Understanding Musculoskeletal Health: What You Need To Know

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Musculoskeletal health refers to the overall health of the muscles and bones that comprise your body’s systems. Understanding the key elements that go into keeping your musculoskeletal system in working order is key to preventing sports injury, body pain, and illness. Our team of New Jersey orthopedic surgeons has comprised a short list of what you need to know about your body’s musculoskeletal system.

What You Need To Know About Musculoskeletal Health:

  • Nixing The Soda Can Save Your Body: Soda, especially regular and diet colas, have been shown to lead to osteoporosis. The reason for this lies in the fact that these popular drinks prevent calcium absorption and lead to lower bone density. Be kind to your bones and drink water rather than soda.
  • Stand Up Straight: Your mom was right; your posture is crucial to overall health. Poor posture can lead to strains in the wrists, shoulders, elbows, and back and cause persistent pain and muscle damage.
  • Get Moving: Whether you’re interested in weight loss or not, getting up and moving around on a regular basis is crucial to musculoskeletal health. Living a sedentary life has been shown to cause painful and dangerous loss of muscle and bone strength and puts you at risk for a host of injuries.
  • Slim Down For Your Health: Maintaining a healthy weight is about more than fitting into the latest summer fashion trends. Being overweight has been shown to affect everything from cardiovascular health to the performance of your bones and muscles. The main reason is that all of this extra weight puts undue pressure on your bones and muscles and leads to deterioration and possible injury. In keeping with our previous tip, get up and get moving to keep your system from having to overwork itself to support the weight of your movement.
  • Sleep Well: All too often our society places prestige on working around the clock and missing out on crucial sleep time. This does more than lead to overtired, cranky Americans. It is putting all of our systems at risk for disease, injury, and increased pain. To highlight this point, studies have shown that one night of missed sleep can trigger cellular action that can lead to tissue and muscle deterioration. Imagine what regular lack of sleep is doing to your body!

Now that you know the basics of musculoskeletal health, incorporate these tips into your daily life for improved overall health and a reduction of aches and pains. If the pain persists or your suffer an injury, call AOSMI to request an appointment with a sports injury specialist today.

Advanced Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Institute is a medical practice located in Freehold and Monroe, NJ, our medical professionals are experts in orthopedic surgery, joint replacement, sports medicine, integrative wellness, spine care, physical therapy, and more.

 

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New Options in Total Joint Replacement (TJR)

33474768_s Worldwide, over 1.2 million total joints are being done each year. Approximately, 800,000 of these total joints are done in the US alone. Americans are therefore the biggest consumers of this very successful technology.

Traditionally, TJR is done in a hospital set up because most patients undergoing TJR are the elderly with medical comorbidities (the presence of other illness like Hypertension, Heart Disease, uncontrolled Diabetes etc).

The current generation of baby boomers however, are much healthier, live a longer life and tend to stay active at an older age. On the other hand, a lot of younger patients are having TJR because of damage to the joints at an early age caused by sports related injuries.

Improved perioperative anesthesia, development of new analgesics like Exparel, and the increasing sophistication and safety of Surgicenters, prompted the development of outpatient TJR. Approximately, 20 percent of TJR are now done safely, expediently and at a big savings to the insurance company at surgicenters. The recovery time is shortened, infection rate is cut down, certain institutions like the Northern Monmouth Surgicenter in Manalapan NJ, where I do most of my outpatient work is close to zero percent.

There are certain reasons why TJR cannot be done in an outpatient setup. Medicare and certain private insurance companies will not authorize the TJR to be done as outpatient. It is my belief that the insurance companies will eventually see the value of doing outpatient TJR.

Any surgical patient with a severe medical condition obviously should be done in a hospital setup.

Examples of TJRs being performed in a Surgicenter, Total Hip Replacement (THR), Total Knee Replacement (TKR), Total Shoulder Replacement (TSR), Reverse Total Shoulder Replacement ( rTSR), Total Ankle Replacement (TAR) If you have any questions regarding surgery in an outpatient setup, please call for in office consultation.

Manuel T Banzon MD FAAOS
04-20-2015

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New Bloodless Protocol for Joint Replacement Surgery

orthopedic surgeons

AOSMI orthopedic surgeons have pioneered a new bloodless surgery protocol for joint replacement and other orthopedic procedures. Advanced Ortho Sports gives patients that they need in a number of areas, including sports medicine, joint replacement, spine care, fracture care, hand and wrist injuries, and urgent care. This new procedure is just another example of top quality care available from the orthopedic specialists.

With the use of tranexamic acid as well as advanced surgical coagulation techniques, blood loss and the need for transfusions have been significantly reduced. Since blood transfusions have many potential side effects and risks, patients are much more comfortable having surgery with the new technique which avoids the need for transfusions in the vast majority of patients.

In addition, patients feel better and more vigorous after surgery since they have more circulating oxygen in their blood and are less prone to anemia. This allows more surgeries to be performed without the need for hospitalization and intensive monitoring, resulting in significant cost savings.

For more information about orthopedic surgery at Advanced Ortho Sports, visit https://advancedorthosports.com/orthopedic-care.

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Meet Brian and See What a Successful Hip Replacement Looks Like!

Meet the successful result of a hip replacement Before signing on for major orthopedic surgery, most people need to have 100 percent confidence in their orthopedic specialist and the capabilities of the New Jersey orthopedic surgeons in charge of the surgery. Without such a confidence, the event can be nearly traumatic. Sure, you can sit down with any one of your orthopedic specialists and discuss their confidence in the procedure. But seeing it for yourself, or hearing it from someone who has actually walked through it, is a far more convincing route to take.

Meet Brian. Dr. Alan Nasar replaced his hip, and he was willing to speak to us a mere two days after surgery. Watch him move! Who would have thought he just had a hip replacement? This should help put those nerves to rest!

http://youtu.be/3s4uTNRRMlw

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Extending the Life of Your Artificial Hip

Visit an orthopedic specialist to see if you need an artificial hip. A partial or complete hip replacement is usually the last option offered to patients. A litany of less invasive treatments and solutions are offered by New Jersey orthopedic surgeons before a hip replacement is even considered. That said, there are times when the situation calls for it. Thankfully, technology has advanced considerably and these procedures are not nearly as traumatic or uncomfortable as they once were. Additionally, there are a number of things that you can do to help extend the life of your artificial hip.

Extending Your Hip’s Life: 

  1. No High Impact Activities: Avoid high impact activities at all costs! The likelihood of a sports injury (or hip re-injury) increases nearly ten-fold with an artificial hip. This includes activities such as running, jumping and bounding.
  2. Maintain a Healthy Body Weight: The more weight you are carrying around, the greater the amount of pressure you are putting on your hip. This is problematic even with a healthy natural hipbone. But with an artificial hip, the pressure can simply be too much and will cause significant deterioration over a few years. Keeping your weight down is vital to keeping your artificial hip healthy.
  3. Work for Strong Legs: The muscles in your legs act as shock absorbers for the hip. Keeping these muscles healthy, strong and flexible allows them to keep your artificial hip protected from wear and tear.

Practice these techniques and your artificial hip should rarely give you problems and your time with an orthopedic specialist should be limited.

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Avascular Necrosis (AVN)

Avascular Necrosis

What is Avascular Necrosis?

Avascular Necrosis (AVN) is a disabling and painful condition that can affect many bones in your body, most commonly in the hip and knee joints. Also known as osteonecrosis or “bone rot”, it is caused by a loss of blood supply and subsequent injury to the bone. Certain anatomical areas are more susceptible to this process due to their already tenuous blood supply. For example, the reason that AVN is so common in the hip is that the head of the femur gets its blood supply in a retrograde fashion; that is, the blood flow has to make a u-turn from its path down the leg and travel upwards to reach its destination.

Once the blood flow is compromised, bone cells begin to die and start to lose structural integrity. This process is very painful and often makes walking difficult. As the disease progresses, the round, smooth joint surface begins to collapse and lose its smooth contour. The affected joint then becomes stiff and the cartilage begins to wear away causing arthritis.

What are the Causes of AVN?

Avascular necrosis can be caused by conditions that cause your blood to become thick and sticky or conditions that damage your arteries. When this happens your blood has more difficulty traveling through small arteries. Diseases that increase the risk of AVN include sickle cell disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and other autoimmune diseases. Steroid use and alcohol intake are also associated with avascular necrosis, especially large quantities over a long time period. Scuba divers can also get AVN when they surface too quickly and small nitrogen bubbles obstruct blood flow.

Treatments for AVN by our NJ Orthopedic Surgeons

Avascular necrosis can be treated successfully in many cases if it is diagnosed early. The goals of treatment are to allow healing of the damaged (necrotic) bone and prevent collapse of the joint surface. Certain medications have been shown to strengthen and stabilize the bone, which can reduce pain and slow down the process of AVN. Surgical treatments can improve blood supply to the necrotic area and provide structural support while allowing the bone to heal. Core decompression is a surgical procedure that involves drilling the necrotic bone.

A new procedure using the Zimmer Osteonecrosis Intervention Implant has shown improved success. This technique uses trabecular metal, which is inserted into the necrotic area. The trabecular metal implant provides structural support, preventing collapse, and its unique micro-architecture allows bone tissue to grow into the metal forming an extremely strong bond.

One of our NJ orthopedic surgeons, Dr. Nasar, is one of a small group of surgeons who has performed the Zimmer Osteonecrosis Intervention Implant procedure.

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Can You Benefit from Cartilage Replacement Surgery?

Can You Benefit from Cartilage Replacement Surgery?

Chances are you probably won’t give much thought to the protective cartilage that cushions your bones until it wears down to the point that it becomes raw and painful. Each year, thousands of people must undergo surgery to repair torn cartilage because the pain interferes with their daily lives. Repair usually means shaving damaged cartilage, but many younger, more active patients are excellent candidates for cartilage replacement surgery.  This exciting therapy aims to eliminate pain, restore function and reduce or delay the need for total joint arthroplasty.  So, what exactly is cartilage, and how can it be damaged and repaired?

What is cartilage?

Cartilage is a rubbery, smooth substance found in every joint in your body. It serves to help bones glide smoothly within a joint and as shock absorption.

How can cartilage be damaged?

Your cartilage can be damaged through trauma such as twisting or direct impact; ligament injuries that make your joint unstable or loose resulting in damage to the joint surface cartilage; and poorly aligned joints placing excess pressure on cartilage. The damage can be painful, as well as limit everyday activities like walking.

What are your options for treatment?

While cartilage can be damaged in the hip, ankle, shoulder and elbow, the most common area of injury is the knee.  Cartilage replacement in knee injuries is an excellent alternative to total knee replacement and especially promising for more active patients.  Some of the treatment options involved in cartilage replacement surgery include:

  • Arthroscopic and open cartilage replacement procedures
  • Performed through small incisions, these are used to stimulate cartilage restoration, replace areas of damaged cartilage with healthy cartilage from elsewhere in the knee, replace damaged cartilage with donor cartilage and bone, or encourage knee cartilage regeneration using your own cartilage cells.
  • Limited (partial) replacement of joint surfaces
    Used instead of total joint replacement for older active patients
  • Realignment procedures

Called osteotomies, this can be done to take pressure off of damaged and repaired areas of the joint.

Who can be treated?

Anyone from teens to middle-aged adults can be treated with the techniques that orthopedic surgeons use to repair or regenerate cartilage.  The surgery can be performed at an outpatient surgery center or a hospital, depending on the procedure.

What happens after you’ve had treatment?

After you have cartilage replacement surgery in a joint, you must return to activity gradually. It will take time and patience, so don’t expect to return to the activities you enjoyed before your injury occurred. The treatment after surgery often requires specialized physical therapy, under the direct supervision of physicians.

If you’ve been suffering joint pain and are interested in treatment options beyond total replacement surgery, cartilage replacement surgery may be for you.  An orthopedic surgery practice dedicated to the repair and restoration of cartilage, like the Cartilage Restoration Center in New Jersey, a division of Advanced Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Institute, can help.  With Board-certified surgeons utilizing the latest techniques, you’ll be well on your way to returning to that active lifestyle you’ve been missing.

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