Sports Medicine on Tap

We welcome the newest member of the Virtua/Reconstructive sports team, Dr. David Webner, MD. Dr. Webner is currently the team physician for the Philadelphia Union MLS soccer team and joins us to discuss a fairly rare but potentially catastrophic issue for athletes, deep vein thrombosis. We discuss exactly what a DVT is and why it is so dangerous. Dr. Webner explains why people get these and why, in particular, athletes like Victor Wembanyama and Damian Lillard, can be predisposed. An exceedingly helpful and insightful discussion about an important topic for all sports related medical professionals.

Aaaaaannd we're back! After a little layoff, Brandon and Steve do a multi-injury show and cover a variety of injuries and 2025 expectations for multiple all-star players, coming back from injury shortened seasons in 2024 including Ohtani, Acuna, deGrom and many more!

It only took 117 episodes, but we welcome back Dr. Christopher Haydel, trauma specialist, to talk about two long bone fractures both on the Lions. We discuss some of the differences in treatment between upper extremity and lower extremity. What needs surgery and what doesn't. Will these guys be back, and just as good next year, for the Lions to make another run?

The Eagles are going back to the Super Bowl and the most tenured player in Eagles history, Brandon Graham, is trying to do the impossible! Why this might be possible? This area is buzzing! We do our Super Bowl preview and discuss all relevant injuries. Do YOU think Graham will play??

After our longest hiatus, we were return to talk about a potentially career altering injury to one the best line backers, the rest of the country doesn't know about, a patellar tendon tear for Nakobe Dean, linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles. Additionally, we cover multiple playoff significant injuries, going into the weekend!

McCaffrey is beginning to compete with Embiid for the most talked about athlete on the show! Which is not good news for him or McCaffrey owners.... We talk about PCL injuries and how they are different from ACL injuries. We discuss why his does not need surgery, and will we see him again this year, in addition to a sprinkling of some other topics and injuries.

A big hit to the Philadelphia Iggles, the most tenured player in their history sustains a triceps tendon tear. We discuss this injury and the outlook for this local star. Plus, our Brandon has a big announcement!

"Brian behind the bar" gets in front of the mic, and snaps a selfie! A fun round up show in which we cover Dak's hamstring injury and why he needs surgery, Trevor Lawrence's AC joint separation as well as iliac wing fractures, and more!

Too many great topics to just talk about one!! We are on the other side of some big injuries to Nick Chubb and Lonzo Ball, discussing their respective return to sports. We also cover a bunch of relevant new injuries, that you are going to need to know about.

Dr. Marc Harwood is already back on the show to discuss this life threatening condition. Rhabdomyolysis can be easily confused with much more benign issues such as dehydration and delayed onset muscle soreness, but rhabdo has a few key distinguishing features. We discuss this crazy situation with the Tufts lacrosse team and give some insight on how to recognize and treat this serious condition.

Rashee Rice has been one of the best wide receivers in the NFL this year, however, that may have just ended. We have some insight into what having surgery so early may indicate. Also, how might this impact his career? Isolated LCL injuries are not common, what will this mean for Rice?

We welcome our new doc, Marc Harwood, MD, to SMOT and Virtua to do an excellent and long overdue show on concussions. We all saw Tua take a moderately hard hit and wind up with another concussion and posturing. We discuss what this might mean for him as well as anticipated treatments and timelines. We review some of the preventative measures football has already taken including helmets, caps and collars and how effective these measures might be.

We welcome first time guest, Achilles tendinopathy specialist, Dr. Shawn Hanlon from Cal State Fullerton, to discuss the evolving injury which has kept one of the best players in the game sidelined. Learn everything you need to know about Christian McCaffery's injury, the first pick in just about every single fantasy football draft, from one of the premiere experts in the field.

It is that time of the year!! Get critical information for your fantasy football draft by learning about the injuries of multiple key players. Adjust draft stock accordingly for players such as Christian McCaffrey, Puca Nacua and many others!

We brought back Dr. Brad Bernardini to talk about the fairly rare, and potentially fatal injury, sternoclavicular dislocation. The mood is light and fun although we are talking about a serious injury. Learn the difference and significance of anterior vs posterior dislocations. What does this mean for Hollywood Brown?

We welcome a new guest, physical therapist, Samantha Arnold, specialist in treating gymnasts, to discuss some of the events of the Olympics, especially the gymnastic injuries. Naturally, the majority of the conversation surrounds the greatest there ever was, Simone Biles, but we discuss gymnastic specific injuries as well.

We welcome back Matthew Puc, MD, a thoracic surgeon for Virtua Hospital System, to discuss the incredibly serious and unusual injury which ended Dustin May's season. We also dabble in another weird "injury", Christian Barmore, a good young defensive tackle for the Patriots also had his season end, before it began, just after signing a huge contract because of blood clots...

Brandon and Steve do a little recap on the Argentina/Colombia finals and Messi's ankle injury. We then delve into multiple NFL injuries from last year, and what impact they may have on key players going into this season. Our first football round up of the season!

We welcome to the show, the head athletic trainer for Temple University Football, Dr. Zac White, to discuss many of the responsibilities of being a head athletic trainer for a division I, college football programing. Most interesting we discuss implications of the recent dramatic rule change from the NCAA to remove cannabis from the banned substance list.

We take advantage of the opportunity to discuss a pretty unusual injury to Kristaps Porzingis, a dislocation of the posterior tibial tendon due to a medial retinacular tear. We discuss the symptoms, the mechanism, the treatment, and future outlook for his career. We also touch on multiple other current injuries impacting the sporting world.

We welcome Dr. JoAnne Bullard, practicing psychologist and Assistant Professor at Rowan University in the Department of Health and Exercise Science. We discuss the very difficult topic of Grayson Murray, a successful PGA golfer who suffered from mental health disease and recently took his own life. We try to identify thought processes, warning signs, ways to offer help and resources for those sports professionals who may have a chance to intervene and help a struggling athlete. We also take an early look at the upcoming olympics and how athletes deal with those pressures!

A really interesting show about the some of the dynamics and inner workings of a sports medicine program and what happens when those lines get blurred and those relationships break down, even in a place like Happy Valley. How common and widespread is this. What are some of the unintended consequences, the collateral damage?

We open by recapping some Memorial Day adventures, then get into our topic, Ronald Acuna Jr and a torn ACL. What is interesting here, other than one of the best players on the planet getting injured, is that he tore his ACL in his other knee in 2021. Additionally, he "sprained" the ACL in this knee 2018. Can these all be related....

We welcome back, hand specialist Dr. Brian George, to talk about some impactful injuries. How might the forearm fracture Wilson Contreras suffered during catcher interference, change baseball? Will Joe Burrow ever be he same and what is this weird injury? What happened to Christian Encarnacion-Strand's wrist?

As we crest the century club, we welcome back Dr. Bob Greenleaf, spine surgeon to discuss some recent cervical spine injuries including an uplifting story about Laiatu Latu who was just drafted #15 in the NFL draft. Dr. Greenleaf sits on the board of the Adam Taliaferro foundation and discusses some of great things this amazing organization does.

We welcome a new face, Dr. Antonio Loccisano, to our milestone episode to talk about Joel Embiid (again) and Bell's Palsy. We also bring back many of our regular docs to celebrate episode 100 and review multiple impactful injuries for the remaining NBA playoffs!

Our 99th episode corresponds perfectly with the beginning of the NBA playoffs! The obvious approach was to cover the injuries of the most impactful players and give some insight on when they may be back and what to expect. Embiid, Giannis, Harden, Kawhi and many others. Who gets back, who doesn't. Also, the best team you don't even know about OKC!

After a short hiatus, Brandon and Steve return for an informal show focusing on multiple topics including the current rash of UCL injuries in MLB and they explore some possible causes including pitch clock. They do a little NCAA wrap up and discuss the new NFL kickoff format as well as the ironic timing of a serious injury in the UFL.

We have Kevin Biles, Athletic trainer Delsea and past president for The Athletic Trainers' Society of New Jersey joins the show with Dr. Brad Bernardini. We review some aspects of being a high school ATC and also discuss some impactful NCAA injuries.

Episode 97.mp3 by Steven Frey

Ethan Kreiswirth, PhD, ATC joins us from southern California to tell us about his company, "Black Belt Sports Medicine." He is an athletic trainer, and competitive Brazillian jiu jitsu athlete who started a company that provides ATC's to support Brazillian jiu jitsu tournaments nationwide! We learn some really interesting reasons why being an ATC in California is different than most other states. Just how much more can an ATC's in Cali do? We also learn about some jiu jitsu specific injuries!

We depart from the standard format agian to welcome world champion rower Matthew Guerrieri to the show. Matt won gold in the "lead sled", the paired coxed boat, at the world championships in Zagreb, Croatia. We delve into this alluring sport and an unusual injury essentially only seen in rowing.

We welcome first time guest, sports medicine doc, McKensie Wahl, MD to talk about Dre Greenlaw and his achilles tendon tear. The conversation evolves into a discussion on the good the bad and the ugly regarding Cortisone injections and ultra sound guided injections.

In true Groundhog Day fashion, we are talking about Joel Embiid's knee for the second show in a row!! Kevin O'Donnell, MD joins us again and this time we are talking about the surgery they were hoping to avoid. This is the second surgery on this knee with some confusing signals from the team, we dissect what all of this might mean, over a couple of Frank's amazing brews!!

Brandon and Dr. Frey go back to the well and talk about another Joel Embiid injury! We recorded Tuesday night, before he tried to come back, only to hurt the same knee again... We also talk about New York Knicks All-Star, Julius Randle, and what a shoulder dislocation could mean for him this year and beyond!

We welcome back owner and master brewer at Neck of the Woods, Frank Price. We learn about some beer and talk about one or two major injuries from each time still in the playoffs. Deebo Samuel is the biggest name on the list. Also discussed, Joe Thuney, Marlon Humphrey, Jonah Jackson, and others!

We welcome to the show, our new sports medicine physician at Virtua Reconstructive Orthopedics, Kevin O'Donnell, MD. Kevin is an experienced orthopedic sports medicine trained surgeon who just moved back home from Miami. Along with Dr. Bernardini, we created a really fun show discussing some of the more impactful injuries heading into the NFL playoffs. Gain some insight into the impact of some ill-timed injuries, to the most prominent players!

Lonzo Ball is trying to do something that has not been successfully accomplished by too many athletes, return to the NBA after surgery addressing cartilage defects. We talk about some of the options and his chances of making it back. We also discuss the impactful injury to the potential NFL MVP as the playoffs approach!

We welcome back Dr. Matthew Brant to discuss the possible Christmas eve miracle a return to the grid iron would represent for Aaron Rodgers. Is this in anyway possible or is it just unrealistic expectations? We also review high ankle sprains, Trevor Lawrence and Kenny Pickett. What is the tightrope procedure and why did Pickett need it, while Lawrence did not.

We were honored to have Kevin Gehsmann, CEO and Co-founder of the exciting start up PROTECT3D, fly up from Durham and join us for a show. He introduces us to his disrupting technology, which is bound to change the future of bracing and orthotics. A great episode that is even better on our YouTube channel, to really be able to see what PROTECT3D has to offer!

We welcome back Jason Kopec, ATC! One of the co-creators and original host, this is the first time we have been able to get Jason back on. This winds up being a fun show, covering multiple topics. We get updates from Jason at West Chester University, and what it is like practicing as an athletic trainer in different work settings as well as starting a new podcast. Naturally, we also talk about some prominent injuries from this past weekend of football. Open fracture vs. open dislocation is just one of the topics!

From the Virtua Health System, we welcome thoracic surgeon, Matthew Puc, MD to talk about an unusual injury sustained by NBA basketball player, CJ McCollum. This is his second time having this issue and that could portend more significant intervention. How might this impact him this year? What about his career going forward? We also discuss the emergent variant, tension pneumothorax.

We welcome back one of our regulars, Dr. John Jennings, to talk about forearm fractures, the injury sustained by Philadelphia Eagle tight end, Dallas Goedert. Estimated down time seems surprisingly short. That approach did not work out well for Gronk... Is it the best idea? What she we expect for this critical player on the best team in football?

Twice is a trend! We welcome another MLS Athletic Trainer to our show, Scott Armistead, to discuss his role as an athletic trainer for a professional soccer team. Born in New Zealand, he had an unconventional route to the MLS. We discussed some the organizational structure and multidisciplinary approach utilized by FC Cincinnati to collect data and keep athletes healthy and performing at their best!

We welcome back Frank Price, master brewer at "Neck of the Woods" and we talk about the recent burst of hihg scoring fantasy football players going on IR plus a ton of information about beer and some of the impactful stories behind the beers. For the first time ever, we went live on Youtube with this one!

We have a great topic that we have not previously covered, distal biceps tendon tears. Matthew Judon, standout linebacker for the patriots, sustained this injury so we talk about how to diagnose and treat this injury as well as what it could mean for Judon going forward.

We welcome back Dr. Jeff Murray to talk about Nick Chubb's knee injury. Reported as an isolated MCL injury but could that really be the case? Can he back to play this year? Ever? We also talk a little about Derek Carr and AC joint injuries as well as Joe Burrow and calf injuries.

The obvious topic this week is Achilles tendon tear! Football is in full swing and it didn't take long to get some major injuries. We have talked about this injury in the past but this one may have had a precursor!! Also, at 39 years old, we discuss what this could mean for this future HOF quarterback!

we recap some of the major injuries from multiple players from last season and how it could impact this coming season.

As Mike Trout gets ready to return, we are releasing a previously recorded episode regarding his injury, a hook of the hamate fracture. We bring back Dr. Jennings, a hand specialist, to describe this injury and some of the problems often associated with it. He also describes the unusual treatment and why it makes sense for this injury. Lastly, Dr. Jennings indicates how this may impact a potential HOF career for Trout.

Pro Bowl center, Ryan Jensen sustained a potential career ending multiligament knee injury, but was able to get back to play in the same season without even undergoing surgery.... how? We discuss and dissect what was special about this injury and the unusual approach to treatment.