Stephanie Kralevich from FOX 12 Oregon’s Good Day Living recently visited ROC’s Oregon City location to meet with Dr. Nathan Orvets.
Dr. Orvets is a shoulder and elbow surgeon who treats a wide range of elbow conditions. Stephanie and Dr. Orvets discuss why the elbow is vulnerable to injury, how these issues can affect athletes and non-athletes, and when it may be time to see an orthopedic specialist.
Video Transcript:
Stephanie Kralevich: ROC stands for Regenerative Orthopedic Center. Today we are at ROC’s Oregon City location to meet with Dr. Nathan Orvets. He is a dedicated shoulder and elbow surgeon. Dr. Orvets, you do a lot of elbow surgeries. Why is the elbow such a vulnerable part of the body?
Nathan Orvets: The elbow is a force transfer joint. It takes the forces from our shoulder and our core and helps get them to the hand. And because of that, it can be prone to injury if it’s not properly strengthened and people don’t warm up properly.
Stephanie Kralevich: And it really affects athletes.
Nathan Orvets: Yeah. Athletes, some sports in particular can place a tremendous amount of force through the elbow, especially throwing athletes and gymnastics are two notable examples. But also any sport that involves gripping anything like tennis or golf.
Stephanie Kralevich: But you don’t have to play tennis to get a case of tennis elbow.
Nathan Orvets: No, I would actually say most people that have tennis elbow don’t play tennis at all. It’s very common from anything from you can get it from just routine desk work and using a keyboard and mouse all day. You can get it from tennis too. Or anything that involves just repetitive gripping. Even golfers can get tennis elbow.
Stephanie Kralevich: Let’s talk young athletes because so many kids play so many sports, some of them even year round now.
Nathan Orvets: Young athletes are a little bit different. They’re still growing. They have some more vulnerable parts of their elbow joint than adults. Things I see most commonly are generally gymnasts and baseball players who can put a tremendous amount of force through their elbow joint. So I really encourage athletes that do any sport, but especially those sports, they try to take rest when needed and listen to their bodies.
Stephanie Kralevich: Let’s say you have one of these injuries. How do you know when it’s time to see a doctor?
Nathan Orvets: If the pain persists more than two or three weeks or you’re getting weakness or it’s affecting your performance in whatever sport or activity you’re doing, I usually recommend being seen.
Stephanie Kralevich: To learn more about orthopedic care and recovery at Regenerative Orthopedic Center, visit rocpdx.com.