Let’s dive into our guide on artificial cervical disc replacement—a procedure designed to address neck issues caused by damaged or diseased cervical discs. Cervical discs serve as crucial shock absorbers between vertebrae, facilitating free neck movement. However, when diseased or damaged, these discs may require surgical removal to relieve spinal cord or nerve root compression. In […]
Your shoulder is a ball-and-socket joint made up of three dominant bones—the humerus, clavicle and scapula. The rotator cuff consists of a group of four tendons and associated muscles that collectively work to keep the arm bone within the socket of your shoulder blade while allowing your arm to raise and rotate. Although damage to […]
Regaining Your Energy After Surgery Surgery can take a major toll on your body, and 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 […]
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 […]
Getting a Grip on Extensor Tendon Repair When you think about your hands and all the things they allow you to do every day — from picking up a coffee cup to typing on a keyboard — you might not realize how much you depend on tiny, powerful structures called extensor tendons. Extensor tendons allow […]
Answering: Why You Need Crutches After Meniscus Surgery If only surgical treatment worked so perfectly that the patient would hop off the operating table, cured, with no painful recovery required. For knee surgery, that is not the case. Meniscus surgery, while often minimally invasive, still requires a recovery period including crutches, where careful attention must […]
Back pain can put a severe crimp in your daily activities. One cause of such pain is a herniated disc, also called a slipped or ruptured disc. A common condition of the lower back that seldom requires surgery, herniated discs are most common in women and men aged 30 to 50 years, although they also […]
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 […]