Knee surgery, or not
Orthopaedic surgeon Dr Lerato Dlamini joins Thabo to discuss meniscus tears, ACL injuries and arthritis, and to explain honestly which knees need an operation and which do better with rehab.
Your back is not fragile
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Show notes
Lower back pain in the first week
Most acute back pain settles within six weeks whatever you do, but what you do in the first few days decides how miserable those weeks are. Thabo explains the modern view of back pain, why scans often cause more fear than clarity, and the movements he prescribes on day one.
- Why the back is built to bend and load, not to be protected
- The three movements for the first 72 hours
- Red flags that mean go to a doctor today
- Why an MRI showing a bulge is often meaningless
- Returning to lifting, running and gardening without fear
Next week, a knee surgeon on when to operate and when not to.
Transcript
Sawubona and welcome to The Rehab Room. I am Thabo Mokoena, I am a physiotherapist in Johannesburg, and this is the show where we talk honestly about injuries and how to get past them. Today we are starting with the thing that brings more people through my door than anything else, which is a lower back that has suddenly seized up. Lifting a child, moving a couch, bending to tie a shoe. If that is you right now, listen carefully, because the advice you were probably given, lie flat and wait, is the worst thing you can do. We will go through what is really happening, three gentle movements for the first three days, the warning signs that do need a doctor, and why your scan result might be scaring you for no reason. You are listening on Witspeak Podcasts.
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