Blog

The physician assistant (PA) profession first began in 1965, and has flourished, and growing every year since. Physician assistants are medical professionals trained in general medicine with the option for working and specializing in a specific field. Often, people have a misunderstanding about what exactly we do. A common question we receive is “So [...]

Life of an Athletic Trainer in the NFL by Richard Williams, ATC, OTC Richard Williams is an athletic trainer who recently joined my team at Vail-Summit Orthopaedics. He works with me both in the office and in surgery and we are happy to have him. Pretty cool that he has a Super Bowl Ring [...]

I recently saw a 32 year old male patient in the office who said he was weight lifting when he felt a tearing sensation and had immediate pain and later bruising and swelling in his chest wall and arm pit area. Furthermore, when he flexed his chest musculature, there was an obvious deformity. He [...]

Residents and visitors to the Vail Valley like to play hard, whether it be tracking one's vertical feet on a powder day or participating in the Vail Hill Climb. I think it is great to be active and push one's limits beyond what we might have thought ourselves capable of. As we get older, [...]

Today in the office, I saw an 18 year old football player from Buena Vista, Colorado. He was participating in a pre-season football training camp and suffered a first time shoulder dislocation while tackling another player. He plays on both the offensive and defensive lines for his high school, and he is one of [...]

It’s hard to imagine suddenly losing sensation or muscle function or having extreme nerve pain occur without reason. Unfortunately, some nerve injuries or nerve abnormalities can happen without warning. Nerve palsies are rare but can be debilitating. Generally, nerves are injured due to a specific incident, such as a fracture or dislocation. However, nerve [...]

Mother Nature has called for one more snowy blast in Eagle and Summit Counties.  While Arapahoe Basin continues to reap the benefits of persistent snow accumulation for our ski and snowboard enthusiasts, the majority of Colorado ski resorts have shut down their lifts for the winter season.  In an area world renowned for winter [...]

Patellar instability and dislocations can plague both children and adults alike. The patella (kneecap) connects the muscles of the thigh to the tibia (shin bone). The patella should sits within a groove (trochlea) at the end of the thigh bone (femur). As the knee bends and straightens with sitting and standing, the patella should [...]

At the end of a long ski season, I see a large number of patients with overuse injuries and conditions. Patellar tendonitis is one such common condition seen in our athletic population. Common sports associated with this condition is skiing, basketball, volleyball,  gymnastics, or sports where there is a lot of jumping and landing. Another [...]

This past winter, I saw a large number of ACL tears. Anatomic ACL reconstruction surgery of the knee has been shown to improve knee kinematics, slow the progression of osteoarthritis in the knee, and allow athletes to return to sports without further giving way episodes of the knee. The risk of repeat injury to [...]

Dr. Cunningham contributed his insight in this recent article published in Summit Daily on kneehab and post-injury physician therapy. Link to Full Article: KneeHab: Why post-injury physical therapy is never optional, from torn ACL to sprained ankle