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Lead Stories: Saturday, July 19, 2008

Partial Knee Replacement: Less Pain, but Not for Everyone

Posted September 4th, 2007 at 9:35 AM by Hariz Siddiqui

Section: Health & Fitness, Injury & Rehab

partial knee replacement diagram image knee joint The ends of bones are soft, so they must be covered with a thick white gristle called cartilage. Many people suffer from knee pain because the cartilage is damaged. They may have osteoarthritis in which the cartilage wears away, or they may have damaged cartilage in an accident or by playing sports. Once damaged, cartilage can never heal; the person spends the rest of his life losing cartilage until the cartilage is completely gone and the knee hurts 24 hours a day.

Until recently, the only effective treatment has been to cut out the ends of the bones of the knee and replace the entire knee joint. Now for some people, a simpler procedure may be effective: partial knee replacement, called unicompartmental knee arthroplasty. The surgeon removes just part of the cartilages and bones on the upper and lower legs on one side of the knee.
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Q & A: What’s the best way to treat stress fractures?

Posted February 26th, 2007 at 11:41 AM by Hariz Siddiqui

Section: Running & Training, Injury & Rehab, Health & Fitness, Injury & Rehab, Exercise

$stress-fracture.jpg$ Bone stress fractures are very common sports injuries. Any trauma to bones, such as repeated pounding when your heel strikes the ground during running, or landing on your feet after grabbing a basketball, can cause small cracks on the surface of bones called stress fractures. In healthy athletes, they can take from 3 to 12 weeks to heal, forcing an athlete to lose valuable training time.

A study from Tulane University shows that intravenous pamidronate can heal these fractures quickly and keep you playing (Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine, March 2005). Bones change constantly. Calcium is carried from bones by cells called osteoclasts and carried into bones by cells called osteoblasts. Bisphosphonates such as pamidronate prevent osteoclasts from carrying calcium from bones. The athletes received five weekly intravenous infusions of pamidronate and were able to continue training.
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TFS Review:
Contour Pak’s Cold Pak

Posted February 6th, 2007 at 10:00 AM by Adam Jacobs

Section: Running & Training, Injury & Rehab, Gear & Apparel, Sports Medicine, Special Features, Health & Fitness, Injury & Rehab, TFS Reviews

Product: Contour Pak’s Cold Pak
Price: $19.95
Rating: Excellent 9.0/10.0
Pros: Stays in place; easy-to-use; versatile; effective; stays cold longer than other cold compresses; washable, durable, can be used without a paper towel or other protective barrier
Cons: None
Overall: The most effective and well-designed mechanism for treating minor injuries with cold therapy.

Cold therapy is a an excellent treatment option because it can prevent new injuries, accelerate the healing process, relieve pain and reduce swelling. Unfortunately, traditional cold compresses are only effective for a short period of time, force you to remain in one place and can be difficult to use on certain parts of your body. That’s why we were so impressed with Contour Pak’s Cold Pak - a gel pack that manages to avoid all the traditional cold therapy pitfalls.
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TFS Review: The Stick’s “Sprinter Stick”

Posted January 10th, 2007 at 10:00 AM by Adam Jacobs

Section: Running & Training, Injury & Rehab, Gear & Apparel, Miscellaneous, Product Reviews, Special Features, Health & Fitness, Injury & Rehab, TFS Reviews

The Stick’s “Sprinter Stick” is an exceptional tool for injury prevention & treatment and was chosen as a “TFS Top Pick of 2006″.

Product: The Stick’s Sprinter Stick
Price: $32.95
Rating: Excellent 8.9/10.0
Pros: Improves performance by accelerating recovery; portable; good value; versatile
Cons: Difficult to use on arm muscles and feet without a partner.
Overall: This is a one-of-a-kind self-massage tool that can reduce muscle soreness, prevent injuries and even make you a better runner.

For those who have never seen it used, The Sprinter Stick is likely to seem quite peculiar. As a matter of fact, when one of The Final Sprint’s product testers first received it, he thought we had sent him: “Some type of a hybrid between a rolling pin and a weapon from ‘Karate Kid’“.

Believe it or not, this observation was quite perceptive. The Sprinter Stick, one of the many models in the The Stick’s product line, is a 19-inch rod of plastic with grey, grooved handles on each end and nine, independent spindles surrounding it’s core. Just as a rolling pin is used to knead and reshape dough, The Sprinter Stick is used to stretch and manipulate muscle. The Intracell Technology of The Sprinter Stick can also be thought of as a type of weapon; one that has proved extremely effective for runner’s in the battle to stay injury-free.
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Are cortisone injections safe?

Posted December 11th, 2006 at 8:01 PM by Hariz Siddiqui

Section: Running & Training, Injury & Rehab, Health & Fitness, Injury & Rehab

Doctors often inject cortisone-type medications into painful damaged joints and tendons. Single injections can relieve pain and swelling and appear to be safe, but many studies show that repeated injections can damage joints and delay healing. Most doctors will recommend having no more than three injections into the same joint in a lifetime.
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