Cowboys’ Romo Looks to Rebound After Back Surgery

Tony RomoThe National Football League kicks off exactly one week from today when the Green Bay Packers travel to Seattle to take on the defending champion Seahawks. With the regular season fast approaching, teams are doing everything in their power to ensure their players enter the season with a clean bill of health. One such player is Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, who missed the end of last season after undergoing surgery to address his ailing back.

Romo initially hurt his back right before Christmas last year, and he needed an epidural injection and eventually surgery to fix a herniated disc in his lower back. Romo has been rehabbing ever since, and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said it won’t be an issue for the quarterback in 2014.

“No issue with his back at all,” said Jones. “As a matter of fact, we all were pleased that he got the kind of test he got, and he is too. There is no issue, after being sacked three times, other than we need everybody to get in there and move in ways that we can keep that from happening.”

The three sacks Jones is referring to occurred during the team’s third preseason game against the Miami Dolphins. Keeping Romo upright will be key for the Cowboys, something they were able to do well last year. The Cowboys allowed the seventh-fewest sacks in the league in 2013, and the third-fewest quarterback hits.

“I took some hits; that was good just in regard to getting up and keep playing,” Romo said about the shots he took in the third preseason game. “That part of it was positive. The hits in general, hopefully we can avoid, but it was good to get back up and keep going and see how I felt and go play football.”

The Cowboys are set to play their final preseason game tonight against the Denver Broncos, but don’t expect to see Romo under center. Regardless of previous injuries, the majority of teams hold most of their starters out of the final preseason game to help their bodies recover before playing 16 games in 17 weeks. The Cowboys have already announced that Romo won’t play.

It will be interesting to see how Tony Romo preforms this season. He’s getting up there in age – he’s 34 years old entering this season – and although geezers like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady have proven that you don’t need to be young to preform at the highest levels, recovering from a back injury to play on the biggest stage can be extremely difficult. Don’t believe me? Just ask Tiger Woods.

Related source: ESPN

Study: Medical Marijuana Leads to Fewer Overdose Deaths

Medical Marijuana MNA new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that states that have legalized medical marijuana report significantly fewer overdose deaths than states that haven’t legalized medical cannabis.

The Study

For their study, researchers analyzed mortality data and medical marijuana adoption across the US between 1999 and 2010. Only 13 states adopted medical marijuana by the end of data collection, but the results were fascinating.

“We found that there was about a 25% lower rate of prescription painkiller overdose deaths on average after implementation of a medical marijuana law,” said lead author Dr. Marcus Bachhuber.

Looking solely at 2010, Bachhuber said states with medical marijuana laws experienced about 1,700 fewer deaths than what would have been expected based on numbers prior to medical marijuana legislation. Bachhuber said medical marijuana can be a viable option for individuals suffering from certain chronic pain conditions.

“It can be challenging for people to control chronic pain, so I think the more potions we have, the better,” he said. “But I think it’s important, of course, to weigh the risks and benefits of medical marijuana.”

As I mentioned in previous blog posts, the issue I have with marijuana is that it contains so many compounds that haven’t been sufficiently studied. I’m all for conducting more research on medical marijuana, but I don’t think the results of this study mean every state should immediately legalize medical marijuana.

It’s certainly an eye-opening study and raises many good points, but one of the main objectives of any good pain doctor is to control for as many variables as possible. That’s much harder to do with marijuana. You don’t know how the compounds in that specific plant are going to react with that specific person.

The American Academy of Pain Medicine echoed similar sentiments when discussing the recent findings.

“AAPM believes that we need to do research on cannabinoids to determine its safety and efficacy,” said Dr. Lynn Webster, former AAPM president. “The problem with medical marijuana is that we never know using marijuana what chemicals are being ingested. That makes it really unpredictable, but the use of cannabinoids may well have a place in the treatment of pain and other diseases. The AAPM believes that the DEA should reschedule cannabinoids from Schedule I to Schedule II so that it will make it easier for research to be conducted.”

There will almost certainly be more research on medical marijuana in the near future, but until more is known, it can’t be viewed as a perfect solution.

Related source: CNN.com

Can Exercise Help Relieve Pain?

Exercise and painA new study suggests that regular exercise can improve a person’s tolerance for pain and discomfort.

The study was conducted by researchers at the University of New South Wales and published earlier this month in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. For their research, scientists recruited 24 healthy but inactive individuals. 12 of the people said they were inactive but were interested in exercising, while the other 12 said they preferred not to exercise.

After the groups were separated they each were put through similar tests to create a baseline pain threshold. This involved putting pressure on a person’s arm until they said the pressure went from unpleasant to painful. Researchers later put individuals through a second pain threshold test, this time asking users to squeeze a device while a blood pressure cuff tightened on their forearm until it became too painful.

After their pain threshold was documented, participants interested in exercise undertook a moderate stationary bike workout three times a week, for six weeks. Researchers noted an improvement in fitness levels as cycling workloads increased each week. The other group continued with their lives as they had prior to the study.

Results

Both groups returned to the testing lab six weeks after the study first began. Volunteers not interested in exercise showed no changes in their pain threshold, but participants in the exercise program saw a noticeable spike in pain tolerance. They experienced pain at the time point they had during the initial test, but they were able to withstand the pain for much longer at the end of the program.

“To me,” said Matthew Jones, lead researcher of the study, the results “suggest that the participants who exercised had become more stoical and perhaps did not find the pain as threatening after exercise training, even though it still hurt as much.”

Scientists have previously hypothesized that a person’s body will emit opitates, such as endorphins, during exercise to slightly decrease discomfort. This process is known as “exercise-induced hypoalgesia,” and usually occurs during a workout and lingers for about a half hour after the workout is completed.

The study didn’t examine the physiological principles at play, but Jones noted that the decision to use a predominately leg-focused workout and an arm-based pain threshold test suggests that “something occurring in the brain was probably responsible for the change.”

If pain is too crippling to begin an exercise regimen, a person may do more harm than good by trying to exercise through the pain, but if you can tolerate even a moderate amount of exercise, you may be able to increase your pain threshold. Consult your doctor if you have questions or concerns.

Related source: NY Times

What are Pain Injections?

Pain injectionsPatients often have severe pain that has not responded well to conservative care. Rest, ice, physical therapy, and over the counter medications may not solve the pain problem. When the regular treatments are not working, sometimes it is appropriate to have a specific injection to treat pain. Most injections are used to decrease inflammation that is causing pain from a specific location, such as a joint, tendon, nerve or the spine. The most common medication injected is a corticosteroid, a type of steroid used to decrease inflammation.

The most common steroids used are:

  • Dexamethasone
  • Methylprednisolone
  • Betamethasone
  • Triamenacelone

How Pain Works

Pain is expressed as sensory signals from a structure that is generating unpleasant signals. The signals travel from a remote location in the periphery of the body, travel by the nerves to the spine, then travel up the cord to the brain to be deciphered. Unfortunately, the brain sometimes cannot identify the exact location that is generating the signals. Injections are recommended by many different physicians to control pain, but since pain is often very complex, determining what should be injected and where to inject it can prove problematic. A good patient history, physical exam, and sometimes, special studies including MRI scans are helpful to identify the possible sources of the pain signals. If the source is possibly acute inflammation and irritation of a structure, placing a steroid injection in the area may allow the structure to return to normal and alleviate pain.

The structures that receive injection include the space around the spine and spinal nerves – the epidural space –  joints, areas around nerves, tendons, ligaments, bursa, and muscles. Any of these areas can become inflamed. If they are not healing with conservative care, then placing corticosteroid in the area can allow the inflammation to resolve. Once the inflammation is improved the structures need to be strengthened so that the problem does not return. Sometimes the procedure needs to be repeated to further decrease damage. At other times, multiple structures are inflamed and multiple structures need to be treated.

The key to successful injections includes having someone to determine what is wrong and the structures that need to be treated. Having a skilled clinician perform the injections is important. A physician who has been trained in interventions is also beneficial. The treating physician may be an expert in one of many specialties, but most commonly they are trained in Anesthesia, Physical Medicine or Radiology. An experienced specialist will be able to performed the injection comfortably and effectively. Consult a Physical Medicine pain specialist to develop a comprehensive treatment plan if your symptoms are not resolving.

Ailing Tiger Woods Hopes to be Ryder Cup Pick

Tiger WoodsTiger Woods was able to play through some back discomfort during golf’s final major of the season last week, but he struggled to find a rhythm and missed the cut after posting a +7 through 36 holes.

Many in the golf community believe Woods will take some time off to give his surgically repaired back some rest, but the 14-time major winner hopes to play in next month’s Ryder Cup. Sources say Woods has spoken with USA Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson about a spot on the team, and Watson has been open about Tiger’s chances.

“Tiger said to me: I want you to pick me,” Watson said. “I will continue to speak with Tiger over the next three weeks to monitor his situation. He has not been playing well but I think it’s been a result, as you well know, of his injury and his coming back from back surgery.”

Aside from the nine golfers who automatically qualify for a spot on the Ryder Cup team based on last year’s earnings, each side’s captain is allowed to make three “wildcard” selections. The wildcard selections can be any player regardless of earnings or World Rank.

The nine American golfers who have earned a spot on the team are Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler, Jim Furyk, Jimmy Walker, Matt Kuchar, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed and Zach Johnson. Only Furyk, Kuchar, Watson and Mickelson are ranked ahead of Woods in the current World Golf Rankings. Watson’s wildcard selections are due by September 2.

Comes Down to Health

Watson said he would continue to talk to Tiger about his progression from back surgery, noting that in the end it will come down to Tiger’s health.

“The most important thing is his health. I’ve said it consistently all the way through the issue with Tiger. If he’s healthy and is playing well, I’ll pick him,” said Watson. “Right now, his health is not good. Whether that can change in the next three weeks, as I said, I’ll monitor the situation. I’ll be talking with him and as far as his playing in concerned, I’ll monitor that as well.”

Based on Watson’s words, Woods may be stuck between a rock and a hard place. He needs to prove that his game is up to par, but continuing to play with a less-than-100-percent back could worsen the injury. He certainly won’t want to withdraw from the Ryder Cup during the competition, so Woods will have to be sure he can make it through the grueling competition.

As someone who helps patients with back pain on a regular basis, I know how crippling back pain can be to everyday activities, let alone sport at the highest level. If I had to take a guess at how this situation would play out, I’d bet that Tiger tells Watson that he will remove his name for consideration for selection. It’s obvious that Tiger wants to play, but I think he realizes he needs the rest if he wants to have his best chance at chasing down Jack Nicholas’ record of 18 majors. Tiger won’t want to deal with the media frenzy that would occur if Watson decided not to select him to the team, so I believe he’ll withdraw his name from consideration to remove that decision from Watson’s metaphorical plate.