Surgery can take a major toll on your body, not just for the obvious reasons. Even a minor surgical procedure requires your body to heal, expending energy and invoking immune responses that can tax your musculoskeletal and cardiopulmonary systems. The more intensive the procedure, the more difficult your recovery may be. Spending time in the […]
Almost everyone has heard of total hip replacement and total knee replacement. But fewer people are familiar with total ankle replacement (also called total ankle arthroplasty). Although the ankle looks like a simple hinge joint, it actually involves much more complex movement, absorbing forces up to five times body weight. Many conditions, such as severe […]
If you are about to have your hip replaced, you will need to begin a rehabilitation program very soon after the procedure is completed. The type of rehabilitation will vary with the surgical technique used to attach the metal prosthesis to the femur. This artificial ball and stem can be affixed either with bony cement […]
Microdiscectomy, a common form of lower back surgery, is used to treat leg pain caused by disc herniation. Because it uses a smaller incision, microdiscectomy is far less invasive and causes far less trauma to underlying tissues than its alternative, laminectomy. Because the mechanical structure of the lower spine remains unchanged, the recovery period after […]
Extensor tendons allow you to extend your wrist and open your hand. They run along the forearm to the wrist and then along the back of the hand. Because these tendons have little protection, they are quite vulnerable to injury. You could injure your extensor tendons in several ways: lacerations (for example, if your hand […]
If only surgical treatment worked so perfectly that the patient would hop of the operating table, cured, with no painful recovery required. For knee surgery, that is not the case. Today, most surgical procedures on the crescent-shaped, fibrous knee joint cartilage called the meniscus are performed with tiny incisions, cameras and instruments. Thus, the recovery […]
“Pinning” is shorthand for surgical repair of a broken hip . In all likelihood, your mother suffered a fracture at or near where the femur (the large bone at the top of the leg) enters the hip joint. Also called “internal fixation,” this common procedure involves stabilizing the broken bones with steel rods, screws and/or […]
One reason back surgery “fails” is that the area operated on was not, in fact, the area causing the pain. Because the back and its nerves are so complex, this often cannot be foreseen before surgery. In fact, back surgery more commonly alleviates leg pain than back pain, because it is easier to trace leg […]
Even after undergoing surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome, some patients are still bothered by occasional tingling and numbness in the affected hand . Carpal tunnel syndrome involves the median nerve, which runs down the forearm, through the wrist and into the hand where it provides feeling and power to the palm, thumb and middle fingers. […]
