Blog Archive

You get out of bed each morning and take for granted that you’ve got the body parts necessary to help you get through the day — whether you’re making a cup of joe or shooting off an email to your colleague. These seemingly simple tasks can become exponentially tougher when...

You break a bone and a quick X-ray is usually all it takes to confirm the injury and get you pointed in the right direction for healing. Unfortunately, soft tissue damage like tendon injuries can be a bit more challenging, as they’re often progressive and the symptoms can mimic other...

The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered dramatic changes throughout everyday life — and in the medical community as well. Not only are providers across the country postponing elective procedures, but many are also encouraging people to avoid in-office appointments to reduce their risk of exposure to this highly contagious coronavirus.But what...

Shoulder problems are one of the main joint and muscle issues that send people in search of medical attention. Unfortunately, most wait until there’s something seriously wrong before scheduling that appointment.   William Schell, MD, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon, treats musculoskeletal issues, including tendon damage, ligament strain, and cartilage loss. Here...

Regular physical activity offers many critical health benefits, including improved joint health. But if you have knee pain or are at risk for knee pain, some activities can do more harm than good. William Schell, MD, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon, helps patients identify the activities that can help them support...

Many people assume that the kneecap serves as a shield to protect the inner workings of the knee, and this is true, to some extent. Outside of this important role, your kneecap performs a more important one — it allows you to extend and flex your leg. As you might...

You’ve tried everything to combat the pain and inflammation in your knee(s), and the discomfort isn’t letting up — in fact, it’s just getting worse. After weighing your options, you’ve decided that knee replacement surgery will give you the best chance for pain-free movement moving forward. This type of joint...

You knew the moment it happened — you could feel your knee twist or torque — and you also knew it wouldn’t be long until the swelling set in. Sure enough, your knee started to puff up and you dutifully applied ice and rested the joint. It’s now been days,...

Each day — yes, day — in the United States, about 25,000 people sprain an ankle. Whether it’s an unglamorous misstep off a curb or a more admirable jump shot gone bad, sprained ankles are one acute injury to which you need to pay close attention. Up to 40% of ankle sprains turn into...

Whether our surgical techniques are getting better or we’re beating our bodies up more, arthroscopy in the United States is on the rise. For example, rotator cuff repair surgeries are going from 460,000 annual procedures five years ago to a projected 570,000 procedures this year (2023). If you’re in need of shoulder surgery, you...

You put your elbow down on the table and lean on it, and you’re met with eye-watering pain. Or, maybe the joint pain has more of a dull ache that flares after use or toward the end of the day. At William Schell, MD, Dr. Schell is a highly experienced orthopedic surgeon...

Your knees are both complex and hard-working, which is the perfect recipe for injury. While there are many ways you can injure a knee joint, meniscus tears are among the more common. To help you identify whether the symptoms in your knee might stem from a meniscus tear, we take a...

The primary goal here at William Schell, MD, is to keep you moving with healthy joints, but sometimes that road has a little bump in the form of crutches. Whether you’ve joined the two million people who sprain an ankle each year in the United States or the 100,000 people...

Surgery of any kind requires a solid recovery program, and this is especially true after surgery on a major joint — one that you're used to using a good deal. Whether we reconstruct an ACL in your knee or repair a rotator cuff in your shoulder, there are some across-the-board...

Well-functioning joints are powered to no small degree by healthy cartilage, the tissue that covers the bones to allow for smooth gliding. When you damage this tissue, you face a very difficult problem — cartilage doesn’t regenerate itself easily. To surmount this hurdle, Dr. Schell of William Schell, MD, offers cartilage...

Changing a light bulb, waving hello, putting away groceries — these are just a few of the simple, everyday tasks that rely on a healthy rotator cuff. If you’re experiencing weakness in an arm and shoulder, it may point toward damage in these soft, connective tissues. To get to the...

Whether you rolled an ankle on the court or off the curb, the ensuing pain and swelling tells you you’ve likely sprained your ankle — again. In the United States, about two million people sprain an ankle each year, making it one of the more common musculoskeletal injuries.  While most...

The health of your knees is no small thing when you’re an athlete. While there are many ways these large joints can become damaged, many athletes fear the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear the most, and for good reason. At William Schell, MD, our orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Schell, specializes in...

Rotator cuff tears are a common cause of shoulder pain and functional limitations.  The rotator cuff complex is a group of four tendons with muscles that encompass the shoulder joint.  The main purpose of these tendons and muscles are to provide stability and normal biomechanics for the shoulder joint as...

When it comes to knee injuries, there’s no bigger warning sign of a serious knee injury than losing the ability to bear weight on the joint. Whether pain is preventing you from using your knee or you have instability, it’s time that you seek professional help. At William Schell, MD,...

You’ve developed a nagging pain in your elbow that, perhaps, radiates into your forearm, and a quick Internet search tells you that you might have golfer’s or tennis elbow. Not only are these conditions slightly different, they may have little to do with golf or tennis. In this month’s blog...

Calling ankle sprains common is an understatement, as 25,000 occur each day in the United States. These injuries can range from mild to severe, but one point to consider is that up to 70% of all acute ankle sprains can turn into an ongoing problem, such as ankle instability. To avoid dealing with lifelong...

A torn meniscus is one of the most common knee injuries and can occur in people of all ages and activity levels. In many cases, surgery is the best path forward for regaining pain-free function of the knee, but you wonder whether you’d only be adding to your discomfort and...

You joke about a trick knee that gives out from time to time, causing you to stumble and lose your balance. That stumble can turn into a damaging fall, so it’s important to figure out why your knee is buckling. In fact, among adults over 65 in the United States,...

The clavicle / collarbone, is the bone connecting your sternum to the scapula (shoulder blade).  The clavicle helps to support the upper extremity. Clavicle fractures are a common injury, accounting for between 2 and 5% of all fractures, and are usually the result of a fall or direct impact onto...

The menisci are two C-shaped cartilages in the knee joint that aid in joint force absorption as well as provide some stability.  There is a medial (toward the other knee) and lateral (away from the other knee) meniscus and these are commonly called the “soft cartilage” of the knee (as...

You twist or roll your ankle and now it’s painful and swollen, and you’re wondering whether to seek medical help. Most of the time the answer is, “Yes.” There are about 2 million sprained ankles each year in the United States that range from mild to severe, making sprained ankles one of...

The “biceps muscle” and is a combination of two muscles in the front part of the arm.  It is important in helping movement of the elbow and forearm.  Its primary function is to supinate (turn palm upwards) the forearm and secondarily aids in elbow flexion.  Supination is very important in...

Shoulder arthritis is a common cause of shoulder pain and disability.  Most shoulder arthritis occurs without any discreet trauma and is a progressive disease where the cartilage ( soft cushioning on the joint ) is worn away.   Most patients complain of pain ( particularly, but not always, at night )...

Your body contains thousands of tendons — important connective tissues that attach your muscles to your bones, which enables movement. Like all tissues, your tendons can become damaged or injured, leaving you with pain as well as limited movement. To break down the different types of tendon injuries, the team...

To call your knees major joints seems like an understatement given all they take on in terms of support and mobility. When something goes wrong in one of these large joints, the impact can be great, and you want to get to the bottom of the problem so you can...

You’ve injured your rotator cuff, and you’re anxious to regain full use of your shoulder and arm, but you’re not too keen on the idea of surgery. Each year in the United States, almost two million people seek medical help for an injured rotator cuff, and 80% of these patients...

Proximal humeral fractures are a very common broken bone and involes one of the main bones comprising the shoulder joint.  These fractures can be a very painful injury that decreases your ability to move your shoulder and arm. Most proximal humeral fractures are treated nonoperative with sling immobilization for several...

Pain is your body’s way of indicating a problem, and there’s a good case to be made for never ignoring the signal. As an example of this, we’re going to explore pain that develops in your tendons — what might be causing it and why investigating and treating the issue...

Shoulder dislocations are a common shoulder injury that occurs when the ball of the shoulder ( humeral head ) joint comes out of its normal position on the socket ( glenoid ).  These injuries are usually traumatic and can occur with a fall any usually with the shoulder in an...

There are many orthopedic conditions that are named after the activity in which the problem tends to develop with more regularity — runner’s knee, pitcher’s shoulder, and, yes, tennis elbow. What each of these conditions has in common is that they’re overuse injuries that can develop while engaging in the...

Knee pain is a very common musculoskeletal complaint and the causes can range widely, from arthritis ( cartilage degeneration ) to ligament and tendons to meniscus ( soft cartilage ).  Causes may be traumatic ( such as a fall or twisting injury ) to atraumatic ( slow and chornic to...

Americans are no strangers to sprained ankles — there are approximately 2 million acute ankle sprains each year in the United States. While sprained ankles are commonplace, another statistic should give you pause — up to 70% of those who incur a sprain may develop ongoing residual physical disability. The...

A frozen shoulder is a common cause of shoulder discomfort, stiffness ( limited range of motion ) and pain and discomfort.   Frozen shoulder ( also called adhesive capsulitis ) usually arises with no discernable event ( fall, trauma. etc) but trauma may also cause it.    The symptoms usually include...

Rotator cuff pain is one of the most common causes of shoulder pain seen by orthopedic surgeons.  Rotator cuff tendonitis and bursitis is the most common and is caused by an inflamed tendon (tendinitis). The pain quality ranges from dull, aching sensation to a sharp and stabbing pain that radiates...

You’ve developed a nagging pain in your shoulder, or perhaps it comes and goes depending upon your activity level. When the problem persists, be assured that there’s no valor in simply gritting your teeth and weathering the pain. There are many reasons why you may develop shoulder pain and just...

There are many adjectives we can use to describe your knees — large, complex, hard-working. Unfortunately, they’re also more prone to problems than many other joints, thanks to this complexity and workload. While there are many conditions that can lead to knee pain, we’re going to concentrate on one here...

Your musculoskeletal system is complex, to say the least, and involves a host of hard and soft tissues that all work together to provide you with support, mobility, and range of motion. Integral to these objectives are your tendons, which are the tough connective tissues that attach your muscles to...

Tennis elbow, runner’s knee, swimmer’s shoulder, pitching elbow — these are all repetitive use injuries that are common to certain sports, but certainly not inevitable outcomes if you take a few preventive measures. As a sports medicine specialist, board-certified orthopedic surgeon Dr. William Schell wants to restore your health after...

Whether you’re a sports enthusiast or someone who simply needs to get around the streets of New York City, having well-functioning knees is paramount. When you tear your anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), your ability to move freely is compromised, which is where ACL reconstruction surgery can help. Whether you’ve already...

You didn’t see the end of the sidewalk coming and you twisted your ankle on the curb. Or, perhaps you rolled your ankle playing sports or running. The point here is that ankle injuries occur all too easily, which is why more than 25,000 people sprain an ankle each day...

More than 3 million Americans suffer rotator cuff injuries every year, many as a result of sports and other physical activities. The good news is that rotator cuff injuries are treatable, and you can usually go back to enjoying your regular activities afterward. The key is to follow your shoulder...

Triple-bundle reconstruction to offer advantages for acromioclavicular joint instability Patients who underwent triple-bundle reconstruction for ACJ instability had superior horizontal ACJ stability than those undergoing a single-bundle procedure. Recently published results showed superior clinical and radiological results with combined arthroscopically assisted anatomic triple-bundle coracoclavicular and acromioclavicular ligament reconstruction using an...