One of the most common injuries in sports is a stress fracture. Overcoming an injury like a stress fracture can be difficult, but it can be done. Most stress fractures occur in the weight bearing bones of the lower leg and the foot. More than 50% of all stress fractures occur in the lower leg. Athletes participating in tennis, track and field, and basketball are very good candidates for stress fractures. In all of these sports, the repetitive stress of the foot striking the ground can cause trauma. Without sufficient rest between workouts, an athlete is at risk for developing a stress fracture. X-rays are commonly used to determine a stress fracture. Occasionally, a computed topography (CT) scan or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) will be necessary. The most important treatment is rest. Individuals need to rest from the activity that caused the stress fracture and engage in a pain free activity during the six to eight weeks it takes to heal. The doctors of the Marina Spine Center can help guide you out of pain and back to your life.

One of the great things about living in America is that the technology that is used in health care is better than anywhere in the world. For example, people who suffer from chronic back pain sometimes need to undergo spinal surgery to correct their problem. Spine surgeons can now place metal screws into the spinal bones under computer guidance. The computer gives the surgeon a three-dimensional picture showing the safest path for the screw. In most other countries, spine surgeons have no computer assistance and must feel their way down the bone. A misplaced screw can cause nerve damage, weakness, and failure of surgery. Computer guided spine surgery has been shown to have less complications and cost less money. At the Marina Spine Center, we have helped to develop computer guided spine surgery to make surgeries safer and better for our patients. The doctors of the Marina Spine Center can help guide you out of pain and back to your life.

-Dr Robert Watkins, IV

Alternatives to Spine Surgery

Hi I’m Dr Robert Watkins, IV. I understand that no one wants to undergo spine surgery. I see many patients every day that suffer from back and neck pain. The chronic pain effects every aspect of their life and prevents them from enjoying their life. While spine surgery may ultimately help people get out of pain, surgery is always the last resort. Depending on each individual patient’s problem, we use chiropractic , acupuncture, epidural injections, and physical therapy to try to avoid surgery. The mainstay of our nonoperative care is to decrease the patient’s pain and inflammation in order for the patient to be able to do spinal exercises. If the patient can increase their trunk muscles to work in a balanced and coordinated fashion then they can decrease the stress on their spine and decrease the pain. Modalities such as chiropractic, acupuncture, and spinal injections can help decrease the pain, so that the patient can do the exercises. The doctors of the Marina Spine Center can help guide you out of pain and back to your life.