Active release technique (ART) is a therapy that is commonly used to treat conditions that are a result of overuse. Conditions including tennis elbow, plantar fasciitis, and shin splints may benefit from active release technique.

Active release technique focuses on muscles and soft tissues to help relieve pain, increase or restore range of motion, and allow the patient the ability to regain strength in that area. According to ActiveRelease.com, overused muscles and soft tissues produce scar tissue after trauma to the area, which then makes it difficult for the tissues to move as freely as they once did. This built up scar tissue can also cause recurring pain, tendonitis, and can trap nerves, which could cause tingling, numbness, and loss of feeling in the affected limb.

Active release technique breaks up this scar tissue through use of hands-on therapy in which the therapist will use very specific movements to correct problems and pain that patients are experiencing. What is unique about active release technique is that it is a patented, specific technique with over 500 specific move unique to ART. The moves used on patients are not arbitrary – they are applied based on the specific issues each patient is experiencing.

The use of active release technique is offered as part of the chiropractic program at Specialty Surgical Center in Sparta, New Jersey. Patients who are experiencing pain or muscle tension due to overuse conditions may benefit from active release technique and other chiropractic and surgical services. For more information on how active release technique may help you, call 973-940-3166

Specialty Surgical Center is located in Sparta, New Jersey and our staff consists of board certified surgeons and anesthesiologists performing procedures in Orthopedics, Sports Medicine, Spinal Care, Podiatry, Urology, Pain Management, ENT, Hand Surgery, Lithotripsy, Brachytherapy, GYN and Laser Surgery.

For more information about Specialty Surgical Center, call 973-940-3166 or visit our Contact Page.

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If you experience foot pain, it can be difficult to know what the cause may be. Both Achilles tendinitis and plantar fasciitis are common conditions that can be treated with conservative and minimally invasive procedures.

Achilles tendinitis is an overuse injury that affects the Achilles tendon, which is located at the back of the leg and is responsible for connecting the calf muscles to the heel. This condition is common in runners who have suddenly increased the length or speed of their runs, or in “weekend warriors” – middle aged adults who only play sports on the weekends.

Achilles tendinitis pain is usually mild to start, and then progressively gets worse or is aggravated by longer runs or sprints. Pain is located in the back of the leg above the heel, and stiffness may also be present early in the morning.

Treatment of Achilles tendinitis is generally conservative and includes medication, physical therapy and strengthening and stretching exercises. For severe cases of Achilles tendinitis or if the tendon has ruptured, minimally invasive surgery to repair it may be required.

Plantar fasciitis is also common in runners, and pain is generally located in the heel. Plantar fasciitis is characterized by inflammation of the plantar fascia, which is a band of tissue connecting the heel to the toes. Those who are overweight or who continuously wear unsupportive shoes are also at risk for developing plantar fasciitis.

Pain from plantar fasciitis is usually sharp, and is generally worse when first waking or when standing after sitting for a long period of time. Treatment for plantar fasciitis usually begins conservatively with medications, physical therapy, strengthening and stretching exercises, or the use of splints to stretch the plantar fascia into a lengthened position while you sleep. Injections of a corticosteroid into the affected area may also help with pain.

If conservative measures fail, minimally invasive surgery to detach the plantar fascia from the heel bone may be required.

For more information on minimally invasive procedures for Achilles tendinitis or plantar fasciitis at Specialty Surgical Center in Sparta, New Jersey, call 973-940-3166 or visit our information page.

Specialty Surgical Center is located in Sparta, New Jersey and our staff consists of board certified surgeons and anesthesiologists performing procedures in Orthopedics, Sports Medicine, Spinal Care, Podiatry, Urology, Pain Management, ENT, Hand Surgery, Lithotripsy, Brachytherapy, GYN and Laser Surgery.

For more information about Specialty Surgical Center, call 973-940-3166 or visit our Contact Page.

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Chronic pain is a symptom that may occur with a wide variety of conditions: arthritis, migraine, CRPS, fibromyalgia, spinal stenosis, plantar fasciitis, degenerative disc disease – there are many, many conditions and diseases that are accompanied by chronic pain.

It is estimated that over 100 million adults in the United States suffer from chronic pain, and that number continues to grow. For those who suffer from chronic pain, treatment options include alternative therapies like chiropractic care; prescription and over-the-counter medications; and interventional pain management procedures, including injections.

These injections are minimally invasive and may be used both diagnostically and therapeutically. They usually consist of a local anesthetic and a corticosteroid – the local anesthetic provides quick, temporary pain relief, while the corticosteroid works to provide long-term results. If being used diagnostically, steroid injections are administered where the pain management doctor believes the patient’s pain to be originating from. If the patient receives relief from the injection, the pain management doctor may recommend a more permanent procedure to continue the relief of symptoms.

If used therapeutically, these injections are administered at the site of pain, and the patient should begin to feel pain relief within a few days, if not immediately. Injections may be given as a series to further improve pain symptoms and increase mobility and function.

These injections are usually used for chronic pain conditions that are nerve related. Degenerative disc disease is one example of this type of condition, as the disc of the spine begins to push outward, putting pressure on the nerves of the spinal cord. This pressure can cause pain to be referred into other areas of the body, including the buttocks and legs. Once the steroid injection is given, the irritated and inflamed nerve is calmed by the local anesthetic and steroid, and provides relief from pain.

Specialty Surgical Center is located in Sparta, New Jersey and our staff consists of board certified surgeons and anesthesiologists performing procedures in Orthopedics, Sports Medicine, Spinal Care, Podiatry, Urology, Pain Management, ENT, Hand Surgery, Lithotripsy, Brachytherapy, GYN and Laser Surgery.

For more information about Specialty Surgical Center, call 973-940-3166 or visit our Contact Page.

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Oncology is the medical specialty that is focused on treating cancer, and within it, there are three subspecialties – medical oncology, surgical oncology, and radiation oncology.

At Specialty Surgical Center in Sparta, New Jersey, specialists on staff treat cancer through radiation oncology. This treatment involves the carefully targeted use of radiation to kill cancer cells, both immediately and long term as the chromosome and DNA involved with the tumor are damaged and no longer able to grow.

Treatments will be designed to narrow in on the exact area that needs radiation, and a radiation oncologist will have the training required to be extremely intentional and precise. Specifically at Specialty Surgical Center, Dr. Bob Cole is an expert in a technique called Prostate Seed Implants, one of the most innovative treatments for prostate cancer. Patients with early, localized, and small tumors are the best candidates for Prostate Seed Implantation.

This therapy involves implantation of a small piece of radioactive iodine or palladium that is as small as a seed or grain of rice. Placed into the prostate gland, they temporarily deliver radiation to the prostate over several weeks, and then become inactive. They remain in the prostate and are harmless.

Specialty Surgical Center is proud to partner with Dr. Cole to bring this innovative treatment to prostate cancer patients. For more information, call Dr. Cole at 1-800-232-1104 or Specialty Surgical Center at 973-940-3166

Specialty Surgical Center is located in Sparta, New Jersey and our staff consists of board certified surgeons and anesthesiologists performing procedures in Orthopedics, Sports Medicine, Spinal Care, Podiatry, Urology, Pain Management, ENT, Hand Surgery, Lithotripsy, Brachytherapy, GYN and Laser Surgery.

For more information about Specialty Surgical Center, call 973-940-3166 or visit our Contact Page.

©Specialty Surgical Center, 2015
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The Achilles tendon is located at the back of the heel and connects the muscles at the back of the leg to the bone of the heel. Achilles tendinitis is an overuse injury that is extremely common in runners who suddenly increase their mileage or speed without taking the time to condition themselves into it. Achilles tendinitis can also cause pain for “weekend warrior” types, who play intense sports only occasionally.

Most mild cases of Achilles tendinitis will go away over time with rest and conservative care like ice, heat, and over the counter pain medications. However, serious cases of Achilles tendinitis may cause a tear or rupture of the tendon, which will generally require surgery to repair. At Specialty Surgical Center in Sparta, New Jersey, the orthopedic team performs procedures to surgically repair tendons that are too damaged for conservative care.

Symptoms of Achilles tendinitis include persistent pain in the back of the leg in the calf or heel area that does not improve with time. Pain generally becomes more severe after longer runs, sprints, or stair climbing exercise. Pain may also be worse upon waking and improve as you go about your day. A torn or ruptured Achilles tendon will cause severe pain in the back of the leg, and it may become difficult to walk or stand upright.

Surgery to repair the Achilles tendon is usually done on an outpatient basis, and patients are advised to use crutches, a wheelchair, or a knee scooter to get around as the surgical site heals. Patients are usually allowed to bear their full weight at six weeks, and can usually return to athletic activity within 6 months.

For more information about Achilles tendon injuries or Achilles tendon repair at Specialty Surgical Center, call 973-940-3166

Specialty Surgical Center is located in Sparta, New Jersey and our staff consists of board certified surgeons and anesthesiologists performing procedures in Orthopedics, Sports Medicine, Spinal Care, Podiatry, Urology, Pain Management, ENT, Hand Surgery, Lithotripsy, Brachytherapy, GYN and Laser Surgery.

For more information about Specialty Surgical Center, call 973-940-3166 or visit our Contact Page.

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No matter the procedure, most people will generally feel nervous and apprehensive at the thought of surgery. As more than two-thirds of all operations are now performed in an outpatient surgery center, many have questions about having their surgery at one of these facilities instead of a traditional hospital.

Specialty Surgical Center in Sparta, New Jersey is an outpatient surgery center, and aims to educate patients about their options when it comes to surgical procedures. If your question is not answered here, please reach out to us and we are happy to help you.

What is an outpatient surgery?
An outpatient surgery is one where the patient is allowed to return home the same day and does not require an overnight hospital stay. There are many procedures that are now being performed on an outpatient basis to not only reduce the cost of care for patients, but also to allow them to recover in their home where they will be more comfortable.

Is outpatient surgery as safe as surgery in a hospital?

It is just as safe, if not more! There have been several studies that show the safety of outpatient surgery centers to be equal to or exceed traditional hospitals. There are risks to any procedure, and those patients who are considered high risk may require their surgery to be performed in a traditional hospital, but generally, outpatient surgery centers are very safe.

What are the benefits of surgery in an outpatient facility?

One of the biggest benefits is the reduction in cost for the patient. Instead of paying for an overnight stay in a hospital, the patient spends some time in recovery and then goes home to continue to recover. Another benefit is that many patients end up taking less pain medication following an outpatient procedure than they do if they have a hospital stay. Studies have also shown lower post-surgical infection rates for those who had procedures at outpatient facilities.

Many patients report that waiting times are shorter, procedures are less expensive, and the care is more personalized.

If you have questions about outpatient surgery, please call Specialty Surgical Center in Sparta, New Jersey at 973-940-3166

Specialty Surgical Center is located in Sparta, New Jersey and our staff consists of board certified surgeons and anesthesiologists performing procedures in Orthopedics, Sports Medicine, Spinal Care, Podiatry, Urology, Pain Management, ENT, Hand Surgery, Lithotripsy, Brachytherapy, GYN and Laser Surgery.

For more information about Specialty Surgical Center, call 973-940-3166 or visit our Contact Page.

©Specialty Surgical Center, 2015
©Medical Marketing Solutions, 2015

Corticosteroid injections are one of the interventional pain management tools that the doctors at Specialty Surgical Center use to reduce lower back pain.

What is it?
The adrenal gland, which is located on top of the kidneys, produces hormones like cortisol. Cortisol controls how our body handles both physical and mental stress, but it also helps fight inflammation to our bodies. When your adrenal gland is under stress, one symptom that may arise is lower back pain. So when the adrenal gland does not produce enough cortisol when it is under stress, corticosteroid injections are used to mimic cortisol and treat lower back pain.

How the procedure is done
After the patient is given an anesthetic, a patient is given an injection into or around a patient’s back joints. It is just like having an injection in your arm that you may be more used to. This may provide the patient with a fast way of reducing inflammation for months or potentially years. Our doctors recommend using ice on the injection spot if a patient is sore over the next two days after the procedure. It will be up to your doctor at Specialty Surgical Center to discuss how often you need to have a corticosteroid injection.

Who should consider one?
If you have any of these conditions, talk to your doctor to see if he or she recommends using corticosteroid injections as a form of treatment. Here are just a few examples of the types of patients who might consider the procedure.

• Osteoarthritis patients – If osteoporosis is affecting the joints in your lower back and hip, it can be difficult to move around pain free. A corticosteroid injection can make an osteoarthritis patient feel less stiff by reducing inflammation.

• Tendinitis – Like osteoarthritis, people can have tendinitis anywhere in their bodies. A person who has tendinitis in their lower back may be a great candidate for corticosteroid injections because of the tight muscles caused by tendinitis. Instead of injecting the corticosteroid into the joints, it is injected directly into a patient’s tendons.

• People with muscle injuries – From athletes to people who move heavy objects, anyone can injure their lower back with a muscle injury. While a corticosteroid injection is not recommended for someone with a new injury, it can be considered for someone with a muscle injury who is in chronic pain and has suffered from the injury for a long time.

Specialty Surgical Center is located in Sparta, New Jersey and our staff consists of board certified surgeons and anesthesiologists performing procedures in Orthopedics, Sports Medicine, Spinal Care, Podiatry, Urology, Pain Management, ENT, Hand Surgery, Lithotripsy, Brachytherapy, GYN and Laser Surgery.

For more information about Specialty Surgical Center, call 973-940-3166 or visit our Contact Page.

A spinal adjustment, also referred to as a chiropractic adjustment, is a fairly common technique that the chiropractors at Specialty Surgical Centers use to help manage chronic back pain symptoms. When one of our specialists performs a spinal manipulation, he or she uses their hands to create a sudden force onto your joints.

During this procedure, a chiropractor will move you into different positions to apply that force into different areas of your back and neck. It is normal to hear a “pop” sound when they do this. The sound is the release of gasses putting pressure on your joints. Ultimately, a spinal adjustment relieves pressure and nerve irritation by improving spinal alignment.

Our specialists encourage an open line of communication regarding where your pain is, so if you feel any tenderness during your adjustment, tell your chiropractor exactly where the pain. That way, they’ll be able to can cater your spinal adjustment to your needs and reduce any tenderness you may have.

Spinal adjustments work best when the patient is completely relaxed during the procedure, so your chiropractor may use some relaxation techniques before your adjustment.

Having a spinal adjustment may relieve lower back pain, neck pain and even headaches. Our specialists will discuss introducing a spinal adjustment into your pain management treatment plan if they feel it’ll help you live pain-free.

A patient may feel a little soreness in the muscles around the spine following a spinal adjustment, but that should dissipate after a day or two. Pain relief from a spinal adjustment differs for everyone; nevertheless, a Specialty Surgical Center chiropractor may recommend another appointment or a different manipulative therapy offered at Specialty Surgical Centers to help treat your chronic back pain.

Specialty Surgical Center is located in Sparta, New Jersey and our staff consists of board certified surgeons and anesthesiologists performing procedures in Orthopedics, Sports Medicine, Spinal Care, Podiatry, Urology, Pain Management, ENT, Hand Surgery, Lithotripsy, Brachytherapy, GYN and Laser Surgery.

For more information about Specialty Surgical Center, call 973-940-3166 or visit our Contact Page.

When preparing for your surgery, your pre-operative nurse at Specialty Surgical Center may instruct you not to eat anything anywhere from 4-8 hours before your surgery. If your surgery does not target the digestive tract, you may be wondering why this is necessary.

Ultimately, eating or drinking before surgery puts you at risk for certain complications while under anesthesia.

There are muscles that prevent food from going into your lungs. You may have felt that “food going down the wrong tube” sensation before, especially if you’ve inhaled while swallowing. The muscles in your stomach and gag reflex are normally relaxed during surgery, so if you vomit your stomach contents while under anesthesia, food could get caught in your lungs. This is called pulmonary aspiration.

Pulmonary aspiration, or just aspiration, is when your stomach contents (food, saliva, acids) get into your lower airways. This is a serious condition that may lead to pneumonia or even death.

If you accidentally forget this pre-surgery guideline and have food during the restricted time frame, call Specialty Surgical Center right away. They may need to reschedule your surgery for a future date.

Depending on the type of surgery you are having, you may not be able to have beverages other than water, as you are fasting. Water may be permitted up until 2 hours before your procedure.

A common question that our specialists get asked is if it is ok to take medications while fasting. Prescribed medications for conditions such as seizures, asthma, or diabetes can still be taken with small amounts of water if your doctor allows.

However, you may be advised not to take over-the-counter aspirins or ibuprofens the week before surgery.  These medications affect the way your blood clots, and if you take them before surgery, you could experience excessive bleeding during your surgery.

Ask your doctor if you are unsure if your medication is safe to have before surgery, and if not, how long you can take it up until your surgery.

Specialty Surgical Center is located in Sparta, New Jersey and our staff consists of board certified surgeons and anesthesiologists performing procedures in Orthopedics, Sports Medicine, Spinal Care, Podiatry, Urology, Pain Management, ENT, Hand Surgery, Lithotripsy, Brachytherapy, GYN and Laser Surgery.

For more information about Specialty Surgical Center, call 973-940-3166 or visit our Contact Page.

After a surgeon at Specialty Surgical Center performs a minimally invasive spine surgery procedure, they may recommend using physical therapy as a form of rehabilitation, especially if you want a faster recovery time. Physical therapy sessions typically start a few weeks after your surgery, but it all depends on how quickly your body has healed.

Surgeons may recommend physical therapy for a number of reasons. For starters, during all of the time you spent being inactive due to the injury and all of the time you needed to heal after surgery, your back muscles were probably very inactive. Physical therapy would help to strengthen the back muscles again. Another reason is because your flexibility goes away if you don’t move your back for a while. If you could not move before due to the pain of the injury, you may not be able to move after surgery because your back muscles lost their flexibility. Finally, your surgeon could recommend physical therapy because it promotes healing. In order for your injury to heal properly after your procedure, you may need to exercise so that you get a good blood flow to that area.

Your physical therapy session

The first time you come, your physical therapist may ask about the minimally invasive spine surgery at Southwest Spine and Pain as well as test you for flexibility, posture and other things they need to know. After the evaluation, he or she will come up with a plan to reduce your pain after surgery as much as possible.

At first, you may start out slow with some stretching and low intensity exercises. The exercises are meant to strengthen your back and other core muscles. Your physical therapist can teach you the proper way to do the exercises so you can do them at home too. The more you work on it, the faster your healing process could go.

Ultimately, the goal is to have you pain-free, so along with exercises, your physical therapist may do some massages. Additionally, heat therapy or electrical simulation could be performed if pain persists.Talk to your our team if they think physical therapy would help you after your back surgery.

Specialty Surgical Center is located in Sparta, New Jersey and our staff consists of board certified surgeons and anesthesiologists performing procedures in Orthopedics, Sports Medicine, Spinal Care, Podiatry, Urology, Pain Management, ENT, Hand Surgery, Lithotripsy, Brachytherapy, GYN and Laser Surgery.

For more information about Specialty Surgical Center, call 973-940-3166 or visit our Contact Page.