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. Every Fourth of July, emergency rooms across the country see the same predictable pattern: burns, lacerations, eye injuries, and devastating hand trauma from fireworks that were only supposed to provide a few seconds of entertainment. The frustrating part is that many of these injuries are entirely preventable. This article covers the most common mistakes people make around fireworks, the injuries hand surgeons see year...

SUBSCRIBE | SHOP | ARCHIVE Written by Dr. Nick Golinvaux Good morning. At some point, many people with carpal tunnel syndrome find themselves standing at the same crossroads. The brace helped a little. The numbness keeps coming back. Surgery sounds intimidating. And someone mentions a cortisone injection. Now what? This article breaks down what carpal tunnel injections actually do, how long they tend to work, who benefits the most, and why the decision is often less straightforward than...

SUBSCRIBE | SHOP | ARCHIVE Written by Dr. Nick Golinvaux Good morning. Most patients have no idea they're using their thumbs incorrectly. In fact, once I show patients a better way to pinch and grip objects, they often realize they've been putting unnecessary stress on one of the most important joints in their hand for decades. This article walks through a simple adjustment that can help protect your thumb, improve function, and potentially delay the development of arthritis. Read It Here ↗...

SUBSCRIBE | SHOP | ARCHIVE Written by Dr. Nick Golinvaux Good morning. Almost everyone has jammed a finger at some point — basketball, football, catching a ball wrong, slipping on the stairs, even just an awkward grab at the wrong angle. The problem is that a “jammed finger” isn’t actually a diagnosis. Sometimes it’s a simple sprain that improves quickly. Other times it’s a fracture, tendon injury, or joint problem that becomes much harder to fix if ignored too long. This article walks...

SUBSCRIBE | SHOP | ARCHIVE Written by Dr. Nick Golinvaux Good morning. Most musculoskeletal injuries don’t come out of nowhere. Even when it feels sudden — the painful shoulder after one throw, the tendon that “randomly” flares up, the back that goes out reaching for a laundry basket — the groundwork was often being laid quietly for weeks, months, or even years beforehand. This article breaks down the major forces that slowly push our tissues toward injury and, more importantly, what you can...

SUBSCRIBE | SHOP | ARCHIVE Written by Dr. Nick Golinvaux Good morning. Arthritis has a frustrating way of making people feel trapped. Stiff in the morning. Achy after activity. Unsure whether movement helps or hurts. This article breaks down the home strategies that actually make a difference — from heat and movement to bracing and activity modification — while also explaining which “miracle fixes” tend to disappoint. If you’re trying to stay active without constantly fighting your joints,...

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...