Dr. Prodromos presented the "Diagnosis and Treatment of Knee Disorders" to a room full of chiropractic doctors on October 19, 2017. The presentation and dinner were held at the Maggiano's Little Italy in Skokie. Vast information about the knee was shared and questions were answered, along with the announcement of the 2nd Edition of The Anterior Cruciate Ligament book, which Dr. Prodromos is the Editor in Chief.
When I began my Orthopaedic Sportsmedicine practice in 1985 ACL reconstruction was generally reserved for young athletes. Over the years the acceptable age for reconstruction has gradually increased. Several studies have shown good outcomes in patients in their 50s. But what about even older individuals? There has been very little data in patients over 60 years of age. However a recent European study looked at a cohort of a dozen patients between 60 and 63 years of age with no significant arthritic changes in their knee at presentation. All patients had restoration of knee stability by ACLR, with no major complications.
The sometimes development of arthritis at the base of the thumb – the 1st carpometacarpal or 1st CM joint near the wrist – is the price humans pay for having a thumb that can be apposed to other fingers. The base of the first metacarpal bone rotates with respect to the wrist bones to allow this apposition. However this is not a fully developed joint, lacks durability, and overuse of the hand by any repetitive manual tasks (carpentry, golf, guitar, frequent texting etc) can cause painful arthritis of this joint. While we have good success treating arthritis of this joint with PRP (platelet rich plasma) most patients can be treated by a simple activity modification regimen based on the so-called “simian grip.”
Hot mineral baths have been used for millennia to treat arthritis, injury, and the skin. The Roman baths were well known in antiquity and healing baths have been used worldwide in Asia, Europe, and North and South America as well. Now an elegant scientific study published in a peer-reviewed medical journal has shown that they really work. Here is a link to the study which was done in Budapest Hungary. The picture below is of baths in Budapest. The study showed that after 15 baths 80% of patients had substantial relief that lasted for 3 months, whereas in the control group, only 30% of patients did well. Their outcomes included multiple indices of improvement including pain and stiffness.
Probiotics, beneficial bacteria in our gut, have been linked to a number of disease states including asthma and crohn’s disease. Now there is new evidence of its involvement in both rheumatoid and osteo (degenerative) arthritis.
