Seven operations. One ranking. After five episodes with specialists in ankle, ACL, neck, shoulder and hand surgery, Dr. Schultz puts those operations alongside hip and knee replacement and ranks all seven on what actually matters to a patient: relief of pain, restored function, durability, recovery, and complication risk.
Ankle replacement or ankle fusion? Most patients with bone-on-bone ankle arthritis never get a straight answer. Dr. Schultz sits down with his partner Dr. J. Brannan Smoot, a foot and ankle surgeon at Texas Orthopedics who does both operations, to compare who is a candidate for each, what recovery looks like, and what the ten-year numbers really say.
For years, a pinched nerve in the neck meant one answer: fusion. Dr. Schultz sits down with spine surgeon Dr. Andrew Pham to compare ACDF with cervical disc replacement, who is a candidate for each, what recovery looks like, and whether either can rival a hip replacement.
Shoulder replacement is the fastest-growing joint replacement in America, and most people have never heard of it. Dr. Schultz sits down with shoulder specialist Dr. Michael Loeb to walk through who actually needs one, what to try first, the difference between an anatomic and a reverse replacement in plain English, and what recovery honestly looks like.
If you can’t open a jar, button a shirt, or hold a pen without a deep ache at the base of your thumb, this one is for you. I sat down with my partner Dr. Brian Hardy, a fellowship-trained hand surgeon, to talk through basal joint arthritis from first symptoms to full recovery. We cover what helps before surgery, and what the operation actually involves if you get there.
Tore your ACL? Dr. Schultz sits down with sports medicine surgeon Dr. John McDonald to talk through what actually happens after an ACL tear: who needs surgery and who doesn't, how the operation has changed, what recovery really looks like, and what is coming next.
