No matter what type of spine surgery I discuss with patients, the most frequent question is, “If I get surgery now, won’t I just keep needing more surgery for the rest of my life?” The answer is possibly “yes”, but not why most patients think… The first concept needing belaboring is that disc degeneration is…
In 2002, a University of Wisconsin study published data on the average intelligence quotient (IQ) of various occupations. Medical doctors and natural scientists were among the top. Of course, the researchers graciously included “college professors” too. What a coincidence… However, where did the idiom, “It’s not brain surgery” originate? It may have started around the…
Most of the earth’s surface is ocean, and many major animal groups that exist today originated in the sea. Yet only 15% of animals live in the ocean, while 80% live on land. Quite a weird statistic, raising the question if aquatic animals are evolutionarily inferior? The neuroanatomy of some saltwater dwellers may actually suggest…
Foot drop is a condition in which the foot cannot elevate (dorsiflex) toward the sky. It can be on one side (unilateral) or both feet (bilateral) When muscle strength becomes less than a 3 out of 5, an abnormal gait pattern arises, due to the foot tripping on the ground. This is usually called a…
We’ve previously written a blog about “The Precision of the Surgical Knife”, highlighting the knife as one of the most useful tools in human history. The shape, size, and type of metal used in surgical knifes has evolved to match the advanced surgical needs. It partly has been the knife facilitating some surgeries previously not…
It may shock some, but the first neurological surgeries were performed at least semi-awake. As we discussed in prior blogs, Mesoamerican trephinations likely only used coca and wild tobacco. Maize beer may have limited pain. But even more, recent procedures, as modern neurosurgical techniques emerged in the late 1800s, weren’t all too different. Nitrous oxide…