Ashley doing surgery (learning to suture) on a banana in the office this am as part of her senior project. The banana survived and is resting comfortably.
The future Ashley White, M.D. has pretty good hands. She is a quick study!
Tomorrow she will be practicing anchor placement for rotator cuff repairs 😷.

The younger the child the faster the broken bone will heal. The average time for a broken bone to heal in a child is 4-6 weeks. Adult broken bones typically take twice as long to heal than children.

Bone healing time is dependent on the type of fracture and which bone is involved. Typically the higher the energy that caused the fracture will result in a more complex fracture and a longer healing time. For example, if a child falls while running and lands on their out stretched wrist and fractures their distal radius, that fracture will heal quicker than a fracture that occurs in a high energy car accident.

Certain bones such as the tibia (shin bone) take almost twice as long to heal than the distal radius (wrist bone). Imaged below on the left is a higher energy wrist fracture that will take longer to heal than the image on the right. The X-ray on the right is a non displaced distal radius fracture indicated by the red arrows.

1. 80% of the world’s opioid use is in the U.S. but the U.S. only makes up 5% of the world’s population.
2. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the amount of prescription opioids nearly quadrupled from 1999 to 2015.
3. By 2014, Americans were more likely to die from an opioid overdose than from a car accident.
4. Why? We can start with the introduction of pain as the fifth vital sign. This was mandated in 2001 via the VA medical system.
5. The introduction of prescription opioids were marketed to physicians as non-addicted pain medication when actually they were extremely addictive.
6. We now have a horrible problem. Educating our patients is so important as is using non-opioids to treat pain and discussing expectations with patients prior to surgery or after an injury.

I Heard a Pop in My Knee What Does That Mean?
Unlike the cartoon below you probably didn’t pop a balloon 🎈…

The top five conditions that may occur if you heard a pop in your knee after a traumatic event are:
1. Torn meniscus
2. Torn ACL
3. Dislocated patella (knee cap)
4. Bone bruise
5. Osteochondral injury (knocked off a piece of articular cartilage)

Sarcopenia is muscle loss as you age. Who gets it? Everyone, unless you work to maintain muscle mass.

Adding weight training, weight lifting or some type of resistance exercises after age 35 is important. After age 60 studies have revealed that you have to work harder to maintain your muscle mass and strength. Keeping your muscles strong will reduce the risk of falling which in turn reduces the risk of fracture. Resistance training will help to increase your metabolism and aerobic capacity.
Cardio is important but don’t forget to integrate weight lifting into your workout regiment.

The short answer is yes. Here’s a quiz to test your knowledge:

1. Who gets more ACL tears percentage wise?
2. Which gender gets worse concussions ?
3. Do men or women have a higher incidence of stress fractures?
4. Who experiences more traumatic dislocations of the shoulder?
5. What about sports related traumatic fractures in all bones?

This is why cleaning your gutters is dangerous! I saw this patient as a second opinion. He had surgery elsewhere. When he fell off the roof, he landed directly on his feet like a cat and shattered his talus which is one of the major bones in the ankle. He is going to need to have all the screws removed and his ankle fused. My medical advise is to hire a professional to clean out your gutters!!!