Curcumin for Arthritis: Does it Really Work?
Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease that is the most common type of arthritis. Usually, it occurs among people of advanced age. But it can begin in middle age or even sooner, especially if there’s been an injury to the joint. While there are treatments available — exercise, braces or canes, loss of excess weight, […]
Cooled Radiofrequency Ablation Treatment for Knee Osteoarthritis
Q: I saw an advertisement on TV for Coolief to treat arthritis. It looked encouraging. What is it and does it work? A: Coolief is a procedure used to reduce pain for people with knee osteoarthritis. A doctor inserts electrodes through the skin, placing them near nerves in several locations around the knee. Electric current […]
Surgeons Are Doing Fewer Knee Surgeries
When knee arthroscopy became widely available in the 1980s, it represented a major advance. Today orthopedists evaluating and treating common knee problems often recommend arthroscopy, during which they insert an instrument into the joint and, with a light and camera on its tip, directly inspect the knee from the inside. While there, he or she […]
The mysterious rise in knee osteoarthritis
While there are more than 100 types of arthritis, osteoarthritis is by far the most common. Osteoarthritis is the form of joint disease that’s often called “wear-and-tear” or “age-related,” although it’s more complicated than that. While it tends to affect older adults, it is not a matter of “wearing out” your joints the way tires […]
Minimally Invasive Surgery
Less cutting of tendons and ligaments can lead to quicker recovery Michael Floodstrand had always led an active lifestyle. He played hockey and baseball as a kid, and he continued to work out regularly and play golf as an adult. By the time he reached his 50s, however, his hips were beginning to complain. After […]
Knee Needs
ACL and MCL injuries common in athletes Britta Alpen was playing in a soccer game for the University of Missouri at Kansas City when she tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and meniscus in her left knee. “I was trying to beat the other girl to the ball, and she hit my right foot that was in the […]
Home Grown: Growing Cartilage for Knee Repair
Increased innovation in growing cartilage is slowly changing knee repair Our knees are undoubtedly the most important joints in the human body. They connect the upper and lower leg together and make it possible to bend and rotate our legs, allowing agility, mobility and functionality. They also happen to be the body’s largest joint, if […]
Noninvasive Procedure Alternative to Knee Replacement Surgery
By Karen Schwartz Batavia resident and longtime osteoarthritis sufferer Barbara Ford was only 50 years old, yet she experienced knee pain so severe she had to walk with a cane. Even after she had total knee replacement in 2012 on her left knee to help soothe the pain, she had to turn down much-cherished shopping […]
Flex Time
More patients are spending less time recovering from joint-related surgeries By Nancy Maes Ron Allen was born with an improperly formed hip joint. While the problem didn’t stop him from going to college on an athletic scholarship, it was causing him such excruciating pain that by age 40, he opted for replacement surgery on his […]
Physical Therapy after Joint Replacement Surgery
The recipe for a successful return to normal activities By Nancy Maes When extensive pain makes knee or hip replacement a necessity, it sometimes is beneficial to go through a presurgical round of physical therapy with a trained physical therapist. “If a patient lacks strength or range of motion before surgery, it can be beneficial […]
Multiple Choice
Breakthrough technologies broaden options for hip and knee replacement hopefuls It had been months since Cheryl Risicato, 56, a retired cake decorator and avid dog lover, first came to Chicago’s Northwest Community Hospital (NCH) seeking partial knee replacement surgery. Risicato, like so many other Americans, suffered from osteoarthritis, a common yet potentially excruciating joint disorder […]
Triathlon Recovery
A lifetime runner gets a second chance with a total knee replacement Fear of immobility caused William Marty to postpone knee replacement surgery until it was almost too late. A professor at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago since 1980, Marty had been an avid lifelong runner. As a college student, he attended Biola University in Los […]
Defying the Odds
Meniscal transplant breathes life into athletic hopes of 16-year-old Lake Forest resident. On a warm afternoon this past July, Chet Baker was startled by the sound of his 16-year-old daughter Kristen bounding down the stairs. That day marked just five months since she’d undergone a meniscal, or cartilage, transplant—three months too early for her to […]
Hip and Knee Replacement: Questions To Ask Your Doctor
Arthritis of the Hip and Knee: The Active Person’s Guide to Taking Charge, a book co-authored by Dr. S. David Stulberg, Director of The Joint Reconstruction and Implantation Service at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, offers hip and knee replacement patients a list of important questions to ask their surgeons. To take charge of your healthcare, consider […]
