What is Hip Replacement Surgery & Why Does It Make Returning to Work Difficult? Hip replacement surgery is a procedure that involves replacing the damaged or worn-out parts of the hip joint with artificial components. It is a common procedure for patients who suffer from hip pain, arthritis, and other conditions that cause chronic hip joint dysfunction. While this surgery can be life-changing for those suffering from chronic pain, it can also make returning to work difficult due to the recovery time and rehabilitation required after the procedure. In this article, we will discuss what hip replacement surgery is, why
If you’re reading this article, you may be one of the millions of Americans suffering from hip and knee pain caused by wear-and-tear due to degenerative arthritis or traumatic injury. Your hip and knee joints are active in so many of your daily activities that without a healthy joint, the chronic pain becomes more than a nuisance – it can quickly become completely debilitating. You may have tried bogus stem cell injections or some other treatment and wasted a lot of money just to realize that it does not work. If you have tried non-surgical treatment and found that it
If you thought the sacroiliac was a fictional part of the body created for the board game Operation, you’ll be surprised to learn that it’s a real joint. You have a pair in your lower back and they rest on the sides of your spine. Their work is never done, in a sense, because they bear the load of your entire upper body whenever you stand or walk. When you have problems with your sacroiliac, they can manifest in different ways: You can experience sharp pain or a duller type, and often on just one side of your lower back.
Your median nerve runs through your carpal tunnel, which is composed of bones at the bottom end of your wrist and your carpal ligament, which crosses over the top portion of your wrist. It performs an important job, allowing you to sense feelings in your thumb and three middle fingers. This nerve makes movement possible in those digits as well. If your carpal tunnel becomes inflamed and compresses your median nerve, it causes pain, tingling, and numbness. This is called carpal tunnel syndrome, and surgery to correct it is one of the most commonly performed orthopedic procedures. Board-certified orthopedic surgeon
Nearly a quarter of the American population — more women than men — live with a bunion, a deformity in your big toe joint that causes it to point inward toward your other toes. Once you’re over 65, that proportion jumps to 36%. It might look like a relatively harmless knobby foot bump, but a bunion can cause chronic pain and impede your mobility. What’s more, bunions have been linked to pain in other areas of your body, like your knees, lower back, and hip. Continuous pressure on your big toe joint, the metatarsophalangeal joint, starts the repositioning of the
Your shoulder is a design marvel. It’s incredibly flexible and can move upward, downward, and in a big circle, enabling you to lift, carry, throw, push, and more. That said, this flexibility is a double-edged sword because it makes your shoulder more vulnerable to injury, and around 8 million people visit the doctor for shoulder pain each year. Dr. Apurva Dalal and the Tri-State Orthopaedics team have never encountered a shoulder problem they haven’t treated with great thought, state-of-the-art tools, and your best, pain-free interests in mind. Versed in helping patients with sports, overuse, and age-related injuries, we approach your
Both women and men need adequate calcium throughout their lives, but the amount you need depends on your age, whether you’re pregnant or lactating, and other factors. Calcium actually helps your body make bone as a child and young adult, but it serves other important purposes: It helps your heart and brain function, and your blood to clot. These vying needs set up a competition of sorts in your body. When it experiences a calcium deficit, your body prioritizes your needs and uses the store that you have by directing it to your organs first. Your bones lose out, become
You might associate falls with people in their 70s, 80s, and above, but in reality, of the over 9 million falls that take place in the United States annually, the victims of nearly 70% of them are folks age 65 and under. No matter what your age, and even if you don’t have a condition that puts you at a particular risk for falls, like osteoporosis, the consequences of a fall can be severe and lead to long-term pain. You can injure many parts of your body during a fall, but what puzzles most people about these mishaps — especially minor
Injuries are a workplace reality, whether you work in a shipping center or an office. The U.S. Office of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) website lists some of the most common workplace injuries as falls, accidents caused by machinery or vehicles, fire or explosions, and repetitive stress injuries, from back pain to carpal tunnel syndrome. Workers’ compensation is a type of employer-covered accident insurance designed to protect employees from the burden of costs associated with being out of work due to workplace-related illness or injury. The good news is that Tennessee’s Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, which creates workplace compensation
Losing control of your vehicle, being hit by a negligent driver who totals your car, and hearing the sound of crunching metal all contribute to car accident post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). You’ve been through something frightening, and if you don’t have obvious injuries, you’re probably grateful you didn’t have to be hospitalized. But the after effects of auto accidents are tricky. If you are severely jolted within your vehicle, forward, backward, or sideways, you may not feel pain until days after. So assuming you’re uninjured isn’t correct. And if you suffer an injury due to impact, those, too, can take
Your bones can withstand strong forces, but an accident, fall, or sports injury might produce an impact that’s just too powerful, resulting in a broken bone. Broken bones can range from small hairline cracks to severe compound fractures. Bones have the ability to heal on their own, but without treatment, they might heal in a way that makes them weaker and prone to injury in the future. At Tri-State Orthopaedics, Apurva Dalal, MD, and our team are experts in diagnosing and treating fractures. We’re here to help your bones heal properly so you don’t suffer larger health problems down the
Back pain is a common ailment that most people experience. Over 80% of adults have back pain at some time or another, and 20% of those people have chronic back pain. Usually with some rest and over-the-counter medications, the pain goes away on its own; however, chronic lower back pain can be quite severe and lasts for 12 weeks or longer. At Tri-State Orthopaedics in Germantown and Memphis, Tennessee, Dr. Apurva Dalal is a highly experienced and trusted orthopedic surgeon. Trained in all the latest orthopedic techniques and procedures, Dr. Dalal and his staff are dedicated to helping you live
Whether you play sports, engage in repetitive arm movements for your job, or just maintain an active lifestyle, it’s easy to hurt your shoulder. Everyone lifts their arms above their heads during daily tasks, such as getting dressed and taking things out of or putting them back into cabinets. The shoulder joint is a complex structure that is different than other joints. Most joints consist of bones surrounded by muscles. The muscles and tendons of your shoulder joint are surrounded by bone, which aggravates injured tissue when it starts to swell. You might never have heard of shoulder impingement syndrome,
Most office work is not physically dangerous. Sitting down is easier on the body than jobs that require heavy lifting, for example. But office workers are particularly prone to one type of injury: carpal tunnel syndrome. Carpal tunnel syndrome can develop as a result of repetitive motions — things you do every day, such as typing on a computer. However, you can take several small steps to try to reduce the impact of repetitive motions in office work. Here, Dr. Apurva Dalal provides information about carpal tunnel syndrome and offers tips for preventing it. Symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome The
You might be wondering what exactly MAKOplasty® is. Put simply, it’s a technologically advanced way to perform joint-replacement surgeries. MAKOplasty® uses a robotic arm to execute procedures. This innovative technology creates a less invasive, but highly successful alternative for hip and knee replacements. MAKOplasty® is an excellent option for patients who want less scarring and rapid recovery. At Tri-State Orthopaedics, Dr. Apurva Dalal and our team are dedicated to providing you with the latest in orthopedic care. That’s why we’ve compiled this helpful guide so that you can decide if MAKOplasty® is the right procedure for your joint replacement. How
Nearly half of American adults will develop knee arthritis at some point during their lives. Pain, stiffness, and limited mobility are often the result of knee arthritis. Knee replacement surgery can relieve pain and restore function when your knee is severely damaged by arthritis or injury. The average recovery time from knee replacement surgery is approximately six months, but it can take roughly 12 months to fully return to physically demanding activities. Though the recovery process can be long, there are steps you can take to heal well and enhance your recovery speed. What does knee replacement surgery involve? The
If you’ve been diagnosed with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, commonly known as an ACL, you were probably injured while playing sports. Torn ACLs usually result from athletic activity. If you play basketball, soccer, football, or another sport where you pivot and change direction suddenly, jump frequently, or have direct contact from a hit, you’re among the most likely to tear the ACL. ACL tears are usually complete or almost complete tears; partial tears are fairly rare. What are your options after an ACL tear? Surgery is a common option, but is it right for you, and what type of
Knee pain can be disabling; if it hurts to put pressure on your knee, you’re not going to be able to walk very far. Keeping your knees in good shape is one of the most important things you can do to keep yourself healthy and mobile. At Tri-State Orthopaedics and Robotic Surgery, board-certified orthopedic surgeon Dr. Apurva Dalal and our medical staff want to help you understand the most common causes of knee injuries and how you can prevent them. Common causes of knee injuries Knee injuries are most often the result of the following: Trauma Sudden trauma, also called
If you’ve been living with hip pain that hasn’t responded to conservative treatments, it might be time to consider a total hip replacement. During this surgical procedure, plastic and metal implants replace the damaged or diseased cartilage and bone in your hip. These devices function the same way your natural hip joint does but without the pain and restricted movement. Orthopedic surgeons rely on several different techniques to perform total hip replacements, from traditional procedures with a large incision to minimally invasive approaches that use robot-assisted technology. At Tri-State Orthopaedics and Robotic Surgery, Dr. Apurva Dalal specializes in Mako® Robotic-Arm
A dashboard knee injury is a simpler way of saying posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) injury. The PCL is one of four ligaments that help keep your knee stable. A dashboard knee injury is usually caused by a traumatic or impactful incident, such as when a car accident launches your knee into the dashboard, hence the name. Most people are way more familiar with the other cruciate ligament in your knee, the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). ACL injuries are much more common and usually require surgery to repair. PCL injuries are not as common as ACL injuries since the PCL is
The average human head weighs 10-11 pounds, which may not seem like a lot, but when this weight whips back and forth, your neck can pay the price. Whiplash injuries can range from minor to severe, and create ongoing problems that last for months — even years. Here at Tri-State Orthopaedics, under the guidance of Apurva Dalal, MD, we want to help our patients in Memphis and Germantown, Tennessee, understand and recognize a whiplash injury so we can take early action to prevent more serious problems down the road. Here’s what you need to know about a whiplash injury and
Each year, approximately 4 million people visit the doctor for a rotator cuff injury, and about 3 million more make the call for other types of shoulder damage. Following are the most common shoulder injuries and a brief description of how they’re treated. Rotator cuff The muscles and tendons near the top of your shoulder are called your rotator cuff. The cuff holds your shoulder bones together by keeping the ball at the top of your arm in its socket. Rotator cuff issues are the most common shoulder injuries. If you’re a swimming, tennis, or baseball athlete, you’re especially
Hip replacement surgery can restore mobility and independence to many people suffering from deterioration of their bone and soft tissue due to arthritis, injury, and other problems. For years, doctors manually replaced hips. While many operations turned out well, others didn’t due to the new hip making the limb longer or shorter than the other limb. Now, with robotic-assisted surgery, hip replacement operations are overwhelmingly successful, and downtime has dramatically decreased. Apurva Dalal, MD, at Tri-State Orthopaedics in Germantown and Memphis, Tennessee, specializes in robotic-assisted hip replacement surgery, a technique that offers several advantages over traditional methods. The scope of
The three bones — your thighbone, shinbone, and kneecap — that meet to form your knee joint are held together by ligaments, which are short bands of flexible, fibrous connective tissue. Although there are four main ligaments that help stabilize your knee joint, the one that does the most to reinforce your knee and help you balance is the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Your ACL crosses diagonally through the middle of your knee joint, providing rotational stability and preventing your shinbone from sliding out in front of your thighbone when you move directionally. It makes sense, then, that your ACL
Do you experience knee pain, but do not think you’re a candidate for a joint replacement surgery? There are many surgical alternatives available today as part of the conservative treatment for osteoarthritis (OA).What are the alternatives? The first step in conservative care is an injection of cortisone into the joint. This injection consists of corticosteroid medication and a local anesthetic that relieves pain and inflammation into a targeted area. There’s no down time and the effects are felt within the next 72 hours and generally last several days or weeks. No authorization is required for this injection and it is
When thinking about having a partial knee replacement, do not let your age scare you away. Partial knee replacements are suitable for any age and are determined by the severity of the osteoarthritis present in the knee joint. Have you been told by other orthopaedic surgeons that a total knee replacement is the only option? Dr. Dalal offers second opinion examinations. In many instances, a partial knee replacement is available and preferred! Dr. Dalal is not a surgeon deadest on doing the standard or typical surgical procedure. Every case is customized to address the patient’s every concern. Through radiographs taken
