Tag: best orthopedic surgeon san diego

How to Deal with Your Child’s Arthritis

Arthritis is something you think you will get once you grow old, and not something you think your child will get. What a lot of people don’t know is that kids get arthritis, too.

Juvenile arthritis is an inflammation of the synovium for children aged 16 years and below. Specialists think that this disease is caused by genetics, infections, or environmental factors.

Symptoms of Juvenile Arthritis

Juvenile arthritis is considered an autoimmune disorder, and its first signs are usually subtle. It can be something as simple as excessive clumsiness, or a joint pain in the morning that never goes away. Joints may become painful, stiff, and tender. They may even lose some of their mobility. There may even be limping involved, as well as fatigue and loss of appetite.

At this point, it is best to have the child evaluated by a San Diego pediatric orthopedic doctor to rule out conditions that have similar symptoms as juvenile arthritis. An early and accurate diagnosis is important in order to help your child manage the disease.

Treating arthritis at its early stage is important because your child is still growing. If untreated, the disease can affect your child’s growth plates and can interfere with your child’s growth and bone development.

Treatments for Juvenile Arthritis

After a diagnosis has been established, it is best to work closely with a San Diego orthopedic doctor to get the best possible outcome. Having a specialist and a team of health providers will ensure that your child will remain physically active and will maintain an overall good quality of life that was previously enjoyed even before the diagnosis.

Your doctor will recommend a combination of treatments such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), physical therapy, and exercise. When arthritis symptoms flare up, corticosteroids such as prednisone may be injected directly to the child’s joints.

Medial Epicondylitis and Lateral Epicondylitis: What’s the Difference?

If you have a child who is active and plays a lot of sports, it pays to know the sports injuries that he or she is at risk of having. If the sports involves the use of the elbow, then your child should be familiar with the most common elbow injuries to prevent them from happening.

Medial epicondylitis and lateral epicondylitis are two of the most common elbow injuries. Both injuries are a type of tendonitis with similar symptoms except for the part of the elbow that’s affected. Medial epicondylitis occurs inside the elbow, while lateral epicondylitis happens outside of the elbow.

Medial Epicondylitis

If your child fond of playing golf? Then you better watch out for medial epicondylitis. Medial epicondylitis, also called golfer’s elbow, is an inflammation of the inner side of the arm and elbow.

This happens when the forearm muscles are overused and the wrist is repeatedly twisted and flexed, something that happens all too frequently when swinging a golf club. This injury can also be caused by a direct trauma from a fall or a motor vehicle car accident.

Lateral Epicondylitis

If your child a tennis player? Doing a lot of forehand and backhand strokes can take a toll on the elbow and result to lateral epicondylitis. This condition is also known as tennis elbow because tennis professionals get this injury from swinging a tennis racket.

Treatments for Epicondylitis

Even if your child has never played golf or tennis, they can still get an elbow injury if they do an activity that requires repetitive motions of the arms and wrists.

Anti-inflammatory medications, cortisone injections, and rest are used to treat epicondylitis, whether it is medial or lateral. Using a brace will also help reduce the strain on the tendons. Your San Diego pediatric orthopedic doctor may recommend that your child undergo surgery if these conservative treatments don’t work.

What is Knee Arthroscopy?

Knee arthroscopy is one of the most popular medical procedures used to diagnose and repair an injured knee. Your San Diego pediatric orthopedic doctor may recommend this type of surgery if your child is experiencing a lot of pain in the knee and no longer responds to nonsurgical treatments such as medication and physical therapy. This procedure is used to fix the following knee injuries: ACL/PCL tear, torn meniscus, Baker’s cyst, inflamed synovial tissue, patella problems, knee fracture, and knee sepsis.

What Happens During a Knee Arthroscopy?

If your child is healthy, the knee arthroscopy will be performed as an outpatient procedure. Your child will be put to sleep using local, regional, or general anesthesia. A pediatric orthopedic surgeon begins the procedure by making small incisions and pumping saline water to expand the knee, making it easier to see the injured joint.

A small camera—called an arthroscope—is placed inside the knee and will display real-time videos in the monitor inside the operating room so that the surgeon can determine where the problem lies and fix it. After the surgeon identifies and corrects the injury, he will drain the saline water and close the cuts with stitches.

Why Undergo a Knee Arthroscopy?

What’s great about a knee arthroscopy is that it is minimally invasive. The arthroscope is very small, which means the surgeon will have to make very small cuts compared to the larger ones made during an open surgery.

Depending on the extent of damage, the procedure will take less than an hour and your child can go home the very same day. Since an arthroscopy is less invasive, there is less pain involved, less complications, and faster recovery times. On the other hand, a traditional open knee surgery could place your young athlete out of commission for a considerable amount of time.

Preventing an ACL Injury

An ACL tear is a common enough injury among young athletes. This type of injury greatly impacts the anterior cruciate ligament located in the center of the knee. About 70% of ACL injuries happen in a non-contact situation, meaning the injuries happened without any contact against another person.

Most of the times, an ACL injury happens when a young athlete changes direction all too quickly while playing, or when landing awkwardly from a jump. The knee gives way to the sudden, unexpected pressure, causing trauma to the ACL.

Having an ACL tear can limit your child’s ability to compete at a high level; it can even be a career-ending injury. As a parent of a young athlete who leads an active lifestyle and plays sports, you can encourage them to do the following to nip an ACL injury in the bud:

Consult with a medical professional.

You can consult with a San Diego pediatric orthopedic doctor or a sports medicine specialist to identify and work on your child’s weak muscle areas. Sports medicine professionals can also establish a training program and teach your child proper form, such as learning to pivot properly to avoid getting injured.

Do a lot of stretching.

Balance between the left and right sides of the body is important in preventing sports injuries. The imbalance will cause the body’s center of gravity to shift when landing from a jump or a pivot, and could lead to the knee injury. Doing a lot of stretching exercise will improve your child’s sense of balance and flexibility.

Implement strengthening exercises when training.

Doing a lot of squats, lunges, and plyometric exercises will give your child a lot of strength in the hips and thighs. These exercises will also develop neuromuscular conditioning and decrease the risk of an ACL injury.

Get enough rest.

Check your child’s schedule. Is it full of practice sessions, games, training, and homework? Is there enough room for rest? If not, your child will easily get tired and exhausted, causing him or her to become sloppy during games and more susceptible to injuries. Make sure your child gets plenty of rest and recovery in between competitive performances.

If a knee injury is accompanied by a loud “pop,” pain, swelling, and difficulty in walking, it is best to have it checked by an orthopedic surgeon to begin treatment as soon as possible and prevent further damage.

What is a Frozen Shoulder?

A person may have a frozen shoulder if simple activities such as scratching one’s back or pulling a book from an overhead shelf has become such a chore. Also known as adhesive capsulitis, a frozen shoulder is a disorder that causes a lot of pain, stiffness, and a limited range of motion.

Frozen shoulder happens when the soft tissues in the shoulder bones become inflamed from overuse or a chronic disorder. Injuries such as tendinitis, bursitis, or a rotator cuff injury can also lead to frozen shoulder.

The inflammation causes the capsule in the shoulder joint to become fibrotic, limiting the movement of the shoulder. This condition is serious, and can lead to disability if not treated properly over time.

How is Frozen Shoulder Treated? 

First aid comes in the form of heat therapy to improve blood circulation, while ice reduces the inflammation of the affected area. Treatment usually begins by taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. A localized steroid injection like cortisone can also be used.

If these treatments are not helping, a San Diego orthopedic surgeon can perform surgery to loosen up the tight tissues and help speed up the healing process. There are two types of outpatient procedures to fix a frozen shoulder. The first one is closed manipulation, where the patient is put to sleep and the arm is stretched into different positions to loosen up the stiffness. The second one is called arthroscopic capsular surgery, which involves making a small incision in the shoulder joint and using an arthroscope to probe and release the tightness.

Most orthopedic doctors combine these two procedures in order to achieve the best results. After surgery, the patient is recommended to undergo physical therapy for faster recovery and to minimize the chances of the frozen shoulder from reoccurring.

What to Do When Your Child’s Shoulder Gets Dislocated

The chances of a shoulder dislocation happening to your kid are higher than you may think. To get an idea of how a dislocation happens, imagine the shoulder as a golf ball sitting on a tee. The dislocation happens when the golf ball comes out of the socket.

Because the shoulder has a wide range of motion and can move in different directions, it is considered as the body’s most mobile joint. However, this quality comes at a price: the joint is increasingly unstable, which makes the shoulder vulnerable and easy to dislocate.

Dislocation happens the moment the adjoining bones are no longer aligned with each other. The direction of the dislocation can be at the front (anterior) or at the bottom (inferior), but rarely at the back (posterior).

Causes of Shoulder Dislocation

Shoulder dislocations are caused by injuries from contact sports such as football. Anterior shoulder dislocations happen when the arm is outstretched and is then forced backwards, something that frequently happens during arm tackling in football. Dislocations can also be caused by significant trauma not necessarily related to sports, such as during a fall or a vehicle accident.

Dislocations are often quite painful, and are usually accompanied by swelling, bruising, and tenderness. There may even be partial numbness and inability to move the joint.

Difference between Subluxation and Dislocation

Dislocation means that the shoulder’s ball and socket have been disconnected from each other, while subluxation is a type of dislocation where there is less trauma, and the ball and socket are not fully separated.

Treatment for Shoulder Dislocation

If your child’s shoulder gets dislocated, the first course of action is to put the injured shoulder in a splint or sling, then put some ice to reduce the swelling and relieve the pain.

The next step is to seek professional medical attention. You will need to consult with a San Diego pediatric orthopedic surgeon to put your child’s shoulder back into place. This process is called reduction.

What are Overuse Injuries, and How Do You Prevent Them?

The rise in the number of young people participating in organized and recreational sport has led to an increase of sports-related injuries. There are two types of injuries that happen to children: acute and overuse. Acute injuries are the result of a single, traumatic event, such as a sprained ankle or a dislocated shoulder.

On the other hand, overuse injuries are repetitive actions that cause a lot of stress and trauma on the bones, muscles, ligaments, tendons, and joints. These injuries are often subtle and occur over a period of time, making them difficult to diagnose and treat. Examples of overuse injuries are tennis elbow, Achilles tendinitis, shin splint, and ACL tear.

Causes of Overuse Injuries

Overuse injuries happen when there is an increase in the intensity, duration, or frequency while playing a sport, without giving enough time for the body to fully recover. The injury can also be exacerbated if the excessive physical activity is combined with inadequate warm up, improper technique, or unsuitable equipment.

Prevention of Overuse Injuries

To prevent this type of injury from happening, have the child learn about proper form and technique from a coach or trainer. Any increase in training intensity should not be more than 10% at any given time. Avoid sports specialization until late adolescence; instead, encourage the child to try out a variety of sports.

Also stress the importance of having a rest day to recover both physically and mentally. If an overuse injury persists, consult with a San Diego pediatric orthopedic doctor to come up with a more detailed treatment plan for your child.

At the end of the day, the goal is to help your child become a well-rounded person who enjoys doing physical activities. An overuse injury can sideline and blindside your young athlete, so make sure to promote a healthy balance of play and rest.

8 Ways to Prevent Summer Sports Injuries

Summer is a great time for children. After being dormant for most of winter, most of them are raring to come out and play in order to make the most out of the warm weather.

Unfortunately, some of these summer sports activities could inevitably lead to injuries, if the child and the parents are not being careful. Children are more at risk for sports injuries because they are less coordinated and have a slower reflex than adults.

It’s all fun and games until somebody gets hurt. Don’t let it be your child. To reduce your child’s risk of getting injured, make sure they do the following:

Be prepared. An improper technique and poor form can take its toll on the body. Before giving them your permission, make sure they know how to play the sport and understand the rules of the game.

Warm up and cool down. Remind them to warm up before practice sessions and actual games, and to cool down after they have finished playing.

Stay hydrated. Don’t wait until your child gets thirsty before asking them to drink. Make sure the kid stays replenished by having them drink water before, during, and after an activity to prevent heat-related injuries.

Wear protective gear. Always check if your child wears protective gear all throughout the game.

Have qualified adult supervision. You won’t be able to watch every game, but having a qualified coach around who knows how to respond to emergencies can be a huge relief.

Have fun, but know your limits. If your kid is trying out a new sport, advise them to be patient and learn to work their way through it.

Take time off. Make sure the kid is taking a day (or two) off every week. Taking regular breaks prevents overuse injuries and allows the body to recover and heal naturally.

Consult with a professional. If your child suffers from a knee, ankle, or shoulder injury, consult with a San Diego pediatric orthopedic doctor for treatment options.

Is It Growing Pains or Something Else Entirely?

In a previous blog post, I’ve already discussed what growing pains are, and how to treat them. Growing pains are quite normal, and are a somewhat painful reality that every child has to go through on their way to adulthood.

Growing pains are often a delayed reaction to an extremely physical activity done earlier in the day. Unfortunately, they can also be confused with other serious medical conditions, which is why you need to be on your guard when your child is complaining about achy limbs. There are many illnesses associated with aching limbs among young children, such as chronic rheumatic disease and childhood arthritis.

It can be tricky to differentiate growing pains from other medical problems, but here are the four signs to watch out for:

Pain is experienced in the morning. Growing pains usually happen in the late afternoons or early evenings, and are often gone right away. If pain continues to persist in the morning, there could be something more to it.

Pain is in the joints. Growing pains are usually located on the calves or behind the knees. They do not manifest in the joints.

Pain affects only one area. Growing pains are usually bilateral in nature, meaning the pain happens to both sides of the body. If your child’s pain occurs in one leg—not in both legs—it could be a symptom of something else.

Pain is visible. Growing pains should not leave behind any signs, so if they are accompanied by bruising, swelling, rashes, or redness, it could be something else entirely.

No one knows your child better than you. When in doubt, it is always best to consult with a San Diego pediatric orthopedic doctor to rule out other diseases. Having an early diagnosis is the key to your child’s recovery and healing.

Elbow Injuries Among Young Baseball Players

Now that summer is in full swing, you’ll find most children playing outside and enjoying the sun. Unfortunately, some popular summer sports can also cause injuries if you and your kid are not being careful.

Some of these injuries frequently happen in the baseball field. According to Johns Hopkins, more than 100,000 children from ages 5 to 14 were treated in hospital emergency rooms for baseball-related injuries. The sport also has the highest fatality rate among children aged 5 to 14, with three to four dying from a baseball injury each year.

Pitching Fatigue

Little pitchers who throw too many pitches are prone to injuries more than any other baseball players. Here are two of the most common elbow injuries that happen to young players:

UCL Tear

The ulnar collateral ligament connects the humerus (arm) to the ulna (forearm). The ligament may tear up due to the repeated stress that comes from throwing away too many pitches.

The UCL injury may require a “Tommy John” surgery, named after a Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher who was the first to undergo a UCL reconstruction procedure.

Little League Elbow

While the UCL tear is an injury to the ligament, the little league elbow is an injury to the growth plate. This injury is also caused by repetitive throwing motions. During a throwing motion, a lot of pressure is placed on the inner elbow. The growth plates, which haven’t fully developed yet, become overused and are more prone to injury.

Many sports injuries can be prevented by using proper form, wearing protective equipment, and watching out for early signs of muscle fatigue or pain. If your little pitcher experiences inner elbow pain, have him or her stop playing immediately. If the RICE method (Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation) does not improve the elbow’s condition, then visit a San Diego pediatric orthopedic doctor for a more comprehensive treatment plan.