Congratulations, Dr. Franco, 2022 Albuquerque Top Doc, Orthopedics

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We’d like to congratulate Dr. Franco for being selected Top Doc of ABQ 2022 for Orthopedics! Check out the article below to enjoy Dr. Franco’s entertaining answers to the interview questions. Those who know him know perfectly well why he was voted “best personality” in high school. 😀
Subscribers can access the digital issue here. Also, here’s a handy link to the list of newsstands where the magazine is on sale: newsstand locations.

 

Types of Joint Pain and Tips for Describing to Your Orthopedic Surgeon

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Article featured on Arkansas Surgical Hospital
Joint pain can be debilitating, limiting daily activities and draining you both physically and emotionally.  In many instances, joint discomfort is the result of some type of arthritis.  There are various treatment options, including medications, physical therapy, injections, alternative therapies, and surgical solutions, depending on the severity of your joint pain and the damage to the joints.

Is It Joint Pain or Bone Pain?

Accurately describing your joint pain to your orthopedic surgeon can help them determine what treatment is best for you.  Joint pain is different from bone pain and can vary in sensation and severity.  Clearly explaining the feeling is crucial to appropriate diagnosis and treatment.  Bone pain is typically sharp and localized to a specific area, while joint pain tends to be more of an ache and occurs only in the affect joints, not all along a bone.  However, if the joint damage is severe, it may feel quite intense due to missing or damaged cartilage leading to bones grinding against each other.  Joint pain often increases with overactivity or too much weight on the joint.

Be Accurate When Describing Joint Pain

Saying that your joints are stiff isn’t helpful to your doctor or surgeon because it is too vague.  Pinpointing how much pain you’re in, what kind of pain you’re feeling, and how it impacts your ability to use the joints are all part of describing pain accurately.  Osteoarthritis pain tends to feel different from rheumatoid arthritis and other sources of joint pain, so be precise and thorough.  The more detailed your description is, the easier it is for your surgeon to determine the root of the problem.

Where is the Pain Located?

If you have joint pain in your knees, explain whether you feel it in the kneecap area, the back of the joint, or on the sides.  The knee’s complex ligaments and bone structure mean there is more than one kind of knee joint pain.  If you have joint pain in the hands, tell your doctor which joints are affected.  For instance, osteoarthritis is more common in the joints at the end of the fingers, while rheumatoid arthritis isn’t as likely in these joints.  Narrow down the area as much as possible.

What Kind of Pain Is It?

There are many kinds of pain, and the form it takes is critical when diagnosing and treating joint issues.  Descriptive words are helpful, as are comparisons such as, “It feels like something is caught in the joint.”  Here are some excellent descriptions you can use:

  • Crunching or Grinding.  When bones are rubbing against each other, you may feel like the joint is grinding rather than moving smoothly.  It may feel like gravel in the joint.
  • Snapping, Crackling, or Popping.  This is the sensation of something releasing or popping out of place and is often accompanied by a popping sound.  Osteoarthritis often leads to snapping or crackling in the joints.
  • Throbbing.  If the joint pain feels like it pulses, make sure your surgeon knows.
  • Dull or Achy.  Your pain can be dull (rather like a bruise) but still be severe.  Dull pain or aching can be an underlying, constant pain with periodic flares of other kinds of pain such as stabbing or burning sensations.
  • Stabbing.  Does it feel like somebody stuck a knife in your joint?  Your surgeon needs to know if the stabbing pain is consistent, periodic, or linked to any activities or other circumstances such as standing for long periods.
  • Burning.  Some patients describe burning pain as the joint burning from the inside or a hot sensation in the joints.
  • Radiating.  If you have pain that starts in one area then travels toward another, it is described as radiating pain.  Some people experience hip pain that radiates down the leg when they try to put weight on it.  This may indicate nerve involvement in addition to problems with the joint itself.

The When and Why of Joint Pain

Joint pain isn’t always constant.  It can come and go depending on what you’re doing and the time of day.  Make sure your surgeon knows if your pain seems to flare when you participate in in certain activities or gets worse during specific times.  If your pain is more significant when you wake up in the morning or is aggravated after activities, tell your doctor.  Some forms of arthritis may cause greater pain after you’ve been moving around a lot, while others may be worse after you’ve been inactive for too long.  If your joints lock up, give way, or feel weak or unstable, your doctor needs to know this, particularly if increased pain results.
The duration of your pain is another element of the “when” of joint pain.  While your knees or hips may hurt a lot when you first wake up in the morning, how long it lasts can indicate whether you have osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis.  It can also help define the severity of the problem.  Does the discomfort after exercising last 30 minutes or several hours?  Is the pain worse when walking up a hill or a flight of stairs?  Details like this can aid your surgeon in a correct arthritis diagnosis.
Finally, be sure to inform your doctor of any other elements that affect your joint pain.  Pain that flares during certain types of weather, when you’re under stress, or when you are tired may help pinpoint an arthritis diagnosis or indicate other underlying issues.

The Severity of Joint Pain

Many physicians use a pain scale of 1 to 10, with 1 meaning little to no pain and 10 meaning unbearable pain.  No one experiences pain the same way others do, but the pain scale helps doctors get an idea of how severe your discomfort is and how much it impacts your life.

  • 0 = No pain
  • 1 = Occasional, minimal pain
  • 2 = Mildly annoying, not constant
  • 3 = Painful enough to distract you if not busy
  • 4 = Maybe distracting even when occupied
  • 5 = Can’t be ignored for long stretches, but you can still do things (although uncomfortably)
  • 6 = Can’t ignore your pain
  • 7 = Difficulty sleeping, concentrating, and socializing
  • 8 = Physical limitations and difficulty with normal functioning, nausea, and dizziness
  • 9 = Crying, inability to speak, possibly passing out from the pain
  • 10 = Unconsciousness

Successfully Treating Arthritis Pain

The two most common forms of arthritis, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, generally require different approaches, making the proper diagnosis critical when you’re suffering from joint pain.  Arthritis surgery is one of many options available to minimize discomfort and increase range of motion.  Still, your surgeon will usually recommend it only after you’ve tried other treatments such as medications and physical therapy.
Arthritis pain may be the result of a variety of triggers, including:

  • Cracks or chips in the affected bones
  • Inflammation of the tendons and muscles around arthritic joints
  • Bone spurs
  • Muscle spasms caused by irritation from damaged bone
  • Decreased blood flow in arthritic joints
  • Loss of synovium between the bones

With so many potential causes of joint pain and a wide range of treatment options, accurately describing your pain to your surgeon is the first step in finding the best treatment for you and getting you back to doing the activities you enjoy.

New Mexico Orthopaedics is a multi-disciplinary orthopedic clinic located in Albuquerque New Mexico. We have multiple physical therapy clinics located throughout the Albuquerque metro area.
New Mexico Orthopaedics offers a full spectrum of services related to orthopedic care and our expertise ranges from acute conditions such as sports injuries and fractures to prolonged, chronic care diagnoses, including total joint replacement and spinal disorders.
Because our team of highly-trained physicians specialize in various aspects of the musculoskeletal system, our practice has the capacity to treat any orthopedic condition, and offer related support services, such as physical therapy, WorkLink and much more.
If you need orthopedic care in Albuquerque New Mexico contact New Mexico Orthopaedics at 505-724-4300.

Did You Know That Inactivity is Actually HARD On Your Knees?

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Between working from home and being glued to the television watching the latest election updates, many of us are guilty of increased “couch potato” behavior lately.  And we’ve all heard of the dangers of sedentary lifestyles contributing to obesity, etc.,  but did you know that *not* moving can actually weaken your knees and increase your chances of osteoporosis?

Continue reading for more from Noyes Knee Institute and the Journal of Public Health.

From Noyes Knee Institute

Do you spend a lot of time sitting? Maybe you work at an office where most of your time is at your desk, or maybe when you’re at home, you prefer to rest on the couch instead of being on your feet. Many people live a mostly inactive lifestyle, but they might not realize that inactivity can be the reason why they experience increased joint pain.

Learn the reasons why inactivity can hurt your knees and what you can do to change it.

Weakens Your Knees

If you live a life or limited activity, your body adapts to that lack of motion. Essentially, when you aren’t using your legs muscles, ligaments, and joints for moderate levels of activity, you are losing them. Your knees become weaker as you require less of them.

One runner found that as she took time off running to rehabilitate an injury, she could not run after completing her recovery because of knee pain. She had to complete additional physical therapy because the rest had caused her to develop a condition called chondromalacia of the patella.

Essentially, her kneecap would not follow the proper range of motion because she had developed some weakness in the joint. It’s a common condition for people who are not active. Even something as simple as going up or down the stairs can make your knees ache.

If you spend your day sitting, you also experience pain in other areas that can also aggravate the knee. Your quadriceps become tight, which exert a pulling sensation on your knees.

You can help your knees feel better by focusing on flexibility. Stretch daily, and participate in joint-stabilizing exercises like yoga. Try to be more active during the day. Stand at your desk, or take time to walk around the office a few times. Use the stairs instead of the elevator.

Increases Your Risk of Arthritis Pain

If you start to experience joint pain as a result of arthritis, your first instinct is to rest more, because walking, running, biking, or other activities cause pain. However, resting when you have knee pain is often the worst solution.

Resting will cause the muscles that give the knee support to weaken. As a result, they become less able to bear your weight, which results in greater joint pain. Reduced strength in the knee joint also translates to reduced stability, which can increase your risk for accidents and make exercising even more difficult to do safely.

If you have arthritis or if you have a history of arthritis in your family, staying active is one way you can help to prevent it from getting worse. Ask a knee specialist for exercises that are safe and helpful for strengthening your knees without causing you too much pain during workouts.

Promotes Weight Gain

A sedentary lifestyle is often why people struggle to manage their weight. Gaining weight with age is common, and spending your days seated can make that problem worse. With every extra pound, the pressure on your knees increases by about four pounds. So, just 10 pounds of extra weight means 40 pounds of pressure on your knees.

All that stress naturally means that your knees start to hurt, and they can hurt even more when you try to be active again. Make sure you intentionally choose low impact exercise as first. Try a stationary bike or a brisk walk in supportive shoes to begin. Focus on losing weight through diet control.

After you lose some weight, you can increase your physical workouts if your doctor believes they will be safe. You might try incorporating some resistance training to really give your lower body some increased strength and stability, as long as you also spend time stretching and increasing your flexibility.

Increases Risk for Osteoporosis 

From the Daily Mail

Being a couch potato weakens your bones: Adults in their 60s face greater risk of fractures if they spend hours sitting down each day – but walking 10,000 steps each day helps

  • The study of 214 adults was published today in the Journal of Public Health
  • It is the first to show a link between a sedentary lifestyle and osteoporosis
  • Participants’ hips and spines were scanned to measure their bone density

A couch potato lifestyle leads to weaker bones in later life, particularly for men, researchers have found.

Experts discovered that men spent more time on average sitting still than women and therefore had weaker bones, particularly in their lower back.

But the new findings, conducted by academics from Durham and Newcastle universities, show that even just completing 10,000 steps a day can help to keep bones strong.

The study showed that people in their sixties who spent a lot of time sitting down had weaker bones which increased their risk of developing ‘fragility’ fractures.

It is well known that weight-bearing and muscle strengthening exercises are important for building bone strength and preventing osteoporosis.

The study, published in the Journal of Public Health, is the first to show that a sedentary lifestyle in men is associated with weaker bones and osteoporosis.

More than half a million fragility fractures – where a fracture occurs from a fall at standing height or less – happen each year in the UK. It is estimated that by 2025, that number will have gone up by 27 per cent.

Dr Karen Hind, of the Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences at Durham University, said: ‘We know that excessive sedentary time can lower someone’s metabolism which can lead to being overweight and Type 2 diabetes.

‘What we now know is that being inactive is also associated with lower bone strength and an increased risk of osteoporosis.

‘Osteoporosis is a disease that affects older people but by encouraging this age group to keep active, it will help improve their bone health.’

The research team followed 214 men and women, aged 62, from Newcastle University’s Thousand Families Study.

Each participant wore a monitor for seven consecutive days which measured their physical activity and sedentary time. The number of daily steps was also recorded, and then compared with public health recommendations.

The participants’ hips and spines were scanned to measure their bone density.

Participants involved in 150 minutes of light physical activity a week had better bone strength than the more sedentary participants, according to the findings.

The men who spent more than 84 minutes per day sitting still, compared to the average of 52 minutes, had 22 per cent lower bone density in their spine.

The researchers say the impact on their bone density is similar to that of smoking, which is also a risk factor for osteoporosis.

The economic and personal costs of osteoporosis are substantial – in the UK the direct costs of fragility fractures are estimated to be £4.4billion which includes £1.1billion for social care.

The participants all lived in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Public Health England statistics indicate that the North East has the greatest proportion of physically inactive adults and the highest incidence of hip fractures compared to the rest of the UK.

The researchers said that the message from their findings is: stay active and reduce sedentary time.

They emphasised that the study shows that hitting the daily target of 10,000 steps and avoiding long periods of sedentary time will increase bone strength.

They say that even making daily lifestyle ‘hacks’ can make a difference – such as parking the car further away from the shopping centre or taking the stairs instead of the lift.

Dr Hind added: ‘Currently there are no specific guidelines for this age group to encourage light physical activity or to reduce sedentary time.

‘Yet, as people retire they are more likely to increase the time they spend watching television and reduce their daily step count.

‘It would be great to see initiatives that specifically target this group to increase their awareness of the importance of staying active and reducing the amount of time spent sitting still.’

Learn more about bone health

New Mexico Orthopaedics is a multi-disciplinary orthopaedic clinic located in Albuquerque New Mexico. We have multiple physical therapy clinics located throughout the Albuquerque metro area.

New Mexico Orthopaedics offers a full spectrum of services related to orthopaedic care and our expertise ranges from acute conditions such as sports injuries and fractures to prolonged, chronic care diagnoses, including total joint replacement and spinal disorders.

Because our team of highly-trained physicians specialize in various aspects of the musculoskeletal system, our practice has the capacity to treat any orthopaedic condition, and offer related support services, such as physical therapy, WorkLink and much more.

If you need orthopedic care in Albuquerque New Mexico contact New Mexico Orthopaedics at 505-724-4300.

Bones Are Growing Faster, Affecting Orthopedics

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Scientists say children’s skeletons are maturing sooner than they did early in the 20th century, and this could affect the timing of certain orthopedic treatments.Girls are reaching full skeletal maturity nearly 10 months earlier and boys nearly seven months earlier, according to the University of Missouri School of Medicine researchers.

“Our findings show there is a ‘new normal’ for timing when kids’ skeletons will reach full maturity,” team leader Dana Duren said in a school news release. Duren heads orthopedic research at the university’s Thompson Laboratory for Regenerative Orthopaedics.

Earlier skeletal maturity affects the timing of treatment for certain orthopedic conditions in children, such as leg-length differences and scoliosis. It may also affect use of growth hormone, the study authors said.

“The timing for the treatments of these conditions is a critical component to a good outcome,” said study co-author Mel Boeyer, a predoctoral orthopedic research fellow. “What this research shows us is physicians will need to start looking for the beginning of epiphyseal fusion sooner than they once thought.”

The researchers studied radiographs of the bones in the hands and wrists of more than 1,000 children born between 1915 and 2006. The radiographs were gathered in the Fels Longitudinal Study, a century-long study of human growth and development.

The investigators keyed in on a developmental process called epiphyseal fusion, which signals the end of the growth of the bone, Duren said.

“It begins when the growth plate, which is cartilage at the end of the bone, starts to connect the epiphysis, or bone cap, to the long bone through small calcifications. Eventually, the growth plate completely calcifies and attaches, or fuses, to the long bone. When fusion is complete, so is the growth of that bone,” Duren explained.

The researchers found that the skeletons of children born in the 1990s reached maturity faster and sooner than those of kids born in the 1930s.

The study did not look at possible causes of earlier skeletal maturity, but increased exposure to chemical compounds that resemble hormones could be a factor, the researchers said.

The findings were published recently in the journal Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research.

 

New Mexico Orthopaedics is a multi-disciplinary orthopaedic clinic located in Albuquerque New Mexico. We have multiple physical therapy clinics located throughout the Albuquerque metro area.

New Mexico Orthopaedics offers a full spectrum of services related to orthopaedic care and our expertise ranges from acute conditions such as sports injuries and fractures to prolonged, chronic care diagnoses, including total joint replacement and spinal disorders.

Because our team of highly-trained physicians specialize in various aspects of the musculoskeletal system, our practice has the capacity to treat any orthopaedic condition, and offer related support services, such as physical therapy, WorkLink and much more.

If you need orthopedic care in Albuquerque New Mexico contact New Mexico Orthopaedics at 505-724-4300.

Getting the Most Out of Your Doctor's Visit

Getting the Most Out of Your Doctor’s Visit

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Article Featured on AAOS

Your visit with an orthopaedic surgeon is an important meeting that can be most effective if you plan ahead. Research shows that patients who are more involved with their care get better results.

The following checklist will help you become more active in your healthcare and get the most out of each office visit.

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Orthopedic Shoes: What To Look for When Buying

Orthopedic Shoes: What To Look for When Buying

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Article Featured on HealthyFeet

If there’s a recurring theme in the report, it’s that buying the right orthopedic shoeis an investment in foot health. But how do you find an orthopedic shoe that fits properly and provides adequate support, without falling prey to commercial claims by shoe stores and manufacturers that may have no scientific basis?

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