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Showing posts from April, 2021

AVN Hip - Symptoms, Diagnosis, Tests, Treatment

  A 30-35 year young patient enters my clinic with a limping gait. He complains of pain in his right hip joint, especially while attempting to squat or sit cross-legged. His wife describes numerous night awakenings due to sudden painful spasms. The pain has been there for almost 6 months now and is worsening every week. I asked for an X-ray of both hip joints. The X-ray did not reveal anything significant. So, I asked for an MRI of the hip joints . Now, the sequence of events started. There was evidence of Avascular necrosis of the Femur Head in the Right hip joint. Avascular Necrosis of Hip or AVN as often used by Orthopaedic surgeons, describes damage to the Femur head (upper end of the thigh bone) which forms an articulation with the Acetabulum (socket). It produces pain in the Hip joint which gets aggravated with movements and in late stages blocks all movements due to florid arthritis. Now, the important questions are A) What do we do now? B) What will be the long-term...

Cervical Spondylosis - Myths and Facts

Cervical Spondylosis, as we Orthopaedicians describe, is the degenerative change in the Cervical spine vertebrae often presenting on X-ray film as excess bone formation at the vertebral body margins, due to a chronic degenerative pathology. So, a young patient with acute onset neck pain, being diagnosed as Cervical Spondylosis is a Misnomer. An X-ray film of the Neck is a good basic test to diagnose Cervical spondylosis. It often presents with Chronic, dull aching pain which aggravates with extremes of movement. Using a collar provides more psychological reassurance, than actually treating the pathology. A soft/ hard collar is more effective in treating acute muscle spasms of the neck usually precipitated by some injury or an acute disc prolapse. In such cases, we suggest restriction of neck movements to prevent further injury. Two more synonymous terms that need a mention are- Spondylitis, and Spondylolisthesis. The former is an inflammation of the spinous processes of the vertebra, w...

Cervical Spine MRI

  Cervical pain can be caused as a result of maintaining poor body postures or due to dislocations or fractures of the neck joints. For analyzing the real reason behind the disorders, physicians may advise patients to take a cervical spine MRI. It is a procedure adopted to make an accurate assessment of the condition of the cervical spine. A Noninvasive Procedure with Several Benefits Cervical spine MRI is a noninvasive method used in evaluating the disorders of the cervical sp i ne, especially for patients who are in pain. The main advantage of  using the MRI technique  is that it can create better images of the soft tissues than conventional X-rays. This enables the doctor to distinguish the healthy and strong tissues from the ailing and weak ones. With an MRI of the spine, you can receive detailed images of the structure of the vertebrae that constitute the spine, the spaces between the vertebrae through which the nerves pass, and also the disks. From these images, phy...

Symptoms of Osteitis Pubis for Hip Pain

  Osteitis pubis is an overtax injury whereby there are both tissue damage and inflammation at the pelvis. The causes are unknown but are commonly due to repeated stress or stress fractures at the pelvic bones. Symptoms of Osteitis Pubis In patients suffering from early Osteitis Pubis normally experience slight groin pain that starts slowly and develops overtime insidiously depending on the activities involved on either one or both sides of the groin to severe pain. The pain can be felt in the adductor muscles and are usually provoked while doing warm up, but reduces during the activity and only to return after the end of the activity. Short periods of rest reduce the pain but it is intensified when the patients attempt to return. They might at times experience pain in either or both lower abdominals and hips. Swelling at the front of the pelvis may also be observed and it might extend to the groin, inner thigh and lower belly. Pain is amplified when there is a sudden change of dir...