Blog Archive

Please visit the follow links to review COVA Mags Top Doc awards and AOS' post sharing the news: COVA Mag 2023 Top Doc Award AOS COVA Mag Top Doc 2023 Announcement

WE ARE LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLINICAL RESEARCH STUDY   Dr. Bradley Carofino, Dr. Chad Manke, Dr. Sheldon Cohn, & Dr. Lawrence Donato are conducting a clinical trial to study the safety and effectiveness of Pulsed Electromagnetic Field (PEMF) device therapy as an additional treatment to full...

   Scott Hensley had lived with shoulder pain for almost 20 years. A lifelong weightlifter, Scotts’ shoulder range of motion had become very limited, and his workout routine became increasingly painful. He was unable to sleep through the night without eventually awaking in excruciating pain.    When deciding how to...

Fred Kissling  from Tigerville, South Carolina developed shoulder arthritis after years of hard work. Hand-splitting firewood, wielding a chainsaw, and shoveling acres of soil took their toll on his shoulders.  It got to a point that Fred was no longer able to brush his own hair or retrieve his wallet...

Many patients and physicians believe that weather patterns affect arthritis pain. I myself believed this, having heard so many many of my shoulder arthritis patients complain that they hurt more when the weather changed. Some reported that they could tell if rain was coming based on the pain levels in...

Atlantic Orthopaedic Specialists would like to congratulate one of our accomplished surgeons, Dr. Bradley Carofino, on being named one of Virginia Living Magazine’s 2020 Top Doctor. Already recognized by Coastal Virginia Magazine in 2016, 2017 and 2019 as a Top Doc, Dr. Carofino was nominated by peers in his field and thoroughly reviewed to...

There are two main types of shoulder replacements. The anatomic shoulder replacment and the reverse shoulder replacement. These two forms of shoulder replacement are used for different clinical problems and patients. The anatomic shoulder replacement is used for shoulder arthritis in the setting of a normal rotator cuff, while the...

Rotator cuff tears are one of the most common orthopaedic injuries. In fact, it has been shown that roughly 20% of sixty year olds have a rotator cuff tear and nearly 50% of eighty year olds. Fortunately, many of these patients can be successfully managed with non operative treatment. This...

  Recently I have been performing outpatient shoulder replacements at the Princess Anne Surgery Center. Currently, this is the only surgery center in the Virginia Beach, Norfolk & Chesapeake region offering this procedure, and Dr. Chad Manke and myself, are the only surgeons performing them. Over the past few weeks,...

Up to date Shoulder replacement data and complication rate Each year I make an effort to analyze my surgical cases and publish our shoulder replacement data. I think this is important for several reasons. First, it is an opportunity to analyze our complication rate to see how our team is...

Warning Signs of Elbow Arthritis Your elbow is intrinsic to most daily activities — washing dishes, carrying a briefcase, typing on a computer, playing sports like tennis, or lifting weights. You may not even realize how much you rely on the ability to extend and bend your elbow until it...

I recently participated as faculty in the "Innovations in Shoulder & Elbow Arthroplasty" course which was hosted by DJO in Miami. It was an honor to be asked to instruct other surgeons on the newest techniques in Shoulder surgery. As always, I learned as much as I taught. Course participants...

Computer Navigation for Shoulder Replacement Total Shoulder Replacement Expert. Virginia Beach & Chesapeake, Virginia Computer navigation has been used for hip and knee replacements for over a decade, but it has just recently made its way into the shoulder replacement world and I am happy to have this tool to offer my...

What do professional baseball players do at the end of their season? Your little leaguer should pay attention. As team physician for the Norfolk Tides, I do exit physicals at the end of every season. Some of the Tides players move up to the Orioles as a "September call up". This...

Injuries to the shoulder often involve the soft tissue of the joint, including the tendons, ligaments, and muscles, rather than the bones located there. Often, shoulder injuries develop gradually with repetitive overhead movements or with constant swinging or throwing actions. Read on to learn which sports put you at the...

Would you travel 2,000 miles to Virginia for a shoulder replacement?Over the past few years I have had patients travel to Virginia for shoulder replacements and rotator cuff repairs from Illinois, Pennsylvania, Florida, Maryland, West Virginia, New York, New Jersey and even Arizona. The notion of traveling far away for an...

How Your Sleeping Positions Affect Your ShouldersYou open your eyes in the morning as the light comes through your windows. Then it hits you: pain in your shoulders. You quickly scan your memory and can’t come up with any reason for your stiff, sore shoulders. Could the way you sleep...

Cortisone injections may be a bad idea for some types of shoulder pain Virginia Beach & Chesapeake, Shoulder Specialist.  Cortisone injections are often used to treat common shoulder problems such as bursitis and rotator cuff tears. These injections provide many patients with pain relief and studies have shown reduced pain for an...

Balloon Procedure for Rotator Cuff TearsVirginia Beach, Rotator Cuff SurgeryThere may be a new treatment option for rotator cuff tears and it’s not what you might expect. It's a balloon. Clinical trials are underway at a few academic centers throughout the U.S to test the InSpace biodegradable balloon, which is...

It may be tempting to try to ignore the pain, tingling, and numbness in your hand and arm resulting from carpal tunnel syndrome, but it’s not wise. This pain is a sign from your body that the major nerve to your hand — called the median nerve — is being...

Whether it’s from playing tennis or golf, or your job as a painter or carpenter, if you’ve experienced the pain and burning that comes with tennis elbow — also known as lateral epicondylitis — you might want to prevent another occurrence. Tennis elbow results from a tear in the extensor...

The Forty Thousand Dollar Shoulder Replacement!!!!Atlantic Orthopaedic Specialist Shoulder Replacement Program (Virginia Beach & Chesapeake, Virginia)I recently had a patient travel to Virginia Beach from out of state for a "Ream and Run" Shoulder Replacement. He recieved a nasty surprise while back home recovering......THE HOSPITAL BILL. My patient received his...

Long Stem, Short Stem......Stemless Shoulder replacementsAtlantic Orthopaedics Shoulder Replacement Program (Virginia Beach & Chesapeake, Virginia)Over the past ten years shoulder replacement designs have significantly changed on the humeral side. In a traditional shoulder replacement design the humeral implant is held in place by a "stem" which goes down the center...

Have you ever had a finger or fingers get stuck in a bent position? If so, you may have trigger finger. It may be accompanied by pain, swelling, and a clicking sensation in the finger. Once stuck, your finger may just snap back into a straight position on its own...

How Long Will My Shoulder Replacement last?This is by far the most common question that patients ask me when discussing a potential shoulder replacement. The answer is actually pretty straightforward. The failure rate for shoulder replacements is approximately 1% per year. This means that 10% will fail within 10 years,...

When your joints are achy and painful, the thought of joining an aerobics class or even walking around the block may seem like an impossibility. But if you want to improve your arthritis and reduce pain, exercise may be exactly what you need. Regular physical activity improves joint health and...

Many observers of baseball think that Tommy John surgery is a miracle operation that returns players to the MLB. In fact, many youth players are under the impression that they will actually throw harder after a Tommy John surgery and that it will improve their performance. I always counsel patients that...

Want to save money on your shoulder replacement? Consider a surgery center Now offering outpatient surgery center shoulder replacement for Virginia Beach , Chesapeake and Norfolk, Virginia patients. In the past, all surgeries were done in a hospital. In the 1970’s even a simple carpal tunnel release required a trip to the...

Because no two people are alike in terms of degree of injury, recovery and rehab from shoulder surgery is always individualized. Your doctor at Atlantic Orthopedic Specialists lets you know what you can expect in your particular situation. It’s a good idea to find out before the surgery just what...

For many young athletes baseball has become a year round sport. There is fall ball, winter training, and the spring season that extends into the summer with travel tournaments. When I was growing up we played during the spring /summer and then moved on to other sports for the fall...

The obvious problem is that they don’t pay taxes. This is not a trivial point. In 2002 the tax exemptions for nonprofit hospitals was approximately 12 billion dollars, and in that same year the estimated cost of providing medical care to the entire uninsured population was 60 billion. That means...

Medicare is trying to change the way it pays for total joint replacements, particularly hip and knee replacements. Currently, Medicare pays a bill for each individual aspect of a patient’s care. It’s kind of luck shopping a la carte. They pay the surgeon, the hospital, the anesthesiologist, the rehab facility...

Injuries among youth baseball players are dramatically rising. In particular, the number of Tommy John elbow reconstructions being performed on adolescent baseball players has greatly increased over the past decade. In the past this was an injury only seen in professionals and now it is common in thirteen and fifteen...

This past week Hope Solo underwent a “Ream & Run” shoulder replacement with Dr. Rick Matsen at UW in Seattle.I was fortunate to train under Dr. Matsen during my shoulder fellowship. These pictures of Dr. Matsen and Hope bring back memories of morning rounds at UW. Dr. Matsen is showing...

As pointed out in this post, there is currently minimal scientific evidence to support the use of stem cell therapies for orthopedic conditions. This may to prove to be the future BUT currently we do not have any proof that stem cell therapies are very effective.Furthermore, these treatments are not...

Patients who have had a shoulder replacement often ask if they should be taking antibiotics before dental work. In some cases, their dentist had recommended it. As pointed out in this article, there is no evidence to support the routine use of antibiotics before dental procedures in patients who have...

This year Atlantic Orthopaedic Specialists won Gold for Best Orthopaedic Group along with 5 of our physicians! I am proud to be part of one of these physicians as well as this fantastic practice! Please check out the link below for the full scoop!http://www.atlanticortho.com/cova-gold-top-docs-mean-top-care-aos-patients-five-years-running-aos-celebrates-top-docs-cova-gold/

Over the past few years we have seen a significant increase in high deductible insurance plans because of the ACA health exchanges. In these plans patients are often responsible for paying a large portion of the bill before the insurance kicks-in, sometimes the patient can be responsible for upwards of...

There was a recall of the Zimmer-Biomet reverse total shoulder. I am happy to say that I have never used this replacement and none of my patients need to be concerned about this. As you can see the lawyers are getting excited so be ready for the TV commercials.https://www.gblawyers.com/zimmer-biomet-reverse-shoulder-lawsuits/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=post+ad&utm_content=post+ad+001&utm_campaign=reverse+shoulder+jjs

A new study published in JBJS helps to address this question. “Long Term Outcomes of Reverse Total Shoulder Arthroplasty” was published this month by surgeons in France.They reported that over 90% of reverse shoulder replacements lasted at least ten years. Furthermore, shoulder replacements that did fail and required revision were...

This week Anthem Insurance announced that in select states it would no longer be paying for MRIs to be performed in hospital facilities. Why would they do that? The answer is simple. Hospitals charge (some would say over charge) a lot more than freestanding imaging facilities do for MRIs and...

How should my shoulder feel one year after rotator cuff surgery?Patient education is one of the most important ingredients in a successful surgery. It is important that patients understand what to expect immediately after an operation and also years later.Arthroscopic Rotator cuff repair is a great operation that can decrease...

It is hard to pick a doctor. Everyone would like to feel that they are entrusting their medical care to someone who is truly excellent. But how can you find the best doctor for your particular problem? Recently, online doctor rating websites have emerged to fill this gap in the...

Have you ever talked to your surgeon during your surgery? It’s definitely a different experience and it is becoming more common. Today, I performed a full day of surgeries and most of my patients remained awake during surgery. Typically, they don’t say much. Sometimes they ask how things are going,...

After patients recover from shoulder surgery they often ask about returning to a workout regimen that involves weight lifting. Strength training is a great form of exercise for staying fit and preserving bone density, but if you have had a prior shoulder operation it is important that you avoid certain...

Patients often ask, “How much will my surgery cost?” You would think that should be an easy question to answer. Unfortunately, it is not and that is one of the biggest problems with our current healthcare system.Let’s take a shoulder replacement surgery as an example. When a patient has surgery...

Injury Epidemic Amongst Baseball PitchersThere continues to be an injury epidemic amongst baseball pitchers at the highest level (MLB) and youth recreational players. There is an obsession with throwing hard and lighting up the radar gun, and for good reason. MPH is a recruitable stat for scholarship seekers. However, new...

A recent study published in the Journal of Shoulder & Elbow Surgery found that on average patients will add five pounds of water weight during an arthroscopic rotator cuff repair shoulder surgery. During shoulder arthroscopy, fluid is pumped into the shoulder joint. This fluid spreads into the surrounding tissues which...

Noah Syndergaard, MLB pitcher,  was recently diagnosed with a partial tear injury of his Latissimus Dorsi muscle (aka ’the lat’). As team physician for the Norfolk Tides, I wanted to provide some insight into this uncommon injury and what to do about it.Many people do not realize that the latissimus, the...

If you are going to have a surgery two questions you should ask your surgeon are: “What are the most common complications of this surgery?” and “What is your complication rate with this operation?”Unfortunately, many patients do not ask these questions. I feel that some patients are hesitant to ask...

Shoulder surgery is a team sport, and thankfully I have a great team. In 2016 we performed over one hundred shoulder replacements which is the most in Hampton Roads and among the highest in Virginia and North Carolina.Why does this matter? Simply put, the more you do something the better...

Rotator Cuff Repair surgeries are notoriously painful! Many patients say it is the worst pain they have ever experienced. To make matters worse, you are bound up in a sling after surgery and can’t move the arm to try to “find a comfortable spot”. Most people are unable to lie...

Glucosamine and Chondroitin are common over the counter supplements that are marketed as a treatment for arthritis and joint pains. These can be purchased in pill form in nearly every pharmacy. They are also the active ingredients in the drink “Joint Juice”. These supplements are often marketed as being able...

Most people are familiar with knee and hip replacements. However, many patients are not aware that elbow replacements are possible.Below are a set of x-rays from a recent patient of mine who underwent a revision elbow replacement. Most often I do this surgery for elbow arthritis or very bad elbow...

Over the past three seasons as the Orthopedic Surgeon for the Norfolk Tides I have spent a lot of time around minor league baseball. During this time I have learned a tremendous amount about shoulder & elbow injuries in professional baseball players, but some of the most interesting things I...

Last summer I first learned about the new baseball metric of spin rate. Like many MLB teams the Orioles had started tracking the spin rate of their minor league pitchers, and had installed doppler hardware at Harbor Park to measure how fast the baseball was spinning on each pitch thrown...

I often see youth baseball players with elbow and shoulder injuries due to overuse. Most often these are minor issues that resolve with rest, but in some cases they can be serious injuries with life long consequences. Typically, these injuries are caused by repetitive injury and inadequate rest. Many youth...

“How long will a shoulder replacement last?”This is one of the first questions asked by patients who are considering a shoulder replacement, and for good reason. Nobody wants to undergo a surgery that will need to be redone in a short period of time. A standard shoulder replacement involves replacing...

Will my rotator cuff tear get worse if I don’t have surgery for it? The short answer to this question is “Maybe”, but there is some new research out that gives us clarity on this topic. Rotator cuff tears are generally degenerative in nature, meaning that the tear occurs over time from...

Reverse shoulder replacements are generally a very successful operation. However, as with all surgeries things can go wrong. In my practice, I see a number of referrals for shoulder replacements that have failed and require a revision surgery. Over the past month, I have had the opportunity to revise three...

I follow a Facebook support group for “ream and run” shoulder replacement patients. I have found some of my patients benefit by talking to others who have been through a similar operation and recovery process. Generally, the support group encourages its members to push themselves in physical therapy, and do...