surgery

Cowboys’ Romo Looks to Rebound After Back Surgery

/ Thomas Cohn, MD

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

Pain-Free Tiger Woods Struggles at PGA Championship

/ Thomas Cohn, MD

Tiger WoodsTiger Woods felt fine physically during his opening round at the PGA Championship today, but his golf game wasn’t up to par with his body as he shot a first round 74 to finish Thursday at +3.

After his exit at the Bridgestone Invitational last week, many wondered if Tiger would attempt to play in golf’s final major. Woods arrived to the tournament Wednesday morning in time to get a practice round in, telling reporters after the round he felt “pain-free.”

“I felt pretty good about how I played and the shots I hit,” Woods said of Wednesday’s practice round. “I have to get used to how this golf course is playing.”

Woods looked a little flustered by the course on Thursday, shooting +1 on the back nine and +2 on the front. Currently he sits nine strokes behind Lee Westwood and Kevin Chappell, who both carded an opening round 65.

Back to His Back

Woods opened up about the back injury he suffered at Bridgestone during Wednesday’s press conference. He said he jarred his back when he stepped into a bunker and displaced his sacrum bone.

“Yeah, basically when I landed in the bunker, my sacrum went out,” Woods said. “So pinched the nerve, and hence the spasm. My physio put it back in, and we’ve just been treating it.”

Woods added that he still needs to build strength in his ailing back.

“My physio is here,” he said. “If it does go out, he’s able to fix it. One of those things, again, I still need to build strength, still continue to get stronger. Just going to take more time.”

Woods also noted that his sacrum issue was unrelated to the microdiscetomy operation he underwent on March 31 to address a pinched nerve.

“It was a different pain than what I had been experiencing, so I knew it wasn’t the site of the surgery,” Woods said. “It was different, and obviously it was just the sacrum.”

Woods said he took anti-inflammatory medication prior to his practice round, but he didn’t take any pain meds or receive a cortisone shot. He’ll try to end up on the right side of the cut line when he tees off Friday at 1:45 pm ET.

Related source: ESPN, USA Today

Tiger Woods Is Past His Prime

/ Thomas Cohn, MD

Tiger WoodsTiger Woods is an excellent athlete who has strived to stay in the best of condition, but unfortunately he is no longer in his prime. To be a top-notch athlete, one needs to be able to perform without distraction and have a perfectly tuned body. Tiger is no longer 25 years old and in perfect health.  Today, there are many professional golfers who are younger and in better health. A 25-year-old Woods may be better than a 25-year-old Rory McIlroy, but Woods doesn’t have the luxury of a time machine.  The injuries that Tiger has had are not going to heal perfectly and his performance is clearly in decline.

Tiger Woods is now 38 years old and he is certainly past his prime. Woods has had significant knee surgeries and recently underwent a Microdiscectomy for a lumbar disc protrusion in his back. The body and all its parts age and show signs of wear in everybody. Typically by the age of 30, there are often subtle changes in the spine and joints as we stress them. The cartilage in the knee joints can show changes, and in the spine the discs bulge, tear, and show degeneration. By age 40, everyone has different signs of deterioration throughout the body. The design of the body is such that we can do most activities well until about age 40. 150 years ago, it was typical that people would die due to trauma, disease, infections, or even heart problems by age 40-50 years. Today, we are outliving the design of our body since we have better medical care.

The difference between amateur and professional athletes is the level of perfection they achieve in their sport. Physically, to achieve that level of perfection, everything in the body must be in perfect shape. A slight abnormality in the body sometimes can be compensated for, but often the level of ability is diminished. Today, the difference between the best athletes and an average athlete is the ability to do everything in a sport without compromise. Tiger’s back and knee injuries are forcing him to compromise. Tiger may be able to golf and occasionally win, but he will not be a future force and consistent top contender.

PGA Championship in Doubt

Woods was forced to withdraw from last week’s Bridgestone Invitational after suffering another setback with his surgically repaired back. The injury occurred as Woods took a step into a bunker on the 9th hole, and he withdrew from competition shortly thereafter. Some speculate that Tiger only withdrew because he was out of contention and didn’t want to jeopardize his chance to play in golf’s final major of the year this week at the PGA Championship, but his absence from the course Tuesday shows that something is clearly wrong with Woods.

Woods’ agent said the 38-year-old was at his home in Florida resting, but Tiger’s caddie went to the tournament to scout the course in case he decides to play, so there’s still a chance the 14-time major winner will chase another tour victory this week. We should know more about his status by the end of the day Wednesday. We’ll provide an update once more is known.

Joining the Pain Care Team at Center for Diagnostic Imaging

/ Thomas Cohn, MD

CDI SartellNow that it’s official, I wanted to make an announcement that I have accepted a position with the Pain Care team at the Center for Diagnostic Imaging in St. Cloud. I am very excited about my new opportunity at CDI.

I decided to join CDI to take on a new challenge as part of their expanding CDI Pain Care program. Some of the services the program will be offering include:

  • Diagnostic and therapeutic injections
  • Medication management
  • Physical therapy
  • Behavioral health or surgical consults

I am very grateful to have this wonderful opportunity at CDI, and I also want to say thanks to all my friends, colleagues, coworkers, and patients at MAPS Medical Pain Clinic. I learned a lot during my time at MAPS and met a bunch of wonderful people. I am blessed to have met all of you, and I wish you all the best going forward.

CDI has three offices in the greater St. Cloud area. I will be working out of the Sartell office. You can reach the office by calling 320-251-0609 or by visiting our website. We are open Mon-Fri 6:30am-10pm, and on Saturdays from 7am-3pm. Please call the office if you have any questions or would like to set up an appointment.

Tiger Woods Out Of U.S. Open With Back Pain

/ Thomas Cohn, MD

Tiger Woods BackTiger Woods will not play in next month’s U.S. Open as he’s still rehabbing from lumbar microdiscectomy surgery he underwent back on March 31. Woods made the announcement on his website earlier this week.

“Unfortunately, I won’t be [at the U.S. Open] because I’m not yet physically able to play competitive golf,” Woods said. “I’d like to convey my regrets to the USGA leadership, the volunteers and the fans that I won’t be at Pinehurst. The U.S. Open is very important to me, and I know it’s going to be a great week. Despite missing the first two majors, and several other important tournaments, I remain very optimistic about this year and my future.”

While the move may come as a surprise to some, I’m not that shocked. As I hypothesized earlier on the blog, it simply seemed like too short of a timetable for Woods to make a return to professional golf. While the rehab is fairly quick, a person usually needs three months to regain normal activity. The U.S. Open will begin roughly two and a half months after Woods underwent the back operation, and he doesn’t want to take any chances when it comes to his health. As I said back in April, a more realistic return date would be in July, perhaps ahead of The Open Championship in late July.

Woods wouldn’t speculate on when he’d return to the course.e

“There’s no date, there’s no timetable, just taking it day by day and just focusing on trying to get stronger and come back,” said Woods during a media day last week. “I want to play today, but that’s just not going to happen. So just taking it step by step.”

Woods underwent a lumbar microdiscectomy back in March, which is a minimally invasive surgery used to remove a small portion of an offending disc. Patients can walk just days after the operation, but swinging a golf club is a different story, especially when you consider the force and precision needed to preform at the highest level. Last time I wrote about Woods, I guessed he’d miss The U.S. Open, but I’m going out on a hunch and saying that he’ll be back in time for The Open Championship, a place where he’s won three times.

Related sources: TigerWoods.com, ESPN