Articles
Off the Sidelines
Arriving late for her championship volleyball tournament, Nadine skipped her usual warm up and headed straight for the court. The 6’1 mom of three from Alexandria is a fierce competitor and she was on fire that day. “I kept hitting the ball harder and harder, I couldn’t hit it wrong,” she says.
Treating Cartilage Defects in the Knee
Articular cartilage, which lines the bony surface of the knee, can be damaged through injury or degeneration. These defects often fail to heal on their own, causing pain, loss of function, disability and potential long-term complications such as osteoarthritis. OrthoVirginia’s surgeons are specially trained in a number of procedures to regenerate hyaline-like cartilage and restore knee function. Two of the options currently available include cartilage implantation and cartilage transfer.
First Line of Defense
First he heard the pop, and then he felt the pain. Sixteen-year-old Garrett had dislocated his left shoulder during a tackling drill for his football team, the Marshall High School Statesmen. As an avid athlete who also wrestles for Marshall, Garrett didn’t want to sit on the sidelines. Thanks to a unique collaboration between local certified athletic trainers (ATCs) and OrthoVirginia, he didn’t have to.
Baseball Injuries on the Rise
Baseball is Jeff ’s passion. The 43-year-old electronics engineer from Alexandria coaches, plays and pitches for the Alexandria/Arlington Senators in the NABA-DC Wood Bat Baseball League. Playing the outfield in 2007, Jeff misjudged a fly ball and made what he calls a “circus catch,” separating his shoulder in the process. “When I dove for the ball I bruised my ribs pretty badly. They hurt so much I didn’t notice my shoulder was also injured,” he says. When his ribs healed, Jeff returned to the pitcher’s mound, but his shoulder was increasingly painful during games. After “gutting through” the 2008 season, he finally consulted Daniel Weingold, MD, a OrthoVirginia surgeon specializing in sports medicine and shoulder injuries. Dr. Weingold diagnosed a labral tear, a torn cartilage in the shoulder, which makes throwing painful and other shoulder motions difficult. He performed an arthroscopic repair on Jeff ’s shoulder in January.