The Foundry Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Blog

Like many of the joints in the body, the knee is lined with articular cartilage.  This cartilage makes is possible for your femur (thigh bone) and tibia (shin bone) to smoothly glide over one another and helps give your knee its motion.   In fact, this cartilage is so smooth it has even less friction than ice sliding on ice.  Sometimes unfortunately, as a result of injury or trauma, portions of the cartilage can be scraped off or removed from the bone.  This can result in pain, grinding and swelling of the knee.  You may find it difficult to engage in sports activities such as running or jumping.  It can even be painful with simple activities such as going up and down stairs.

One of the most frustrating surgical after effects for the patient, the physical therapist, and the surgeon is the development of a stiff knee following surgery.  While, this may occur unexpectedly after almost any knee procedure, it is not an infrequent problem specifically after a total knee replacement.

Tennis elbow, or lateral epicondylitis, is a painful condition of the elbow caused by overuse. Not surprisingly, playing tennis or other racquet sports can cause this condition. But several other sports and activities can also put you at risk.
Tennis elbow is an inflammation of the tendons that join the forearm muscles on the outside of the elbow. The forearm muscles and tendons become damaged from overuse — repeating the same motions again and again and again. This leads to pain and tenderness on the outside (lateral) of the elbow.
There are many treatment options for tennis elbow. In most cases, treatment involves a team approach. Primary doctors, physical therapists, and, in some cases, surgeons work together to provide the most effective care.

In the past 30 years childhood obesity has tripled rising from 6.5% to 19.6% in children 6-11 years old and from 5.0% to 18.1% in children 12-19 years old. Obesity results from behavioral, environmental, genetic and caloric imbalances that can cause both immediate and long term health consequences. Children who are overweight are at higher risk of developing cardiovascular complications such as high blood pressure or high cholesterol. Additionally with excess weight placed on joints, children increase their risk for bone and joint injury and osteoarthritis. Metabolic and neurological consequences include stroke, cancer and type 2 diabetes - currently affecting approximately 186,000 people under the age of 20.