Blog Archive
It’s tempting to think that bone fractures are all alike, but actually, fractures can vary significantly in how they happen and the way they affect the bones. While some fractures are relatively simple and straightforward, others can be more complex, and that means they need a different approach to treatment. ...
Trigger points are a common cause of nagging neck pain, a common medical problem affecting millions of people. While stretching, lifestyle changes and physical therapy may help relieve pain, at least temporarily, many people need a more targeted treatment — and that’s where trigger point injections can help. At Powell...
Millions of Americans suffer from osteoarthritis (OA), a degenerative joint condition associated with joint pain, stiffness, and reduced mobility. While surgery is one possible treatment for severe arthritis and badly damaged joints, it’s no secret that most — if not all — OA patients would like to avoid an operation...
Meniscus injuries are a common source of knee problems, particularly among athletes and others who lead physically active lives. While surgical repair can help restore knee function, the question on most athletes’ minds is, how soon can I return to my sport? Thomas E. Powell, MD, and the team at...
Joint infections can be extremely painful, and without proper medical treatment, they can also lead to permanent joint damage and disability. While antibiotics may help more mild infections, many infections benefit from more advanced therapies, like drainage and debridement. Thomas E. Powell, MD, is a leading and trusted provider of...
Millions of Americans suffer from chronic pain, with symptoms that affect daily living and last for months or years. Some types of chronic pain are progressive, meaning they tend to worsen over time. Despite differences in symptoms, intensity, and causes, all pain shares one thing in common: It needs to...
Millions of sports-related injuries happen every year in the United States, affecting athletes of all ages. While some injuries are unavoidable, the risk of having an injury may be dramatically reduced — if you know what to do. Thomas E. Powell, MD, and the team at Powell Orthopedics and Sports...
More than 1.3 million joint replacement surgeries are performed each year in the United States, including about 800,000 knee replacements and roughly 550,000 hip replacements. While these surgeries can dramatically improve mobility and quality of life for people with chronic joint pain, there’s no denying that the surgery itself is...
Roughly 20% of American adults suffer from arthritis, and that means they’re all at risk of suffering from the joint pain, stiffness, and impaired mobility it can cause. Despite advances in arthritis treatment, there’s still no cure — but there are things you can do to protect your joint health...
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) plays a starring role in the function and stability of your knee. Crossing from front to back at the center of your knee, the ACL prevents your knee from sliding too far forward while promoting normal bending and support during movement. Every year, as many...
Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common cause of wrist and hand pain and similar symptoms, affecting as many as 5% of American adults. While most people associate CTS with repetitive hand and wrist movements, it’s also more common among people with underlying health conditions, including obesity, diabetes, and arthritis. At...
Open fractures are broken bones that pierce the skin, exposing the bone and other tissues so they’re visible. These fractures happen as a result of trauma, like auto accidents, falls, or sports injuries. Not surprisingly, open fractures require special treatment to repair the bone and prevent complications. In this post,...
Muscle cramps are a common problem for many of us — in fact, it’s a good bet that most of us will have a muscle cramp at some point during our lives. In most cases, cramps are temporary, resolving within a few minutes or so. Sometimes, though, cramps continue or...
Arthritis is a common medical problem for many Americans. In fact, more than 50 million Americans have doctor-diagnosed arthritis, and millions more may have arthritis that hasn’t yet been diagnosed. Arthritis can affect any joint in your body, including your elbows. Thomas E. Powell, MD, and the Powell Orthopedics and...
Worldwide, nearly 200 million fractures happen every year, and data show fracture rates are increasing. In part, that may be due to the aging population tending to be more prone to falls or the same population staying active longer. Whatever the reason, fractures can be serious injuries, and every fracture...
Every year in the United States, well over a million joint replacement surgeries are performed, relieving painful symptoms and restoring mobility and function for people of all ages. There’s no doubt that joint replacement surgery is an appropriate choice for these patients — but for other people, physical therapy may...
Fractures are one of the most common orthopedic injuries, with roughly 180 million fractures happening every year worldwide. Thomas E. Powell, MD, and the team at Powell Orthopedics and Sports Medicine provide comprehensive care for all sorts of fractures, helping patients of all ages heal and recover. In this post,...
Joint pain and dysfunction are common problems for both women and men, and they tend to become more common with age and activity. Thanks to medical advances, we can now diagnose and treat many joint problems with joint arthroscopy or arthroscopic surgery. As a leading orthopedics surgeon in Vestavia Hills,...
Arthritis is a group of more than 100 diseases that cause joint destruction, pain, and disability. Arthritis is chronic, and like other chronic diseases, it requires ongoing management to keep symptoms under control. If you have arthritis, you’re probably wondering if it can be reversed or cured. As a leading...
Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common condition in which the median nerve in the wrist gets compressed by surrounding structures. Although mild to moderate cases of carpal tunnel syndrome typically can be treated using conservative, nonsurgical therapies, chronic or severe carpal tunnel syndrome may require surgery. At Powell Orthopedics and...
Wrist injuries are relatively common, in part because we use our wrists so frequently. They’re also common because the joint is so complex, meaning there are lots of parts that can be injured. While some types of mild wrist pain may go away with a little TLC, other types can...
Most of us think of our knees in terms of the bony prominence (kneecap) that becomes even more prominent when we’re sitting or squatting. But the knee joint is much more complex. It contains tendons, ligaments, nerves, and cartilage, including two wedge-shaped pieces of cartilage called menisci. Each meniscus protects...
Every year, millions of people suffer from broken bones, and about 10% of those fractures happen in the feet. Considering how much we use our feet and how much wear and tear they’re exposed to, that’s not too surprising. Foot fractures can range from relatively mild to severe and include symptoms like...
Every year, more than 2 million hip replacement surgeries are performed in the United States, helping women and men restore joint function and regain mobility following severe arthritis. A leader in state-of-the-art hip replacement surgery, Thomas Powell, MD, offers these five tips to help patients at Powell Orthopedics and Sports Medicine get ready for their...
Physical therapy offers plenty of benefits for many people suffering from chronic pain. Regular therapeutic exercise can help reduce inflammation, improve range of motion, and relieve stressful feelings that often accompany long-term pain. And, many exercises can be performed right in your own home. At Powell Orthopedics and Sports Medicine in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, Thomas...
Avascular necrosis (AVN) is a serious medical problem that happens when a lack of blood supply causes bone cells to die. Also called osteonecrosis, avascular necrosis affects about 15,000 Americans every year. While nearly any bone can be affected, AVN usually affects the ends of long bones that make up...
Just the thought of breaking a bone can make many of us wince. That’s because most of us associate fractures with a lot of pain, swelling, and disability. But some fractures can occur more subtly, and their symptoms can be much more difficult to recognize. They still need prompt treatment,...
Nearly 60 million American men and women have arthritis, including many with symptoms that limit their everyday activities. While there’s no cure for arthritis, there are medical treatments that can help you manage your symptoms, and there are simple steps you can take to protect your joints. Arthritis happens when the protective...
Millions of Americans suffer from arthritis, including about 60 million people who’ve been medically diagnosed with the disease. While there are different types of arthritis, they all have one thing in common: They all cause joint pain and stiffness that can wind up limiting your mobility. When it comes to reducing symptoms and...
Nearly 800,000 knee replacement surgeries are performed each year in the United States, and that number is expected to grow as the population gets older. Total knee replacement surgery can be a great solution for women and men whose knees have given out due to arthritis or other diseases or injuries. Today’s knee replacement...
Most of us are familiar with muscle pain, either directly or indirectly. After a day of physical activity, it’s not unusual to feel some muscle pain or achiness as a result of strain or overexertion. What’s less familiar to many people is pain originating from the myofascial tissues. Myofascial tissue...
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...