Improved Diagnostic Criteria for Measuring Intramuscular Compartment Pressure in Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome (CECS) is a condition in which nerves and muscles are damaged therefore causing pain. The most common affected area is the lower leg. If not managed promptly, it can lead to disability of the affected muscle. It is primarily induced by exercise or any repetitive strenuous body movement. It is most common in athletes although anyone can develop Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome (CECS) . Signs and symptoms include cramping pain (leg pain is the most common), weakness, numbness, and tightness of the affected limb. Patients suffering from unusual pain that is not relieved by ordinary measures for pain management during exercise are automatically advised to see a doctor. It is diagnosed through measurement of intramuscular compartment pressure (IMCP). It is currently the mainstay treatment. Basically, it involves insertion of needles into the muscles. However, there seems to be a debate among orthopedists whether the existing diagnostic criteria is the best method possible and if it is accurate, specific, and sensitive. Therefore, a study entitled “Intramuscular Compartment Pressure Measurement in Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome: New and Improved Diagnostic Criteria” was conducted in United Kingdom led by David Roscoe, MRCGP, MFSEM. The study was published on November 18, 2014 in The American Journal of Sports Medicine. The study used cohort design to compare dynamic IMCP measurement and anthropometric factors between symptomatic and asymptomatic patients with Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome (CECS) . This is also to establish the efficiency of the existing criteria of diagnosing which is Pedowitz criterion. The new method under study was compared to the existing diagnostic criteria, the major difference of which is the timing of measurement while participants are exercising. Participants included in the study where trauma patients who are males ranging from ages 21 to 40. These participants have either leg injury or tibia fracture. Participants with diagnoses other than Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome (CECS)  were excluded in the study. The number of participants was divided equally into two groups: symptomatic CECS patients and asymptomatic Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome (CECS) patients. IMCP was measured continuously before, during, and after participants exercised on a treadmill, carrying a 15-kg load while they are on it. On the other hand, using Pedowitz criteria, IMCP was measured one minute and five minutes after , respectively. Consistently observed in the study was the significant difference in the pain experienced between control group and the subjects (subjected to 23.8 mmHg pressure for controls and 35.5 mmHg for subjects). The peak of difference was observed on the maximal tolerable pain (68.7 mmHg for controls vs 114 mmHg for subjects). This means that diagnosis can be improved when pain is measured continuously and not just one minute and five minutes after exercise as currently being utilized now. The improved diagnostic value is 63% more sensitive and 95% more specific than the existing diagnostic criteria. On the other hand, it was found out that the Phase 2 of the new and improved diagnostic criteria utilization is more accurate than Pedowitz criteria. Since Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome (CECS) can always be mistaken for shin splints, a less serious cause of leg pain related to exercise; an improvement should be established in the diagnostic criteria to provide early detection of the condition. If not detected early, CECS can result to loss of function of the affected limb. If you have leg pain, contact our sports medicine specialists for an evaluation at Orthopedic Surgery San Diego.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis affecting the weight-bearing joints and is suffered by millions of people worldwide. Due to continuous use of these joints, cartilage wears out and the friction between bones causes heat and pain. This is disabling and can significantly reduce the quality of life of a person suffering from it. The most commonly affected part is the knee. Signs and symptoms suggesting OA include pain related to movement, tenderness, and stiffness of the joints upon waking up. Patients with stiffness lasting for unusually longer duration should see the doctor.
Knee OA can increase the risk for knee injury if OA is not managed promptly. Although it has no cure, exercise, healthy weight, and control injections of hyaluronic acid (HA) or normal saline solution (NS) can help slow down the progression of disease. Severe and uncontrollable signs and symptoms may lead to loss of function of the knee and is strongly suggestive of indication of knee replacement. However, if manifestations are not strongly indicative of knee OA, doctors may perform knee arthroplasty to differentiate it with gouty arthritis (GA).
Therefore, Dr. Amir Khoshbin’s team from Ontario, Canada conducted a study entitled, “The Efficacy of Platelet-Rich Plasma in the Treatment of Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review With Quantitative Synthesis”. The purpose of the study was to conduct a synthesis of all available literature about efficacy of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in managing knee OA compared to control injections. This was done by conducting systematic reviews of all available high-quality published randomized controlled trials (RCT) and prospective cohort studies evaluating efficacy ofplatelet-rich plasma (PRP) versus control injections of HA and NS for knee OA from Medline, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed, and clinicaltrials.gov. Reviews were done independently and differences were settled through discussions. The study was published in Arthroscopy: The Journal of Arthroscopic and Related Surgery on December 2013.
Participants included in the study totalled to 577 patients. 264 (45.8%) were assigned to the treatment group (subjected to PRP) and 313 patients were assigned to the control group (received control injections in the form of HA and NS).
After 24 weeks, therapeutic effect of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) vs. control injection was measured through the following outcome measurements: Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) , visual analog scale for pain (VAS), International Knee Documentation Committee Subjective Knee Evaluation Form (IKDC), and overall patient satisfaction. Patients receiving platelet-rich plasma (PRP) were observed to have higher WOMAC and IKDC scores reflecting PRP’s superiority from HA and NS.
However, there was no significant difference between VAS scores and patients’ satisfaction of the control and treatment group. This may be attributed to the participants’ heterogeneity and limited number. Researchers suggested increasing the number of participants. No adverse events were reported in both studies. In the study, it was specifically discovered that a series of 2-4 injections of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) at a minimum of 24 weeks improved the functionality of the joints as evidenced by higher WOMAC and IKDC scores.
Overall, using platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections can have beneficial effects for treating mild to moderate OA in about 6 months. This is another leap in the advancement of sports medicine.
If you have knee pain, contact our sports medicine specialists at Orthopedic Surgery San Diego for an evaluation.

Bone Breaks

Cuts, falls, sprains, pediatric injuries, and the occasional boo-boo (that doesn’t really need a Band-Aid, but we put one on anyway) are all part of growing up. Bone Breaks, while less common, are traumatic to say the least, for both the child and the parent. The casts, the pain, and the six to eight weeks of misery is nothing to celebrate, but luckily, children’s bones heal quicker than we think. The scariest kind of break, an open bone breaks , where the bone actually protrudes through the skin is a heart stopper for most parents, and the first thing we think is “surgery”. Fortunately, there are open bone breaks that can actually heal without the need for orthopedic surgery, especially under the guidance of a doctor skilled in sports medicine and pediatric orthopedics.
The tendency to automatically perform surgery on pediatric injuries, such as a wrist fracture, knee injury, broken arm or leg, or wrist injury, prevails, even though, a “watch and wait” approach could be just as beneficial, if not more so.  Salter-Harris Fractures, which are fractures in the growth plates along the long bones of the fingers, outer forearm, and lower leg bones, can be healed without surgery.
Because of the debate between doctors regarding “to surgery or not to surgery” a study was conducted to determine the need. A retrospective analysis was taken of forty patients that had open type I pediatric fractures to the forearm or tibia. These patients were between the ages of 4 and 16 that had been treated without surgery at John Hopkins between the years of 2000 and 2013.  Each patient was casted under conscious sedation and discharged the day of the injury. The results of the study showed that if the open bone breaks wound was small, as in less than ½ inch in diameter, and the tissue surrounding the wound was free of debris, the wound could heal without surgical intervention. There was no sign of infection in any of the forty patients that were surveyed for this study.
It would seem logical that a wound that small could heal on its own rather than need surgery, but not all wounds are the same. The same size wound on one child could still result in surgery if the surrounding tissue was damaged or contaminated, but it is possible to heal surgery free for many open bone breaks. The senior study investigator, Paul Sponseller, M.D. feels that these results may give way to proving the idea of non-surgical approaches to many types of open bone breaks.
The benefits to allowing the bone to heal on its own are numerous:

–          No anesthesia
–          Less scarring
–          Easier/faster recovery
–          Less cost
–          Less trauma

As scary as it seems to see your child with an open bone breaks, keep in mind that surgery is not always inevitable. Ask questions of your child’s doctor to see if surgery is a necessity before it occurs.
Schedule an appointment with our pediatric sports medicine specialists at Orthopedic Surgery San Diego.  Our specialists strive to offer you the best surgical and nonsurgical options.

Study Shows Lyrica Ineffective in Spinal Stenosis

It might be surprising to know that we can be prescribed medicine to counteract an ailment that the drug itself wasn’t actually designed to treat. This is called “off label prescribing” and has been done in about one in every five prescriptions.  For example, Cartia, a calcium channel blocker, usually used to treat hypertension and angina, is a very effective medication for those suffering from Raynaud’s disease. Diphenhydramine, also known as Benedryl, while an approved antihistamine drug, has been prescribed as a sleep aid due to its effects. Topamax, a medicine used to combat seizures is now a commonly prescribed migraine prevention medication. Lyrica, also known as pregbalin, has also been prescribed to many patients for the treatment of back pain and chronic pain. Lyrica has been shown to be an effective remedy for anxiety, even though it is FDA approved for fibromyalgia, epilepsy, pain from shingles, and seizures. This medication binds to the nerves which is thought to essentially block pain signals from one nerve to another, decreasing pain. It has been found, however, in a recent study, that although prescribed for back pain, Lyrica is not effective with a common case of back pain, known as spinal stenosis. The study was conducted on 29 people all over the age of 50 with severe lumbar spinal stenosis. This condition happens when arthritis or other issues cause the ligaments in the lower back to thicken and the canal where the spinal nerves travel becomes narrow. This causes the nerves to be “pinched” which is felt as a tingling and burning sensation in the legs or buttocks. Steroid injections are used to decrease the inflammation, and surgery is occasionally necessary to open the narrowed canal. The study of the effectiveness of Lyrica was conducted on these patients specifically because chronic lower back pain is more common than nerve pain. Those in the study were either given Lyrica or an antihistamine placebo, and neither group saw any more improvement over the other. Because this was only one study on a small amount of people, it is doubtful it will affect the number of prescriptions written for back pain.Back pain happens to everyone at some point in their lives, be it from active or sedentary lifestyles, sports, injuries, or lifting something incorrectly. Age is also a factor in back pain as the spine degenerates over time, making us more prone to pain and injury the older we become.

Orthopedists often see patients complaining about back pain, which can range from mild and sporadic to excruciating. Different remedies are prescribed based on the location of the injury and the type of pain. Many back issues correct themselves after a few weeks, but chronic conditions and more severe issues need a sports medicine specialist, or orthopedist to get the patient back on track. If you have back pain, the staff at San Diego Orthopedic Surgery is committed to getting you the help and treatment you need and deserve. Our specialists provide the best orthopedic and medical care available.

The Role Platelet-Rich Plasma Plays In Anterior Cruciate Ligament Allograft (ACL) Healing

An allograft refers to a bone or soft tissue transplanted from a person to another. Normally, allografts, also known as donor tissues, are more preferable than autografts (a person’s own tissue) for various reasons. Allografts are helpful in assisting patients to regain mobility, reinstate function so that they can enjoy better life.
Allografts tend to retain vital biologic and biomechanical characteristics which enable not only quicker but also greater healing.
The Anterior cruciate ligament, which is abbreviated as ACL, is the smallest but the most important of the four knee ligaments that stabilize the leg when a person twists the body. It runs diagonally through the inside of the knee and is crucial in giving stability to the knee joint. It is also helpful in controlling the lower leg’s back-and-forth movement. Injuries to the ACL can arise in a few circumstances as well as sports and can be severe. Surgery may thus become a must.
Torn ACLs are a common knee injury and statistics show that more than 200,000 injuries occur each year in the U.S with nearly 100,000 ACL repair surgeries being performed every year.
An ACL tear or sprain happens the moment there is a sudden change in direction or when pivot occurs on a locked knee. The most common symptoms of an ACL tear are a pop, followed by pain and swelling. Women are said to be more prone to tear their ACL owing to their differences in anatomy as well as muscle function.
ACL tear treatment focuses on returning the patient to his or her pre-injury level of function. Arthroscopic surgery is usually performed to reconstruct the torn ligament.  A patient can take between 6 to 9 months to return to normal activity following an ACL injury.
If you tear the ACL in your knee, you may have to undergo reconstructive surgery. It is difficult to repair a torn ACL by stitching it back together. However, ACL reconstruction can be done by attaching new tissue (an allograft) onto it. The remainder of the torn ligament is removed and replaced with a tendon from the patellar or hamstring tendon.
Platelet-rich plasma, which is abbreviated as PRP, is blood plasma that has been supplemented with platelets. It consists of a number of growth elements as well as other cytokines that stimulates healing of bone and soft tissue. It is a concentrated source of autologous platelets and normally releases them through degranulation. Platelets regulate healing and tissue regeneration in the body. They are also responsible for blood clotting in order to prevent too much bleeding.
PRP preparations have been used as remedies in several medical fields ranging from implantology to vascular ulcers. There is more recent development and encouraging results in the fields of sports medicine as well as arthroscopy. Certain applications may be contained in PRP which will speed recovery in cases of muscle, tendon, ligament and cartilage disorders. Apart from improved allograft integration, ACL reconstruction has exhibited improved autograft maturation, better donor site morbidity and pain management. Patients may undergo faster and more intensive rehabilitation programs and resume sporting quicker via acceleration of the biological integration of the graft using PRP.
For sports medicine and doctors, the advent of PRP, with its autogeneous nature, the ease with which it can be prepared and its superb safety profile has opened an additional therapeutic door. In future the focus will be on improving the results of arthroscopic together with related surgery. Also, defining right prescription, timing and best techniques PRP use.
If you have been told that you sustained an ACL tear or are interested in finding out more about PRP, contact our sports medicine specialists at Orthopedic Surgery San Diego today.  Our specialists strive to offer you the best surgical and nonsurgical options.

knees

Popping and crackling noises in the knees while squatting or getting out of a chair are rarely symptoms of any injury or medical condition, the New York Times reported in its “Well” blog.
The crunching or grinding sensation, known as crepitus, sometimes results from gas bubbles popping in the knees. If there is no pain or inflammation, medical treatment is not needed, according to Dr. Michael Stuart, professor of orthopedic surgery and co-director of sports medicine at the Mayo Clinic.
In some cases, cartilage damage or meniscus tears cause crepitus. When cartilage in a knee deteriorates, the joint’s bones and tissues are no longer protected. They rub against one another, triggering inflammation and potentially leading to osteoarthritis. If left untreated, the pain and impaired mobility can reach the point that knee replacement (arthroscopy) becomes necessary.
“Crepitus is extremely common,” Stuart told the Times. “Our joints make a lot of noise.” He explained that, in addition to pain and swelling, a locking of the knees is a sign that treatment might be needed. Meniscus tears cause “mechanical symptoms like catching or locking,” he said.
Crunching or grinding sounds heard while squatting sometimes are indications of osteoarthritis. However, in the absence of inflammation and other discomfort, the sounds “may be innocuous,” according to Stuart.
He noted that deep squats, involving the hips dropping lower than the knees, put excessive strain on the knees. To prevent cartilage injury, it is advisable to exercise with more moderate squatting.
“When you perform a full squat, you put almost eight times your body weight across your knee cap,” Stuart told the Times. “Then, when you add a barbell or load on top of that, it ends up being very, very high forces to the joints and tissues around the knee.”
The noises associated with crepitus result from “an abnormal interaction (among) air, fluid or bone … when rough surfaces in a joint rub together,” according to healthgrades.com.
“Crepitus can be due to a wide variety of conditions, and associated symptoms can also vary widely,” the website reported. “Soft-tissue crepitus, due to air inside body tissues, is a serious type. Crepitus due to arthritis or joint problems can be a sign of chronic disease or joint damage.”
Symptoms of crepitus include joint pain, inflammation, stiffness that is more severe in the morning, skin warmth and redness, and reduced mobility. Healthgrades.com noted that signs of potentially life-threatening conditions are “bluish discoloration of the skin or lips, chest pain or pressure, confusion or loss of consciousness for even a brief moment, difficulty breathing, fever higher than 101 degrees Fahrenheit, nausea and vomiting.”
Subcutaneous crepitus, which occurs in soft tissues under the skin, requires immediate medical attention because it can be a symptom of a bacterial infection, wound or collapsed lung.
If you are experiencing crepitus associated with pain in your knees, schedule an appointment for an evaluation by the sports medicine surgeons at Orthopedic Surgery San Diego. They can diagnose the cause of the discomfort, whether it is knee osteoarthritis, a meniscus tear, cartilage injury or another condition. You can learn all your options, including knee replacement (also known as knee arthroplasty).  Our specialists strive to offer you the best surgical and nonsurgical options.

 Shoulder painis

a typical and expected part of many athlete’s lives. Those that spend most of their time throwing a ball are the most susceptible to shoulder injury. By the nature of their sports, baseball and softball pitchers, tennis players, javelin, and handball players put a great deal of stress on their shoulders. Their role in the game is to rapidly accelerate and decelerate their throwing arm while pushing an object from their hands. This causes the shoulder to possibly become overextended, overused, and vulnerable to tears and injuries.
The shoulder is one of the most mobile joints on the body. There are four joints in the shoulder which, if injured, can cause a number of problems and pain. It is often difficult to discern which part of the shoulder is affected by injury, as certain types of pain can be caused by different causes. For example, weakness in the shoulder and aching could be due to a labral tear, which is a tear in the tissue around the arm socket, or it could be due to a rotator cuff injury, which are the muscles and tendons around the shoulder joint itself. Both are similarly painful, but completely different injuries.
Shoulder injuries can happen to pitchers and players of any age. It is common for a young pitcher to have an injury to the growth plate located in the shoulder due to overuse and often untrained throwing styles. Those on traveling teams, who have more games than in a regular season will often find themselves sporting sore and overextended shoulders.
For mild shoulder injuries, over the counter treatment should suffice. Ice, along with ibuprofen and NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) will help to keep the swelling of the injury down, along with decreasing pain. Rehabilitation and physical therapy can be helpful to get the shoulder back in full use again. Rest will help, too, but there is a fine line of when rest becomes too much and the shoulder can lose its mobility and need to be retrained. This can cause problems when an overeager adolescent wants to get back on the field quickly and pushes himself too hard.
Sometimes shoulder injuries to too extreme for ice and Motrin and surgery is needed for repair. Arthroscopy is a common surgical procedure for shoulder injuries. It is minimally invasive and allows the orthopedist to view the problems through an arthroscopic camera, and fix the problems at the same time. Arthroscopic surgery takes less time to heal due to the small incisions that are made, and a large percentage of players are able to return to the field afterwards.
One way pitchers ages 7-18 to decrease the potential for shoulder injury is to strictly adhere to pitch limits set by Little League Baseball, which takes into consideration the age of the player and the number of pitches per day that is deemed safe to throw. Those ages 7-8 are allowed 50 pitches per day, while 17-18 year olds are allowed 105 per day.
If you or your child suffer from shoulder pain, contact our sports medicine specialists at Orthopedic Surgery San Diego to undergo an evaluation.  Our specialists provide the best orthopedic and medical care available.

The Efficacy of Platelet-Rich Plasma in the Treatment of Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review With Quantitative Synthesis
Osteoarthritis is wear and tear of the joint that occurs over time. It is a condition that causes worsening pain and complications over time. Osteoarthritis can impair a person’s quality of life, cause pain and limit him/her in the activities that they can do. Sports medicine doctors can help reduce or treat osteoarthritis with medications, physical therapy, and also with operations such as knee replacements. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has been used to help treat or reduce pain from osteoarthritis. The effectiveness of PRP is still being studied; studies performed to date have shown conflicting results.
A review of the results of the many studies evaluating the efficacy of PRP for the treatment of painful knee arthritis was performed. The data from the different studies were combined and examined. Multiple databases, including Medline, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Pubmed, and www.clinicaltrials.gov were searched to locate prospective studies and clinical trials that have evaluated the effectiveness of PRP.
Six studies were included in this review. Among these six studies, a total of 577 patients were included, with 264 patients (45.8%) in the treatment group (those that received PRP) and 313 patients who did not. The average age of patients receiving PRP was 56.1 years old (51.5% of them were male) compared with 57.1 years (49.5% male patients) who did not receive PRP. Combining the data from the multiple studies showed that patients who used PRP for osteoarthritis had significant improvement (reduction of symptoms) compared to those that did not use it (average difference, using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index scale was -18.0, 95% confidence interval (-28.8 to -8.3), p < 0.001). There was also a significant improvement noted with use of PRP when the International Knee Documentation Committee score was used (average difference, 7.9, 95% confidence interval, 3.7 to 12.1, p < 0.001). Adverse events such as pain, stiffness, syncope, dizziness, headache, nausea, gastritis, sweating, fast heart rate and pain and swelling at the injection site occurred more commonly in patients treated with PRP (8.4% v. 3.8%, p=0.002).
In conclusion, intra-articular PRP injections may aid in the treatment of adult patients who have mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis at approximately 6 months. There seems to be an increased incidence of adverse events amongst patients treated with PRP.
If you are faced with knee arthritis or hip arthritis, contact our orthopedic specialists at Orthopedic Surgery San Diego to undergo an evaluation.

health insurance

A large health insurance company has announced that it will pay its employees for getting more exercise. Depending upon how many steps are recorded while walking or running, a worker could receive as much as $240 in Amazon.com gift cards, Reuters reported.
Multiple studies have shown that people who regularly engage in strenuous physical activity are less likely to suffer pain in their knees or hips. Exercising keeps joints fit and strong, making them less vulnerable to injury and degenerative conditions like osteoarthritis.

The company, Oscar Health Insurance, apparently understands the value of keeping its employees healthy. People who run, jog or walk are at much lower risk of obesity, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and high blood pressure. They also have fewer cases of  breast, lung, colon and endometrial cancer. Running and brisk walking are forms of aerobic, as well as cardio, exercise. Such workouts boost the immune system, making the body more resilient to ailments.
Paying workers to exercise may a relatively new idea, but employer-sponsored health plans have long offered incentives like lower premiums for participating in “workplace wellness” programs, Reuters noted.
The news agency reported that Oscar, which operates health-insurance exchanges in New York and New Jersey under the Affordable Care Act, has enrolled 17,000 members. The New York-based company plans to expand to California in 2016.
Oscar recently started paying its employees to stay healthy by giving them $20 gift cards for getting flu shots. That worked so well that company executives decided to establish the walking-exercise program.
Workers are given Misfit fitness tracking devices, worn on the wrist, to measure the number of steps they take while walking or running. Other data, like the number of calories people burn and the amount of sleep they get, also can be recorded. The devices send the information to company computers with software that tracks individuals’ progress and sets their daily goals.

 The goals are determined according to each employee’s ability and exercise level. Most people start with about 2,000 steps, while some take as many as 10,000, Oscar co-CEO Mario Schlosser told Reuters. He said researchers have detected measurable improvement in the health of study participants who walked about 6,000 steps per day.
At Oscar, some employees began experiencing benefits soon after starting the program. Others did not report positive changes, like weight loss, until later.
The program “is a big carrot hanging in front of you,” Schlosser told CNBC.com. “The original motivation was certainly that we want to give people a nudge to stay healthy.”
The company also plans to offer as many as 20,000 of its customers a Misfit app they can download onto smartphones. Wristband fitness trackers will be shipped to the customers, who can activate the devices to automatically sync to the app and individuals’ insurance plan accounts, CNBC explained. Customers earn daily gift-card rewards of $1, up to $20 per month, if they exceed their exercise goals.
“We think it can be a very powerful tool to getting people out on the street and being more active,” Schlosser said. He pointed out that giving away the devices, which retail for about $60 each, is worth the cost because healthy customers cost Oscar less money. Walkers and runners are less likely to need the doctors, hospitals and medications that their insurance plans cover.
“It will pay off, at best, in the medium term, if not the short term,” Schlosser told CNBC. “It’s potentially revolutionary, potentially incredibly impactful. If we were able to get everybody to do that, that would be a fantastic, fantastic outcome.”
Studies have proven that people who use fitness tracking devices and set goals get more exercise than others. Getting started on a walking or running regimen as early in life as possible can help prevent knee and hip pain, as well as osteoarthritis and other such conditions.
If you are experiencing joint pain, or suspect that you might be developing a degenerative condition, you need to know what is wrong and how you can address the problem. Schedule an appointment for an evaluation by the nationally renowned sports medicine surgeons at Orthopedic Surgery San Diego to learn about your options.

 Almost 92% of Americans own a cell phone in 2014, with almost 60% owning smartphones. One does not have to have to have a lot of money to own a smartphone as almost 50% of Americans with an income of $30,000 and lower also own one.  Smartphones function like a mini-computer and allows access to email, internet, browsing, surfing the web, texting, games, pictures, and applications, also known as apps.
Apps are what make the smartphone more useful than mobile phones, which also have many of the same features as a smartphone.  There are over a million apps each for Android and iPhone users, and the ideas are seemingly endless from apps for games, weather, and sports, to music, movies, and migraines. Apps that are geared to health and fitness are growing in popularity, and are called “m-health” (mobile health) apps.
Technology has recently been seen as a way to help low-income and at-risk groups better manage their health. A study was done at UCLA that used an m-health app to help teach 40 African American women better health habits. Black women are more susceptible to heart disease, and the women chosen for the study ranged in ages 25-45 and had to have at least two heart disease triggers. Poor eating habits and lack of exercise along with stress was a common factor for these women.

These women had fallen into an unhealthy pattern. When we gain weight but do not exercise, the added pounds can weaken our joints. This leads to a vicious cycle of pain, such as knee pain, back pain, shoulder pain, shoulder injury and the need to seek out an orthopedist. Because of the pain, the inclination to exercise diminishes more, we eat more, we have more pain, and the cycle continues. This adds to the problem of heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and a myriad of health problems.

The women were taught in four sessions about healthy lifestyles, how to reduce stress, and eat more healthy. They were then given an Android phone that was loaded with the m-health app that was developed at UCLA. The phone could be used to text other members in the group, but to not call out. The app is an interactive one that sends daily messages to the users reminding them to eat fruits and vegetables and tracks their exercise. In order to track their movement, the phone had to be worn when they were awake, at all times, via a passport pouch. They also took blood pressure readings once a week with a Bluetooth-blood pressure cuff that sent the numbers to the study lead.

The researchers were able to see when blood pressure would spike over the Fourth of July, when salty foods are consumed. It was also able to tell when a member of the study group was faking the exercise by shaking the phone instead. In the end the women had improvement in blood pressure, cholesterol, decreased stress, better eating habits, and were exercising more.
If you have sustained shoulder pain or knee pain while exercising, contact our sports medicine specialists at Orthopedic Surgery San Diego.