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Summary
On episode 615 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan sits down with Dr. Alan Reznik, a board certified orthopedic surgeon specializing in arthroscopic surgery and sports medicine, former team physician for the U.S. Tennis Open and a professional hockey team, and author of The Knee and Shoulder Handbook.
Reznik wrote the book to translate what he calls doctor “gobbledygook” into language patients can actually repeat back and use, covering cortisone shots, supplements, knee braces, knee replacement, and frozen shoulder in plain terms.
The conversation also digs into why pain location can be misleading (a “knee” problem that’s really a hip), when a knee brace helps versus masks a problem, and why balance training belongs alongside strength training as we age.
Links
- https://drresnik.com
- https://ct-ortho.com
Key Takeaways
- Cortisone shots are a legitimate tool for inflammation, not a default fix. Reznik’s rule of thumb is no more than twice a year for a given joint, and never without an exam and imaging first, since a knee that “just needs a shot” could be masking something more serious, like a tumor or fracture.
- Glucosamine and chondroitin work for some people and not others, and there’s a fast way to check. Take it for a month, then stop for a week and see if you miss it; if you’re not “looking for the bottle,” it likely wasn’t doing anything.
- Knee braces serve several different purposes, not just ligament support. They can add warmth (which increases flexibility), remind you to avoid a specific painful range of motion, or restore proprioception, your sense of where the joint is in space, after an injury like a torn ACL, even when the joint itself is already structurally sound.
- A knee replacement’s value depends heavily on age and expected use. Modern implants last roughly 20 to 25 years under normal use, so a 65 year old getting one is likely set for life, but a 45 year old faces a probable second surgery, which makes less invasive, joint preserving options worth trying first in younger patients.
- Pain location can be misleading, so don’t assume the joint that hurts is the joint that’s damaged. Reznik describes a patient whose “knee pain” turned out to be a fractured hip that an emergency room missed because his pain was so convincingly centered on the knee, which is why hip and lower back should be checked before assuming knee pain is a knee problem.
- Frozen shoulder develops slowly, over months, before someone notices it. It disproportionately affects women, who feel the loss of internal rotation first when they can’t reach a bra strap, and diabetics, whose fibroblasts behave differently, so an unexplained frozen shoulder is worth a blood sugar check.
- Balance training deserves equal billing with strength training. Reznik has seen patients leg press 250 pounds who topple over doing a one legged squat because they’ve never trained the small stabilizing muscles; ground force travels through the whole kinetic chain, so weak balance shows up in everyday tasks like picking up a grocery bag, not just sports.
- Choose the surgeon over the specific implant brand or a “custom” option. The surgeon’s comfort and experience with a given prosthesis matters more than the device itself, since even a precisely manufactured custom implant fails if it isn’t placed with precision.
- Dr. Reznik’s three strategies to get and stay well: work on balance every day, even a small amount; stay self-aware and check in with your body instead of ignoring a nagging ache for years; and eat well, avoiding the fad diet cycle of getting extremely thin and then rebounding.
“There are plenty of people who are overweight that are malnourished. Being overweight does not mean you’re well-nourished.”
Dr. Alan Reznik
Another Episode You May Enjoy
Episode 636 – How to get and stay fit over 40
Episode Notes
Podcast: 40+ Fitness
Episode: 615
Published: 2023-11-07
Host: Allan Misner (aka Coach Allan), author of The Wellness Roadmap
Guest(s): Dr. Alan Reznik, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon specializing in arthroscopic surgery and sports medicine, The Knee and Shoulder Handbook
Listen & Subscribe: Apple Podcasts · Spotify · YouTube (audio only)
