To cut, or not to cut? To repair, or to let heal? To rehab without fixing? To live with imperfect parts? Each of these questions is faced every day by surgeons and their patients. Here are a few decisions about incisions.

The orthobiologics field, which merges biological therapies with traditional orthopaedic healing and surgical techniques, is exploding. Why? Because in many circumstances, tissues can be induced to heal—or even re-grow—if the right environment is provided. Here is the latest.

Superstars crash. It seems like they crash regularly, but we just hear about the ones who do so spectacularly. Without any inside knowledge of Tiger Woods’ particular issues, here are a few lessons I believe we can all take away.

The International Society of Arthroscopy, Knee Surgery and Orthopaedic Sports Medicine (ISAKOS) met in Shanghai this June, highlighting the best of ACL surgery in China. Here are a few take-away lessons for us all.

Two true clichés: Great teams are made, not born. Championships are earned, not given. What we saw during the Warriors NBA championship run was poetry in motion. Here are the lessons I would share about how the games were played, and why they were won:

My father was an internal medicine physician in solo practice for 35 years in Providence, Rhode Island. A man of few words—yet recognized as a brilliant diagnostician—he passed on a few pearls that I would like to share with you.

Arthritis affects 27 million Americans, with knee arthritis alone affecting 9 million. Most of it may be preventable. Here’s why.

Some of my other patients forget about exercise all together. These sedentary types stew in their own bodies’ juices until the toxins build up and the systems fail. Only exercise—daily exercise—clears the evil humors from the body’s small and large cavities, permitting fresh blood flow to permeate our tissues and keep us healthy.

“E” bikes have been around since the 1890s. But those early e-bikes were heavy, short on range, slow to re-charge, and expensive. During the last few years they have evolved into lighter, smarter versions. As goes Tesla, so goes the e-bike.

Calm, happy patients make calmer, happier surgeons. It adds up to better outcomes. Though it’s hard to prove, the more the patient helps the surgeon relax, the better the surgeon perceives the patient and the job ahead. I know, having been both the surgeon and the patient.

When tissues are injured, a cascade of events occurs. These include inflammation and the release of chemical signals to recruit new cells. Some of these cells remove damaged tissue, while others form collagen: the fibrous material that makes up skin, bones, muscles, and all connective tissue.

Note: I am a surgeon, father, husband and business owner, and I am also an American. I believe that in the current political climate, all of us have a duty to stand up for what we believe in. I also believe that a clear, straightforward, compassionate political platform is the most sensible path forward if our country is to remain a positive force in this world during the 21st century. The following is my personal declaration of what a candidate for the presidency might aspire to in the next election.

Other than hearts, livers and kidneys for that must be kept alive for immediate transplantation, any tissue that is removed from a donor or a cadaver, frozen, washed, sterilized and finally delivered to a surgeon is dead.

Metal has been used in patients since the time of Hippocrates (400 BCE) to repair broken bones and replace missing parts. The earliest metals included copper, tin or lead and often did not have the strength to last forever. Over the years, the metals we use have improved. They have become stronger and leach fewer ions into the body.

The meniscus can be compared to a gasket in a hose: If it is cut, water leaks out.

This was the dogma that all orthopaedic surgeons were taught. The holes, or divots, often enlarged over time, and arthritis of the joints—so it was believed—was the inevitable outcome.

A recent study documented that 40% of people who undergo ACL surgery experience clinically diagnosable depression. Life disruptions are a drag—especially when they put the brakes on your active lifestyle.

Pooh-poohed by most experts as money-wasting (and possibly dangerous) psychological massage, oxygen bars are nonetheless expanding their reach, from dugouts to mountain spas. Why?

Artificial intelligence is everywhere. For me, that means the operating room—and for you, the patient, it means that your surgeon is not alone.

There are now phenomenally potent tools to drive healing to a full, faster than ever recovery. You just have to use them.