This is a transcript of a Dr. Jay Show, hosted by Dr. J. Michael Bennett, broadcast on 1560TheGame. Dr. Bennett is a Board Certified Orthopedic Surgeon and a Fellowship Trained Sports Medicine Physician serving patients from Katy, Fort Bend County, Metro Houston and Southeast Texas from offices in Houston and Sugar Land, TX. Call 281-633-8600 in Sugar Land and 713-234-3152 in Houston for an appointment.
Here’s the transcript of the eighth and last portion of the Show with Dr. Theodore S. Piliszek as a guest expert. Dr. Piliszek is a graduate of King’s College School of Medicine of the University of London and his practice is at Willowbrook Medical Center in Houston. Dr. Bennett is responding to an email from a listener regarding elbow dislocation treatments.
The second email is from Ted. And Ted writes that he had a dislocation on his elbow about a year ago and it was reduced in the emergency room and he states that since then he’s had significant elbow stiffness and he’s had problems reaching out and grabbing objects. And he wants to know if there’s anything else he can do regarding his elbow.
Well, first off, elbow dislocations when they occur, luckily, the majority of these can be treated without any kind of surgery as long as you get it reduced by a physician – and a lot of times that means taking a trip to the emergency room. But occasionally when I was out covering games, we would have to do it on the field, of course as quickly as possible, because there’s some neuromuscular issues involved.
Once you have a reduced elbow they put you in a splint for probably about seven to 10 days to let the ligaments and soft tissues heal up and after that we can actually start moving you. Elbows have a remarkable ability to heal and actually that was published by one of the group members in Fondren – Tom Mellhoff. The study was done over at the County Hospital, and it showed that all these elbow dislocations kept on coming in and they would splint these patients and they would try to splint them for a few weeks but the majority of these people started taking their splints off after about a week. And they found that because these people were being noncompliant and not following doctor’s orders, you could take your splint off after about a week and still have a stable elbow.
So I do not recommend splinting for more than a week because that could actually lead to a stiff elbow and become a big problem. So usually we put you in a splint for about seven to 10 days, then we start range of motion with a brace, and usually that’s with a therapist. And if you’re still having problems after that sometimes we have to do ligament reconstruction, but that’s very rare.
If you’re still having stiffness and you do not respond to therapy, then there are other options such as arthroscopic release where we make a couple of poke holes in the elbow and go in and remove the scar tissue. And the arthroscopic releases, I’ve had very good results with those. It’s a minimally invasive procedure. So that actually can help and those are some of the options.
So I appreciate the emails and keep them coming.
If you have any questions about elbow dislocation treatments, please feel free to send me an email. Feel free to stop by and visit our facility at Texas Sports Medicine Institute, that’s between Katy and Sugar Land – it’s a beautiful facility out there, we’ve got everything from sub-specialty orthopedics to podiatry to pain management, and we’ve got the Plex facility right next door. That’s actually a great facility to come check out if you get the chance. Like I said, our number here is 281-633-8600. We’re coming close to the end of the show here today.
If you have questions about sports nutrition, wellness, orthopedics, and sports medicine, call us at 281-633-8600 or send us an email through the contact form. You can book an evaluation with Dr. Bennett by clicking the “Book Online” button at the top of the page.
Dr. J. Michael Bennett is an elbow specialist treating all kinds of elbow injuries and pathologies including elbow dislocations, cubital tunnel syndrome, OCD, and biceps tendon ruptures. He is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon and a fellowship trained sports medicine specialist, with a certificate of added qualification in sports medicine.
