Dr. Kenneth R. Brooks

It depends on which ligament is torn and what your level of activity is. Usually, the only one that requires surgery is the ACL. The MCL and LCL usually heal on their own, sometimes with bracing, in 2-6 weeks depending on severity. The PCL usually heals if it is a low to moderate grade injury. A grade 3 or severe PCL injury may benefit from surgery as well.

You should see an orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine to find out your best treatment options.

For non-operative or bracing management, I recommend a brace like the McDavid Level 3 or the Donjoy Playmaker or similar.

An assessment of incision healing and instructions for post-operative therapy

This is a common problem. It is a combination likely of poor posture and weak core strength. How you sit, eat, and exercise contributes to your overall feelings of health. My general mantra for people with your issue is: strong in front, flexible in back. The transverus abdominus muscle is critical for you to strengthen, as it is the belt-like muscle deep in the abdominal wall that is crucial for maintaining posture and pelvic alignment. In terms of flexibility in back, you need to stretch your hamstrings to keep them from pulling your pelvis out of alignment. You need to arrange your workspace so that you are facing straight forward at your computer (not at an angle), your chair is high enough to allow your shoulders to relax with your forearms parallel to the floor (on armrests or with your hands on your keyboard), and you need to practice sitting with an upright posture (strong in front!). You may also want to invest in a lumbar support pillow for your office chair.

With regards to diet, unless you have food allergies, you need to increase the ingestion of nuts, berries, carrots, and whole grains. These are easy foods to take with you as snacks to keep you from binging on unhealthy food on your meal breaks. Also increase your ingestion of water throughout the day. That way, your body will maintain a higher metabolic rate, which will help control weight gain and give you more energy.

It is unusual for a muscle strain to last that long, so one has to wonder if there is a more significant injury. I would suggest getting an MRI to assess for a muscle or tendon tear that has not healed. Hopefully, it is something that will resolve with rest, physical therapy, and anti-inflammatory medications.

I am honestly not sure what “tipped pelvis” means either. Perhaps your doctor was referring to pelvic obliquity, an anatomical variation wherein one aside of the pelvis is higher than the other (like left vs. right or vice versa) when you stand up. It can be due to spine curvature, muscle imbalance of one side vs. the other, trauma, limb length difference, or a congenital deformity. Measurements of limb lengths and X-rays can provide useful information as to your potential cause. Ask your doctor which cause you have so you and he/she can design an appropriate treatment program.

You can wear shoes with a wider “toe box”— the part of the shoe from the ball of the foot to the end of the toes— to relieve pressure and allow the toes to straighten out. You can wear a toe spacer between the first and second toes to hold the big toe straight. If those techniques don’t work, see an orthopedic surgeon specializing in foot and ankle.

It depends on what is strained, what treatment you have done, what kind of work and recreation you do, etc. You need to see an orthopedic surgeon to discuss your options. I recommend someone with fellowship training in sports medicine, or a specialist in the particular part of your body (hand, foot/ankle, shoulder/elbow) that is injured.

There is nothing else you likely need to do. Plicae are normal folds in the soft tissue in the knee. As long as there is truly nothing else wrong, he can play once he is pain free and has no swelling.

Your bones are not cracking. If they were, they would be fractured and require splinting, casting, or surgery. Your joints are likely what are cracking. It is likely due to the normal flow of fluid within the joints that causes the noise. However, if the cracking is associated with pain or swelling or loss of movement, you should see an orthopedic surgeon as soon as possible to find out what is wrong.

Kenneth R. Brooks, M.D.

If you have fluid in your knee after an injury, then you likely have an injury. You should see an orthopedic surgeon to help you diagnose what happened and what is needed to resolve the issue. In addition, the surgeon can drain the knee to remove the effusion. Otherwise, rest, ice, a compression wrap, and anti-inflammatories will help.

Rest from activities or movements that hurt, take an anti-inflammatory (like Aleve or Ibuprofen), wear a brace that prevents the movements that hurt. In the vast majority of cases, these steps will solve the issue. If not, see an orthopedic surgeon specializing in surgery and disorders of the hand.

If you have confirmed that your finger is not fractured (with X-rays by a physician), then it is simply time and symptomatic care until it heals. Rest, ice, compression, and anti-inflammatory pain medications will make you feel better during the healing process. You can also tape the finger to the (larger) one next to it to make you more functional during daily activities.

It depends on what is bothering you and what information you and your doctor need. A CT scan is very effective for looking for fracture and dislocations. An MRI is more effective if one is looking for nerve or disc injuries

Non-surgical treatment is the treatment of choice for rib fractures. Surgery is indicated in VERY rare circumstances. Your child’s treatment was appropriate

It depends on the pattern and location of the fracture and the displacement. If the alignment is not in good alignment (meaning your fracture will not heal or it will heal crooked), then you need surgery. Good luck and remember to follow your doctor’s orders!

Tape it to an adjacent toe and wear a hard soled shoe that prevents it from flexing up and down. When it stops hurting and the swelling resolves, you can slowly resume normal activity. If it appears twisted, bent, or otherwise deformed, go to an urgent care or your personal physician to have it treated.

It depends in where you feel the pain and what causes it. A pinched nerve is less likely. If you experience the pain on the outer (lateral) aspect of the upper arm, it is probably a rotator cuff injury. If it feels deep in the shoulder and there is a click with rotational movements, it may be a labral injury (SLAP tear). If it feels like a burning, shooting, or electrical sensation, or it is associated with numbness or weakness, or radiates from the middle of the neck down the arm, then it may be a pinched nerve.

The best suggestion is to see an orthopedic surgeon specializing in shoulder injuries (shoulder and elbow specialist or sports medicine specialist).

An orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine/knee injuries

Yes they are real. Never a bad idea to have a doctor assess your child if he is complaining of pain, though

I understand your concern and anxiety about having surgery and what may happen afterwards. I hear these same questions every day from my own patients. The more important questions to consider are: have you improved or recovered to the point that you can play at an NFL level with non-surgical treatment? Can you play at an NFL level with your back in its current condition? If the answers to these questions are “no,” then you have made the right decision to have surgery. In the end, it sounds as though you would not have been able to play without surgery. Therefore, surgery will not “end your career.” On the contrary, you are giving yourself an opportunity to heal and recover so that you can play. Make sure you understand your surgeon’s plan for your operation and you follow your surgeon’s plan for your post-operative rehab.

Good luck and work hard!