If you are having pain in the elbow or wrist a common cause is: Tennis Elbow, sometimes called Lateral Epicondylosis. Now, this condition is no longer called epicondylitis because that would imply that the problem is caused by inflammation (“itis”). Surprisingly enough inflammation is how this condition, and many other musculoskeletal conditions heal. Anti-inflammatory medications...
Biceps tendonitis is inflammation of the biceps tendon. The biceps have two origins, a long head and short head. The long head originates on the supraglenoid tubercle of the scapula. The short head on the coracoid process of the scapula. The biceps is a bi-articulate muscle that crosses two joints, the shoulder and elbow joint....
Frozen shoulder, also known as adhesive capsulitis, is inflammation of the entire shoulder capsule and joint. This process is generally characterized by three different stages; freezing, frozen and thawing. These stages describe progressive pain and stiffness that restrict patients from moving the joint. The shoulder joint is a ball in socket joint that is formed...
A rotator cuff strain results from over stretching or repetitive overuse of the rotator cuff muscles and tendons. The rotator cuff is a combination of four muscles: supraspinatus, infraspinatus, subscapularis and teres minor. They originate on the scapula and attach to the humerus. These muscles help maintain stability of the scapula and the integrity of...
Ah, my old friend carpal tunnel, we meet again. Or, as I like to call him, the most common peripheral nerve entrapment in the body. I have a very love/hate relationship with carpal tunnel. I enjoy treating it because the evidence for how to diagnose and treat carpal tunnel is clear, well established, and...
“Golfers elbow” and “Tennis elbow” are nicknames for medial and lateral epicondylitis, respectively. Basically, golfers elbow is inner elbow pain, and tennis is outer elbow pain. But don’t get too caught up in the names or thinking they come only from those sports. I have never treated a golfer with golfers elbow or a tennis...
Dizziness is one of the most common reasons Americans see a Doctor, but did you know there are different kinds of dizziness? Vertigo is an acute, powerful sensation that you or the world is spinning. Typically this is so strong that you will not be able to walk, may experience nausea or vomit, and may...
Torticollis is an acute or congenital (genetic) shortening of one of the muscles in the neck called the Sternocleidomastoid (commonly abbreviated as SCM). This leads to a head that is tilted to one side and rotated to the opposite side as shown in the picture below. Torticollis can be caused by a number of different...
Tinnitus is the medical term for ringing in the ears. There can be many different causes of tinnitus, ranging from noise damage to the ear from guns or loud concerts to a number neurological syndromes. Unfortunately there is still much to be understood about tinnitus, and often times people are left to deal with the...
I’m going to make a brief semantics statement before beginning this blog post. TMJ just stands for the jaw joint by your ear, whereas TMJD, or Temporomandibular Joint Disorder, represents dysfunction and pain in the TMJ. So what is TMJD and what could it represent? TMJD could be as simple as jaw pain while chewing...