11/28/15 #552: Let’s Talk Turkey

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!