If you’ve taken a fall or if you have arthritis, you may be in a lot of pain. One important area that may be affected is your hip. You may feel stiffness, bruising, or swelling, or you may be almost unable to move.

Depending on the situation you’re in, you may have broken your hip or you may be suffering from “wear and tear.” Be sure to visit your doctor and determine what the problem is. Your doctor will probably use x-rays and CT scans to see what condition your hip is in. If it is fractured or very worn down, he will likely recommend surgery to repair or replace it.

Most fractures happen along the femur, which is the long bone that connects your pelvis and your knee. Most wear and tear presents at the head of the femur, where it connects to the pelvic bone. What kind of surgery you need will depend on your general health and how severe the damage is. Here are some options.

• Repair: If your hip is still aligned, even after a break, your doctor may insert metal screws and/or bone nails. These will hold the hip in place while it heals.

• Partial replacement: If your hip is not aligned or the end of the femur is damaged, you may need a partial hip replacement. This involves using a metal prosthesis to replace the head of the femur.

• Total replacement: If you have arthritis or if your joint is severely damaged, a total hip replacement may help you. This means using metal prostheses to replace your upper femur and the socket it fits into at the pelvis.

• Resurfacing: An alternative to hip replacement is hip resurfacing. In this procedure, the head of your femur is reshaped and covered with a metal prosthesis. Resurfacing is not recommended for people who have osteoporosis or diabetes.

No matter what surgery you have, taking care of yourself afterward is key. Be sure to talk to your medical providers about physical therapy. During therapy, you can help the joint heal and make the area around the joint stronger. Your physical therapist will also help you increase your range of motion and flexibility.

In addition, an occupational therapist can evaluate your home and offer suggestions for accomplishing your daily tasks. She can teach you how to get around and adjust your environment to accommodate your needs.

To learn more about hip surgery and how you can recover from it, contact Edward White Hospital. Visit us online or call Consult-A-Nurse® at 1-888-243-3627. We’re here to help you regain your health.

SOURCES
American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
National Institutes of Health

Do you have trouble taking a flight of stairs or getting out of a chair? If your complaint is knee pain, everyday activities may be difficult for you. Even walking around the block can be a chore.

Most knee problems are the result of arthritis or injury. And if you’re like most people with knee issues, you’ve tried taking medication, wearing a knee brace, and laying off strenuous exercise. However, if you’re still in pain, your doctor may recommend that you speak with an orthopedic surgeon about knee replacement.

The purpose of this procedure is to replace your diseased joint with an implant that offers more stability. It also eliminates the damaged worn-down surfaces, which cause you pain.

Here are some reasons that a knee replacement could benefit you:

• Your knee pain makes walking and taking stairs difficult.
• Your knee pain continues even while you’re resting.
• Your knee is so stiff that bending or straightening the joint is painful.
• Your knee is swollen and does not get better with medication.
• Your knee bows outward, or you have some other joint deformity.
• The pain medications you’ve used are not effective or are losing their effectiveness.
• You’ve tried physical therapy, but your condition did not improve.
• You’ve had knee surgery, but your pain has since worsened.

Make sure you weigh all your options before agreeing to knee replacement surgery. While the procedure can reduce the pain you’re in, there are side effects to consider.

• Blood clots The occurrence of blood clots is the most common problem after knee surgery. Your doctor can recommend exercises and medication that will keep the blood flowing.
• Infection Fewer that 2 percent of knee replacement patients get an infection after surgery, but it’s important to take precautions. Your doctor can prescribe antibiotics before you have dental and other surgeries, to make sure bacteria doesn’t enter your bloodstream.
• Recovery time Recovery time will vary from person to person, but talk to your doctor about what to expect. It may be a good idea to use crutches or a walker to get around at first.
• Limited motion As you get used to your new knee, you may find that you have more limited motion that you did before. A physical therapist can work with you to optimize your movements.

To learn more about knee replacement surgery, contact Edward White Hospital. Visit us online or call Consult-A-Nurse® at 1-888-243-3627. We have answers to all the questions you may have.

SOURCES
American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons
WebMD

You know how it feels. The pain from arthritis can keep you from going up stairs or walking a few blocks. It can even make opening a jar a difficult task.

In a healthy body, cartilage surrounds your joints, makes movement smooth, and absorbs the shock to those joints. When you have arthritis, the cartilage has broken down. This results in discomfort, swelling, stiffness, and often warmth around the joint.

If you’re one of the millions of people who suffer from arthritis pain, you may think it’s just something you have to live with. But there may be some hope on the horizon. New treatments are offering great promise that may make your everyday life better.

Consider these possibilities:

• Medication: Patients have long used painkillers to combat arthritis pain, but new medications may do more than dull the pain. Research is showing that arthritis may not be the result of just “wear and tear.” Instead, it may be caused by chemicals, such as interleukin-6 and syk kinase, which occur within the body and make joints degenerate. New drug therapies can attack the inflammatory proteins and provide relief.

• Gene therapy: Some doctors have recently tried injecting genes directly into the affected joints. Cells in the joints absorb the therapeutic genes and incorporate them into their DNA. The genes block the cartilage-destroying chemicals and stop further damage.

If these treatments sound too hi-tech for you, there are other options to keep the pain at bay:

• Exercise: Even though it may hurt at first, try to keep moving. Low-impact exercise keeps your joints from tightening up, while toning exercises strengthen your muscles.

• Physical therapy: A physical therapist can help you regain range of motion. He can show you exercises and stretches that help with flexibility. He may also apply heat or cold packs to alleviate the pain in certain areas.

• Massage: It’s a therapy that’s been around for centuries, but massage can help decrease pain and inflammation within your body. It releases toxins, such as lactic acid, and restores suppleness.

• Healthy diet: Eat a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, since the vitamins and minerals in these foods can benefit your joints. Also, a good diet helps keep your weight in check. You don’t need extra pounds to put more strain on your knees and hips.

On Monday, August 16, and Thursday, August 19, both at 11:30 A.M., Edward White Hospital will be offering seminars on arthritis treatment. To learn more, visit us online. Or if you have questions about arthritis and joint disease, call Consult-A-Nurse® at 1-888-243-3627. We’re here to give you the information you need to make each day as pain-free as possible.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. for both men and women, killing more than one in four people, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). In Pinellas County from 2000-2006 more than 400 adults 35 and older died from heart disease.

From heart attacks to strokes, many of the risk factors are preventable and treatments are available if the person is aware he or she has heart disease.

“Now there’s a faster, more efficient tool for diagnosing heart disease,” Edward White Hospital’s Director of Diagnostic Imaging Tony Raiano said.

The new state-of-the-art diagnostic imaging technology is GE’s Vivid E9 Advanced Cardiac Ultrasound, and cardiologists at the St. Petersburg Hospital will soon be using it to screen patients. The ultrasound is a digital workstation built to capture 4-D images, which allows physicians to see movement inside the heart, including the valves and blood flow, in addition to 3-D views.

The technology is more advanced than a typical stress test, and less likely to get a false positive than many of the other echocardiogram machines currently being used across the country, Raiano added.

Cardiologists can also use the Vivid E to help diagnose peripheral arterial disease (PAD), which affects about eight million Americans. PAD is a narrowing of the peripheral arteries, most commonly in the pelvis and legs, and is similar to coronary artery disease.

The American Heart Association says many people mistake the symptoms— cramping, pain or tiredness in the leg or hip muscles while walking or climbing stairs— for something else leaving it often undiagnosed. People with PAD have a four or five times higher risk for stroke, and if left untreated it can lead to gangrene and amputation.

If any type of heart disease is detected during the cardiac ultrasound, a cardiologist will make a recommendation for treatment including the possibility of surgery.

For more information about Edward White’s Diagnostic Imaging Department, log onto our website at www.edwardwhitehospital.com or call 1-888-243-3627 for a physician referral.

From an operating room at Edward White Hospital in St. Petersburg to the barrios of Guatemala, Dr. Clinton Davis performs countless orthopedic surgeries improving the lives of patients with his genuine compassion and extraordinary medical care.

Dr. Davis, who’s currently serving his second term as our Chief of Surgery, recently received the Frist Humanitarian Award honoring his dedication to both his community and for his global outreach efforts. For the past 15 years Davis has volunteered his time with Faith in Practice, an organization that provides medical treatment in the poorest areas of Guatemala.

Dr. Davis, along with fellow orthopedic surgeon Robert Hamilton, flew to Guatemala this summer to perform surgeries on patients who wouldn’t normally receive the professional medical care they need.

Dr. Davis and Dr. Hamilton met up with their team for an early morning flight on Saturday, June 5. After a brief struggle with the airline to get all of the trunks full of medical supplies sent on the same flight, the team and equipment made it to Guatemala City and takes a bus to Antigua.

“Our team heads to the Obras first, and we are taken on a tour by Sister Marixa. Seeing the children and adults that reside at the Obras moves the entire team (many to tears),” Dr. Davis writes in his Faith in Practice Team Blog.

The next stop is Casse de Fe, the country’s equivalent to a Ronald McDonald House, where the patients can stay after their surgeries.

“Many of our patients need to utilize Case de Fe more than ever due to the many natural disasters devastating the country – an earthquake, volcano eruption, Tropical Storm Agatha (which caused not only flooding, but also mudslides)…needless to say, many of our patients are arriving for surgery, and have nothing to go back to,” Davis said.

Sunday is the first full day to evaluate patients and schedule them for surgery. Triage lasted most of the day. Early Monday morning Dr. Davis’ team performed 27 surgeries, including hip replacements and hernia repairs.

Tuesday was their second day of surgeries, another 26, and the first day of physical therapy. Wednesday and Thursday the team performed rounds, 50 additional surgeries and continued physical therapy, wrapping up their mission and ready to return to Edward White Hospital.

Click here to see the photo gallery from Dr. Davis and Dr. Hamilton’s trip. You can also find more information about both surgeons on the Find a Physician link on our website.

Sources:

http://www.faithinpractice.org/ourhistory.php

http://www.faithinpractice.org/triplog.php

http://www.faithinpractice.org/gallery.php?page=27&trip=260