Tag: best orthopedic surgeon in san diego

Preventing Sports Injuries: Stretching

Preventing sports injuries is one of the best ways to continue leading an active lifestyle. But doing so requires that you educate yourself about what not to do, from improper technique to inadequate preparation.

One of the biggest questions in this area surrounds the value of stretching. Is this time-honored warm up a boon to your health, or ballast that will weaken your bones and muscles?

Surprisingly, the data is mixed. Stretching is the most common form of preparation, of course, and most people believe that stretching helps limber up our muscles and minimize the risk of an unexpected sprain or tear. But not everyone agrees; a few well-designed studies have shown no specific benefit to stretching before exercise.

There is, at least, a good consensus on one point: stretching can’t hurt. Unless you are really overdoing it by maxing out your ligaments or straining to achieve unnatural positions, basic stretching is harmless, and may help in ways that go beyond basic muscle suppleness. Elevating your heart rate and drawing more oxygen, for instance, may help you perform better on the field.

Bottom line: stretch if it helps you feel good, but do not imagine that a quick stretch is any substitute for cultivating a deeper flexibility, or for staying in better shape. Good conditioning and rest will help you avoid more injuries than touching your toes anyday.

The Best Treatment for Knee Pain? Avoid It

When doctors talk about how to prevent knee pain, most of the advice follows predictable ideas about rest and good warm-ups. But you can also reduce the incidence of knee pain by limiting the loads you place on the joint, and by applying better mechanics to your lifting and squatting motions.

This video from the Huffington post includes a few more exercises that should help your knee stay loose and healthy.

One of the most useful things about these exercises is that they aren’t just designed to help you prevent knee pain in your daily life or in the sports you play; these exercises can reduce strain during your workouts as well.

For more good advice on the best treatment for knee pain in San Diego, please contact the American Orthopedic Sports Medicine Center today.

Treating Shoulder Pain in Swimmers

Shoulder pain is a common complaint throughout the developed world, but especially for swimmers of every age bracket who rely on the propulsive force of their shoulders to achieve top speeds in the water.

From impingement to scapular dyskinesis to GIRD, or glenohumeral internal rotation deficit, shoulder pain can arise because of a variety of causes, and present with a dizzying array of symptoms.

There is no single best treatment for all cases of shoulder pain. Often the most effective treatment is a hybrid involving any number of modalities, including corticosteroid injections, physical therapy, rest, and exercise.

Each swimmer is different, and each stroke places its particular burden on the joint. Even as children age, they may graduate from one source of shoulder pain to another, requiring an attentive pediatric orthopedist to track the source of the pain as it occurs.

If you or your child is experiencing shoulder pain in San Diego, we’ve got you covered. Contact my offices for a complete workup today.

What’s The Best Treatment for Tennis Elbow?

A recent New York Times article looked into the standard cortisone treatments for elbow pain and tennis elbow to explore just how effective they really are compared to placebos, and nothing at all.

As it happens, cortisone may cause more damage over the long term than it helps over the short term. This is because cortisone focuses on inflammation alone, which may not represent the root cause of the problem:

For decades, tennis elbow was thought to be caused by inflammation in the tissues around the joint. Newer science, however, including biopsies of the sore tissues, shows little inflammation, except in the very early stages of the injury. Instead, it is thought to involve degeneration of the tissues: If the joint is used repeatedly and strenuously, the body cannot repair any resulting minor damage before more damage occurs, and the tendons that hold the elbow together begin to fray and buckle.

If nothing else, studies such as this one remind us that we have much to learn about the issues and biology surrounding chronic pain.

If you are suffering from tennis elbow in San Diego and want to speak with an expert orthopedist who understands the limits of injections, you have come to the right place. Please reach out to us here today.

How Much Does Knee Surgery Cost?

We live in a world where the actual costs of many medical procedures get hidden behind insurance copays and complex accounting. But many patients rightly want to know what their orthopedic surgery procedures actually cost – both for the system, and for their own pocketbooks.

There is little consistency in the fees charged for comparable orthopedic surgeries as you travel from place to place. This damning article includes some eye-opening discrepancies that cannot be explained through property values or practice size alone:

Knee Surgery Costs

At my San Diego orthopedic practice, we make every effort to keep our prices reasonable and to serve our patients well within their means, for knee surgery, shoulder surgery, elbow surgery, and pediatric orthopedic care. To schedule your own rational diagnosis with the best orthopedic surgeon in San Diego, start here.

Treating Knee Pain in San Diego

We live in a city where cycling has become an increasingly common mode of transport. As more people awaken to the concerns around automobiles, and still more join the fitness movement, it seems not a day goes by without bike lines appearing on new San Diego roads.

But cycling is not a zero-impact activity, and the rise in cycling has caused a concomitant rise in knee pain and its associated injuries. This article explains why: cycling position can be a notoriously tricky thing to perfect, and pain in the front of the knee or the back of the knee can be traced to different errors in fundamental positioning:

“A saddle that is too low will cause your knee angle to be too tight at the top of the stroke, which increases the shear forces pulling the patella against the femur, which in turn increases the likelihood of tendonitis and harmful stresses in the cartilage behind the kneecap,” says Veal. “Likewise when the cranks are too long for your leg length, the knee joint is also too tight at the top of the stroke.”

The reverse is true for pain in the back of the knee. Some people opt for help from cycling shops or pros to nail the right position, while others just tinker until they find some measure of comfort.

But if you can’t seem to shake that pain in your knee? Visit the best orthopedist in San Diego to get a full workup and learn more about how you can combat these stresses without getting off the saddle.

Connect With the Best Orthopedic Surgeon in San Diego

It is a fact of orthopedic medicine that not every specialist in this area covers a wide range of ailments. Although there is something to be said for the benefits of specialization, patients often express frustration upon discovering that their orthopedic surgeon only treats, say, a certain subset of back injuries and nothing else.

Here at American Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, or AOSM, we proudly offer a more versatile approach to orthopedic care. Dr. William Holland has earned the highest marks from patients through Southern California for his competency and high success rate, as well as an abiding commitment to a full range of orthopedic specialties, including:

If you’re looking for the best orthopedic surgeon in San Diego for chronic pain or injury, don’t hesitate: contact the offices Dr. William Holland for an expert consultation.