Fall is here, and that means football season is well under way. It also means lots of news stories about players suffering from injuries to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), a major ligament that supports the knee joint. ACL injuries are so common in football, it’s easy to think that...
More than a million joint replacement surgeries are performed every year in the United States, helping women and men improve joint function and mobility. Still, even though joint surgery is proven and effective, it’s not always the best choice for joint problems. As a leading orthopedic surgeon in Vestavia Hills,...
About 20% of Americans suffer from chronic pain, including pain that comes from knotted muscle fibers called trigger points. In fact, in addition to focused pain that happens right around the muscle fibers, trigger points can cause referred pain, too — pain that you feel in other parts of your body. At Powell Orthopedics...
Millions of orthopedic surgeries are performed each year in the United States, including well over 2 million hip and knee procedures. In fact, today’s orthopedic surgeries are often the best — and sometimes only — solution for chronic or acute pain in limbs and joints, restoring function and mobility so patients can...
Nearly 60 million Americans suffer from doctor-diagnosed arthritis, a degenerative condition that can cause severe joint pain and disability. Another 32 million have arthritis symptoms but haven’t sought medical care yet. When most of us think of arthritis, we think of osteoarthritis, the most common type of arthritis by far. But there are other...
Rotator cuff injuries are common, especially among athletes who use their arms to throw or swing a racket or club. While some mild injuries can heal with therapy and other conservative options, more severe or complex tears can require surgery to repair damaged tissue and restore joint function. Made up of...
Stress fractures are one of the most common types of sports injuries, and they can happen in nonathletes, too. Also called fatigue fractures, stress fractures are very tiny cracks in a bone, and unlike larger fractures that are usually caused by acute trauma, stress fractures typically occur as a result...
If you think tennis elbow only affects athletes, guess again: Anyone can develop this painful condition. In fact, as many as 3% of Americans wind up with tennis elbow every year. Also called epicondylitis, tennis elbow happens when tendons in the joint are overworked and strained, typically from repetitive use....
According to the latest national health statistics report, 8.6 million people in the United States sustain sports or exercise-related injuries in an average year, with overuse injuries like sprains and strains ranking as a top complaint. Although sports-related back and spine injuries aren’t quite as common as sports-related joint (ankle,...
The shoulder is an extremely complex ball and socket joint, and happens to have the greatest range of motion of any joint in the body. However, this large range of motion can cause the shoulder to become unstable, leading to joint problems and the site of multiple injuries. If you have ever...
A dislocation is an injury to a joint in which the bones are forced out of their natural position by trauma. In a hip dislocation, the head of the thighbone (femur) is forced out of its socket (acetabulum) in the pelvis. Having a dislocated hip is often very painful, and...
The lower leg is made up of two bones, the fibula and the tibia. The tibia is the larger of the two bones, and often known as the shinbone. The small, thin bone that runs alongside the tibia from the knee to the ankle is the fibula. The tibia and fibula are...
With the kind of physical demand placed on the body during playing sports, athletes tend to have an elevated risk for injury. Whether you experience an injury from an accident, competitive sports, or from a demanding training regimen, almost every athlete—amateur, or professional—will need medical assistance from a trained professional at...
When you have just undergone surgery, the last thing you probably want to do is to start exercising and conditioning the affected area. The simple fact is, however, that it is precisely what your body needs to help you heal. Exercise and activity are necessary to properly regain lost function...
