The goal of ACL surgery is to stabilize the knee joint, return it to normal mechanical function, and permit the athlete to resume sports without a deficit. Here are the most common reasons I see failures and what can be done about it.

Microfracture—the surgical procedure during which small holes are made in joint bones—has resulted in successful temporary repairs for thousands of injured athletes. Unfortunately, the repaired tissues often wore out—leading to more joint pain.

Injuries happen to all athletes. The best ones use the injury to return to sports fitter, faster, and stronger than they were before they got hurt. Our job is to help them do that. Here is how we counsel our wounded athletic warriors.

When a major injury occurs, the joint swells. Part of the swelling is good, and part is bad. Let’s look at what can be done to optimize the outcome.

The ruptured Achilles tendon heals beautifully when repaired. It just doesn’t need open surgery to repair it. Here is why.

News flash: Surgery doesn’t always work. The most important thing I tell my patients is that any effort to make a person better might make them worse.

For decades there have been unsuccessful efforts to repair the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after rupture. Why? Because the forces required to tear the complex weave of the ACL’s collagen fibers involve both tearing and pulling apart. Think of a climbing rope: When overstretched the rope fails within its sheath, not just at a single clean edge. Here is why the ruptured anterior cruciate ligament is most often replaced (reconstructed) rather than repaired.

When you see a doctor, you have three choices: Ignore their advice and go somewhere else, trust them to solve your problem and move on, or engage with them as an advisor for life. Magic happens when doctor and patient bond forever.

The shoulder can dislocate or just subluxate—i.e., move partially in and out of the joint. The causes for these are most commonly a torn ligament or a lax capsule. The repair steps have improved dramatically and are worth doing early.

Achilles tendon ruptures are in the news. Season-ending, will take a year to come back, terrible injury…such verdicts fill the headlines. Why?

I used to find a lot of time in every second. Rapid thinking, multi-tasking, and impatience all supposedly led to productivity. And stress. Now I go slow to go fast—and I am trying to go slower.

Artificial Intelligence-enabled systems that interpret radiologic studies are advancing to the point where they often match the best radiologists in the world. And they are getting better every day. From CT scans to MRIs, angiograms to Doppler studies, the data captured is digital—and digital data can be read by machines.

I believe that no doctor should do anything to or put anything into a patient without knowing or studying the long-term outcome.

Varying medical protocols because someone is extra-special can lead to problems.
If you are extra-special, I suggest you request plain vanilla care—and expect the best outcome to occur. Here is why.

It is a heady time in the world of human empowerment. We are seeing technologies that can alter our genetic code, augment our brainpower, enhance our physique, and extend our lives.