From 1980 to 1983, Bill Funderburk rowed for Yale in the heavyweight crew boat. The first seat closest to the coxswain is called “Stroke,” and it was Bill’s job in his junior year to hold that first position in one of the varsity boats and establish the rhythm of the rowers. Every year, the Yale-Harvard race was the annual highlight. …
A 21st Century Clinic for Patients with Inflammatory and Auto-Immune Conditions
When you walk in the door of Attune Health, it’s very soothing. It stops you in your busy life. You slow down and think to yourself, “OK, I’m here, I’m safe.” That’s exactly what two top rheumatologists in Beverly Hills were aiming at when they planned Attune Health. Dr. Swamy Venuturupalli (often called “Dr. V”) and Dr. Daniel Wallace built …
Aquatic Therapy for Lower Back Pain
“Aquatic therapy has made me more independent.” This is a quote from a former patient who had approximately twelve weeks of aquatic therapy for low back pain. She had a history of lumbar spine surgery in 2012 but continued to have significant pain and decreased activity tolerance, which eventually put her in a wheelchair. She had tried land physical therapy …
AgeProof Your Hips
By Robert Klapper and Lynda Huey Hip pain can strike at any age – from fire fighters and stunt men and women in their 40s, to every day runners and tennis players, to less active people in their 50s, 60s, 70s and upward. Maybe you came home from a hike and suddenly discover a deep ache in your hip. Or …
Lumbar Disc Replacement Surgery Goes Outpatient!
By Lynda Huey At 5 AM on Thursday morning, March 16, 2017, spine surgeon Alex Rasouli, M.D. performed the first outpatient surgery to replace a lumbar disc with an artificial disc at levels L4/L5. Although Dr. Rasouli humbly called it “the first in this area,” a search of the internet and phone calls to leading spine centers in Los Angeles …
Win-Win: Prevention of Hip Surgery or Prehab
By Robert Klapper, M.D. and Lynda Huey Just as in the world of business, we like to talk about a win-win situation. Working to prevent hip surgery can create several wins for you. The ultimate win, of course, is that you follow the programs in this book, relieve your hip pain and dysfunction, and never need hip surgery of any …
Heal Your Hips: How to Prevent Hip Surgery and What to Do If You Need It
Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Klapper and aquatic rehab specialist Lynda Huey have been collaborating since 1994. That was the year NBA star Dr. Klapper arthroscoped Wilt Chamberlain’s painful hip. Dr. Klapper was one of the pioneers in doing arthroscopic surgery in the hip joint, and Wilt wanted what was then an advanced technique. Wilt told Dr. Klapper he was going to …
Alex Rasouli, M.D. – 90% of Back Problems Don’t Need Surgery!
By Alex Rasouli, M.D. and Lynda Huey The spine is a collection of bones and ligaments that are subject to wear and tear, but if the body is injured the body’s very sophisticated healing mechanisms come into play. If a patient comes into my office with excruciating back pain, can barely move, and has been bed-ridden for even a few …
Pool Rehab Instead of Knee Surgery
Twenty-some years ago, I helped an active woman who lived in Los Angeles stay fit during the last five months of her pregnancy. Her doctor had discovered a meniscus tear in her right knee, but didn’t want to do surgery until after the baby was born. She turned to me and the gorgeous pool in her back yard overlooking the …
Cool in the Pool: Summertime Cross-Training
. Cross-training for your sport in water becomes more and more appealing as the days get hotter during the summer. You can’t always train in the cool early-morning hours or evening, but you may live somewhere that there simply isn’t a cool time of morning or night. So on particularly hot days, stay cool in the pool while you …
Alex Rasouli, M.D. – Melding Medicine and Technology
What do you remember about your life when you were five years old? I remember running around outdoors, squealing with delight as I rolled down grassy hills, and catching dozens of frogs when it rained. What spine surgeon Dr. Alex Rasouli remembers is very different. He recalls, “I wrote my first computer program when I was five years old. It …
Meet Sports Orthopedic Surgeon Bert Mandelbaum, M.D.
How many doctors do you know who have spent time with U.S. Presidents? How many are so excited about sharks that they fly around the world to scuba dive with them? And how many have been official USA team doctors at the Olympics and the World Cup? Well, you may known some that have worked at the Games or World …
10 Rules for Building a Fitness Lifestyle
Fitness doesn’t come overnight, although it can certainly disappear quickly. Ask any competitive athlete who was injured how soon they felt out of shape and they’ll tell you it happens within days. Research shows a loss of both muscle strength and cardiovascular fitness within a week of becoming inactive! From that, you can see how important it is never to …
Meet Orthopedic Surgeon, Robert Klapper, M.D.
This starts a new series about the Top Doctors of Los Angeles. For the past thirty years, I’ve been interacting with doctors in the L.A. area and helping their patients rehabilitate. The top doctors very quickly rise into view both from what their patients say about them and from how well the patients do after treatment or surgery. This first …
What to Do If You Sprain Your Ankle
An ankle sprain can happen so easily: jumping up for a rebound and coming down on another player’s foot, stepping in a hole that you didn’t see in the thick grass of a big field, twisting an ankle when stepping off a platform in the gym or an aerobics class. Collegiate and professional athletes have athletic trainers to help them …
6 Rules for Rehabbing Hamstrings
Florence Griffith Joyner is the athlete who comes to mind whenever I work with anyone in a pool with a hamstring strain. Florence was nearly sidelined prior to her huge 1988 Seoul Olympics success with a “pulled” or strained hamstring. Since she was the fastest woman in the world, she set the bar pretty high as to what was possible …
When You Can’t Run on Land
When you can’t run on land, you CAN run in the water. And you, like hundreds of skeptical world-class athletes before you, will change your mind about the pool being for sissies once you feel the power of water. Here are a few of the top runners who have benefited from my program: Mary Decker Slaney was America’s premier middle-distance …
Common Golf Injuries
You’re outdoors at dawn, the golf course looks beautiful in the sunrise and the grass smells great, but pain distracts you. Here are some helpful quick fixes for while you’re on the links. Back Pain: Bend your knees when retrieving your ball Considering using a putter with a longer shaft Slow down the backswing to reduce rotational stress on the …
Stay Off That Foot!! (And Stay Fit While It Heals)
Injury often strikes suddenly and wipes out your sports plans. It happens all the time to runners who increase speed while training for races. It happens to basketball players as the season starts to heat up. And it can happen to you when you’re feeling in great shape for tennis, soccer, baseball, volleyball or any other recreational activity. Maybe you …
Water Warm-Down Recovery
After a major athletic effort, your body can feel out of balance. It might feel as though you need food, drink, a hot bath, a nap, or a massage. All of those can definitely help. But here’s another thing you may not have considered: a water workout to speed your recovery. The demands placed on the body during exercise leave the …
October is National Physical Therapy Month
KTLA reporter, Gayle Anderson, had a torn meniscus in her right knee. She had just gotten approval from her insurance company for a knee surgery when she came to CompletePT’s pool for the first time. She wasn’t there as a patient, but doing a news story on pool therapy. Orthopedic surgeon, Robert Klapper, M.D., was part of that segment along …
Stop Hurting Your Knees!
Many people with sore knees have never exercised. Others haven’t exercised in years or have exercised far too little. But a large number have damaged their weightbearing joints, especially their knees, by playing abusive sports with a passion. There is a growing epidemic of knee problems, especially in aging baby boomers who are devoted to running, skiing, basketball, volleyball, or …
ICE: A Free, Frozen Miracle
Ice is life’s most under-recognized drug and it needs no prescription. It’s right there in your freezer waiting for you. It’s easy to apply to an injury and quick to start working. When an injury occurs, immediate application of ice constricts the capillaries to help prevent bleeding and swelling in the injured and creating a bruise. The use of ice …
How to Prevent Knee Surgery for a Meniscus Tear
If your doctor just told you that you have a torn meniscus and you need knee arthroscopy, you may decide you want to do more research before going straight into the operating room. What to do about a meniscus tear depends on the kind of tear, the location of the tear, and the quality of the meniscus that is left. …