Before I start with my intended article on joint replacements I need to share an announcement....
We have finally released our new website...www.ConwayClinic.com.
It's been completly overhauled with complete explanations of our treatment and services that are provided to both the athlete and non-athlete alike. Lot's of people think that we only treat athletes. Although the majority of the cases that we see, we continue to offer the same quality of services to patients in auto accidents, on-the-job injury, slip and falls and many other chronic type of symptoms. Okay, enough of that...let's get on with the article.
Joint Replacements
One area that I want to address is the issue of joint replacements. Patients that have been dealing with long standing pain in their knees, hips, shoulders or ankles have been told that they have degenerative changes. Most doctors are telling their patients that they have arthritis. Put them on some type of medication and send them on their way. Billions of dollars are spent every year on degenerative arthritis for the most part just to patch it up temporarily. There are many cases that can be fixed and fixed for years on end of pain free living.
If the patient continues on the pain medication over riding the pain the problem continues to produce problems to the joint causing increase degeneration. And what happens it leads to a visit to the surgeons office at the other end of a diagnosis of joint replacement.
It seems to me that there has been a rash of orthorpedic diagnosis given to a lot of my patients telling them that their problem is "bone-on-bone." The doctor tells them that due to the knee pain they are going to need a replacement because they have "bone-on-bone" when I put up the x-ray to read there is plenty of room between the bones.
It is my judgement after seeing patients for over 27 years that when a patient has a joint pain that is bone-on-bone they can hardly walk 10 yards without having to stop for assistance. Patients continue to come into my office telling me that they are scheduled for surgery when they can walk normal to the average eye. Yes, they have some pain but nowhere near the pain of a patient who truly has "bone-on-bone" pain. That type of pain is severe and disabling.
Joint pain in many, if not all patients, not related to a pathological disease, is directly due to the supporting muscles not doing their job. The muscles gets its electrical supply from the nerve. If the muscle didn't get a nerve supply then in reality all you have is a filet mignon. Once the nerve supply feeds the muscle the energy it turns the muscle from a steak to a moveable muscle.
The muscle is designed to turn on (contract) and turn off (relax). When it turns on (contracts) its designed to absorb force. Just like the shock absorber of your car the muscle is designed to absorb the same force before it gets into the joint. The joint isn't designed to absorb force and the bones of the joint begin to bang together in a round about way. This leads to inflammation that leads to pain and eventually to degeneration...also known as arthritis. Now if the degeneration goes too far then in fact you may need to have surgery to replace the joint. But please, please listen to me...most of these joints don't need to be replaced.
If the muscles are properly turned on they will contract in the manner they were designed and properly absorb force. If the force is taken up by the muscle(s) that force can't get to the joint and the joint will remain healthy.
At my office the first thing done is a functional exam to see where the breakdowns are coming from. Muscles are an outward expression of the nervous system. So I can test the nervous system through testing the muscles. I can track down what muscles aren't properly turned on not absorbing force. Then with a specialized machine that I have I can locate the exact area to where this "short circuit" is located. From there, I can then design a protocol to remove that short circuit turning on the neuromuscular response allowing for the proper healing to take place.
We have been able to help lots of patients get rid of they chronic pain and save them from surgery. I can even help patient who already had joint surgery. We are able to to accelerate the healing process in many cases as much as 60 to 80%. That can take months off of your rehabilitation time. One of our patients who had complete reconstructive ACL (knee ligament) surgery was scheduled by his doctor to be in rehab for 6 to 8 months. Using out innovate treatment protocols we were able to get him back to his football team workouts in six weeks.
If you have questions about any of this feel free to drop me a line via email at drc@conwayclinic.com. I'll be happy to answer any of your questions and hopefully keep you away from surgery.
Dr. Malcolm Conway
Conway Clinic for Sports Injury
www.ConwayClinic.com
