopedic surgery on earth has taken a beating in the medical research, with study after study showing it’s not effective. Now a new British Medical Journal study has begun to look at knee surgery side effects vs. the…read more

How to Recover from Neck Pain? A Little Muscle Holds the Key…

How to recover from neck pain? The status of a little stabilizing muscle in your neck may determine if you recover quickly or have long term chronic pain. This little muscle can also be easily seen on an MRI, but the likelihood that the radiologist reading your report knows to take a look at and…read more

CDC Report: Scary Rise in Narcotic Use!

I’ll never forget the pesky Oxycontin rep that invaded my office about 15 years ago. He was armed with a fistful of research papers written by fancy university professors showing just how non-addictive his new drug was and he couldn’t understand why I avoided him like the plague. Fast forward 15 years and we all…read more

Skiing with Knee Arthritis: Can Stem Cells Help?

Is skiing with knee arthritis possible? Severe knee arthritis is a tough problem. The cartilage is all gone and bone spurs have taken over. Can stem cells get patients back on their skis? When we first began stem cell injections for arthritis a decade ago, we figured that the severity of the knee arthritis would…read more

How to Read Your Own Hip MRI Video!

An empowered patient gets better quicker-that’s what I’ve observed over the years. One of the biggest medical “black holes” for patients is their MRI. They have a report that might as well be written in Greek and they have an MRI CD whose images look like a cross between their body and the surface of…read more

Botox Headache Treatment Side Effects are Scary!

Millions of chronic headaches sufferers look to the same injection that cures wrinkles to help their headaches – Botox. For many of these headache patients, Botox allows them to reduce their oral medications. However, is there a dark side to these headache shots? What are the long-term botox headache treatment side effects and should these patients…read more