Better Health. At Your Fingertips.

NICK GOLINVAUX, MD March 9, 2024 Hi Reader, How is your week going? So far, I've had a productive one: I learned that Taylor Swift and poet Emily Dickinson are related. I accepted a generous invitation to be on an upcoming episode of an orthopedic surgery podcast (more details soon!). Due to popular demand, I wrote about upper extremity safety in the gym. If you workout regularly, you've surely had a hand or upper extremity twinge from time to time. It can be difficult to know...was that just...

SUBSCRIBE | SHOP | ARCHIVE Written by Dr. Nick Golinvaux Good morning. As time passes, I have found it's far easier to weather discomfort if I understand the why behind what is happening. In fact, I often think that might be the primary driver of anxiety in my clinic. Once patients understand their condition, many are perfectly fine living with it.Which brings me to today's article. Why can't you eat the night before surgery? That midnight cutoff for food before surgery isn't just another...

SUBSCRIBE | SHOP | ARCHIVE Written by Dr. Nick Golinvaux Good morning. Some injuries are obvious the moment they happen. This isn’t one of them. A hook of hamate fracture is a small break in your wrist that can quietly linger for weeks — often dismissed as a simple sprain — while slowly sabotaging your grip strength and performance. This article breaks down how it happens, why athletes are especially at risk, and the key signs that mean it’s time to stop guessing and get it checked. Read It...

SUBSCRIBE | SHOP | ARCHIVE Written by Dr. Nick Golinvaux Good morning. That burning sensation in your muscles feels like something is going wrong. Like you’re pushing too far, too fast, and your body is about to tap out. But what if that burn is actually a signal that your body has shifted into a completely different gear? This week's article breaks down what’s really happening inside your muscles in that moment, why the burn shows up when it does, and how to tell the difference between...

SUBSCRIBE | SHOP | ARCHIVE Written by Dr. Nick Golinvaux Good morning. There are few injuries that announce themselves as clearly as this one. A sudden “pop,” immediate weakness, and a deep sense that something just…isn’t right in your arm. This article breaks down one of the more dramatic tendon injuries I treat — distal biceps tears — including how to recognize it, what function you actually lose, and why waiting even a few weeks can completely change your treatment options. If you’ve ever...

SUBSCRIBE | SHOP | ARCHIVE Written by Dr. Nick Golinvaux Good morning. A few weeks ago, we talked about how surgeons "force" bones to heal by compressing them together. This week flips that idea on its head. You’ll learn how broken bones can heal even when the pieces aren’t touching — why casts actually work, how surgeons decide when surgery is necessary, and how your body fills in gaps with a remarkable tissue called callus. If you’ve ever wondered why some fractures get plates, some get...

SUBSCRIBE | SHOP | ARCHIVE Written by Dr. Nick Golinvaux Good morning. There are few things more unsettling than waking up at 3 a.m. with your hand buzzing, burning, or completely numb — and wondering if this is just annoying…or something more serious. This article walks through what’s actually happening inside your wrist, why nighttime is when carpal tunnel loves to strike, and how to tell the difference between symptoms you can watch versus ones you absolutely shouldn’t ignore. If numb...

SUBSCRIBE | SHOP | ARCHIVE Written by Dr. Nick Golinvaux Good morning. Here’s a weird truth: despite how often people have orthopedic surgery, there’s no clean, official answer to the question everyone asks afterward — “When can I drive?” Not your surgeon. Not your insurance company. Not the DMV. Most of them essentially shrug. And that leaves patients doing what humans always do in a gray zone: guessing. This article explains what the research really says, why some “small” surgeries can...

SUBSCRIBE | SHOP | ARCHIVE Written by Dr. Nick Golinvaux Good morning. If you’ve ever seen an X-ray after a fracture and thought, How on earth does that actually heal? — You’re not alone. Plates, screws, compression, symmetry…to most patients, it looks more like a construction project than medicine. This article breaks down how orthopedic surgeons intentionally design stability to make bones heal faster and stronger — and why the hardware you see is doing far more than just “holding things...