Dr. Souryal, Dr. Bellard, and Dr. Burgmeier are on the air today. They speak with a caller about CeeDee Lamb’s concussion. Brian Kelly going to LSU. and coaches moving to other schools in season. The Docs discuss the Cowboy’s handling of Ezekiel Elliott’s injury. Tiger Woods hitting balls on the practice range. Klay Thompson is back on the court. College Football game and playoff discussion.
The doctors discuss the latest NFL CTE study.
“Back to Basics”
Dr. Blumenthal. Dr. Bellard. Dr. Meijer join me.
ACL tear – can’t do any more damage – oh yes you can!
Concussion basics
Dr. Brad Bellard joins Dr. Souryal for this Easter Weekend edition with special guest: sportscaster Dale Hansen. The doctors start off discussing the controversial link between CTE and football and other susceptibilities that may affect outcomes. Then a concerned mother of a 19 year old lacrosse player calls in. Her son had his first “mild” concussion and still has symptoms six weeks later. She wonders if he should play or not, now or after more time to heal? Hard to know! Later in the hour, Dale Hansen continues the conversation on the issues surrounding longterm brain trauma and the risks to football players in particular. Along the same lines, a father describes his daughter’s head injury during a softball game that led to a longer road to recovery than expected, and the unhelpful attitudes she encountered.
Inside Sports Medicine relies on great listeners asking great questions which leads to valuable conversations. A 40 year old basketball player suffered a complete rupture of his patellar tendon a year ago and asks when he can get back to full range. A 32 year old has a herniated disc in his neck, already limits his activities, and is working through his options before considering surgery. A golfer wonders how to tell if his shoulder injury is a rotator cuff tear – without going to a doctor, that is. Another caller asks why it is so difficult to do exercises that don’t use the ACL right after ACL surgery. A mechanic has started to notice some numbness or aching in his hands while working that could be arthritis.
Another hopping good show!
Three brains are better than one! Dr. Scott Blumenthal and Dr. Brad Bellard join Dr. T.O. Souryal to talk of sports, medicine, and field call after call. A 42 year old still has pain after his knee replacement and needs a new doc, a motorcycle racer has had neck pain for seven years and wonders how many injections are too many, while another caller asks about the success rate for an OATS (Osteoarticular Transfer System Surgery) procedure and his return to full range of motion. An ultra-marathoner had a torn meniscus, goes back to his normal routine post-surgery, and wonders if his doctor’s advice is too “friendly”.
The second hour includes a long Business of Medicine segment that covers the uneasy relationship between insurance companies and good medicine and how that relationship impacts doctors, patients, and rising costs for all. A caller who had a motorcycle accident has pervasive numbness and needs a clear diagnosis, an avid handball/racquetball player has some nerve damage after surgery and wants to know what he can expect, and Dr. Bellard ends the show with a quick rash story.
I want cake.
Something’s going on with head injuries in sports – what could it be? Art imitates the life of sports medicine professionals in the new movie “Concussion” and inspires the themes of our first show of 2016. Doctors Souryal and Bellard begin with stories of the first inspirations that led them into the sports medicine field and continue on to old school memories, newfound revelations of Dr. Bennett Omulu on longterm brain damage, and answers, answers, answers to your questions!
Appropriately, a former professional bull rider has had multiple concussions, some memory issues currently, and questions about what he should do next to evaluate and identify the cause of his problems. A father asks if is there a difference between brain trauma to younger, softer brains than to the harder brains of older athletes. Another caller asks simply why CTE, or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, can only be diagnosed post-mortem. One man asks for an opinion on PRP versus surgery for lateral left myelitis and the recovery time for each. Lucky for us Dr. Bellard is a PRP expert! More questions come in about Osteonecrosis, the downsides of an untreated UCL tear, the possibility of shoulder pops that may or may not be related to over-pitching as a 13 year old, and an arm injury that has hurt for a decade.
Go see someone for gosh sakes and Happy New Year, dear listeners!
For the first time, sports medicine physician and athletic concussion specialist Dr. Brad Bellard joins Dr. Souryal for the whole show, which starts with some observations on Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo’s clavicle injury and ends with a discussion on how newer technologies have changed medicine over time.
Concussions are a theme in pro football news, in a new Will Smith movie, and throughout the first half of the show today. The doctors give a medical perspective on the risk-reward equation for injuries in pro and college sports, which leads to a caller who recounts his football playing youth in the seventies and how concussions were recognized, or not, at that time.
One caller asks what his lower back pain may be and who to go see about it, a rugby player wants to know how to avoid achilles ruptures, and a father asks about ligament healing after his son has an AC joint injury.
Bone is the only tissue that heals itself with itself. Sports Medicine 101 is all about fractures- including accurate terminology for types, severity, and how they heal. Is there a tendon we use only for climbing trees? Will a meniscus tear heal itself? The short answers are “no”, but Dr. Souryal has longer answers, too!
Twice is nice. In case you missed it, this is not just a straight encore but a special flashback compilation of some great moments from recent Inside Sports Medicine episodes. Dr. Souryal and his team have pulled together some of the best moments from interviews and listeners’ questions from the last three months.
Interview flashbacks include some P.J. Carlesimo wisdom, Christine Golic talks about her role promoting safety in youth sports, Dallas Mavericks’ trainer Casey Smith discusses sleep science and “elbow stuff”, while former Dallas Cowboys linebacker D.D Lewis shares his triple knockout story and discusses the problem of repetitive head trauma in football, and spine specialist Dr. Mel Manning has good advice on pain management for a bulging disc.
Callers have questions about the good uses of steroids, the possible cause of cramps in young athletes, non-surgical alternatives to knee replacements, cartilage regeneration using stem cells, and more.
Tune in to hear Doctor Souryal talk about how medical advances are impacting sports medicine, and what’s on the cutting edge in 2015. The Doc talks about platelet-rich plasma, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and the difference between good medicine and the business of medicine.
Five time Pro-Bowler and two time All-Pro Andre Gurode joins the show to talk about his football career, his advice for younger players, and who he thinks is going to win the Superbowl.
A listener calls in to ask about head injuries in sports other than football, and Doctor Souryal weighs in on why rugby players tend to get fewer concussions. Another asks whether flat feet can contribute to tendonitis in the knee. Others listeners call in with questions about returning to sports after an appendectomy, atrophying calf muscles, and types of rehabilitation after surgery.
Also on this show: what do moldy bread and willow bark have in common with platelet-rich plasma?
Suffering a broken leg while playing football is an acceptable risk, but no one should risk a spongy brain or a foggy future. These days, better and lighter protective equipment allows for bigger collisions that past players would try to avoid.
Dr . Souryal asks his guest, former Dallas Cowboys legend and linebacker D.D. Lewis, “If you knew then what you know now- would you still play?” Mr. Lewis reminisces about his time in the NFL’s Golden Age – back when players wore leather helmets without facemasks and seeing stars was part of the game. They share thoughts on the longterm effects of repeated concussions in the old days and the coming court decision that may help the players affected.
Dr. Souryal starts the show talking about treating hip fractures old-style and new. Topics include cool neck rolls, burners and stingers, PRP or platelet rich plasma therapy, and what is that contraption on the back of that Alabama player? We still don’t know the answer to that one.
Current ESPN analyst and former head coach P.J. Carlesimo is a guest in the second hour and starts the discussion off with observations about how coaches, trainers, and doctors work together for a team, as a team.
Throughout the show, listeners call in to ask about a legpress injury, ideas for relieving a dislocated knee cap, recurrent paraspinal spasms, and where did that cyst go?
