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Posted By Vernon B. Williams, MD
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16-Oct-2017
You twist your ankle, cut your finger, slip and fall, or suddenly experience more severe pain in your back, chest or abdomen that sends you to the emergency room. When you feel that pain, your brain is trying to tell you something. Some kind of tissue injury has occurred. Without proper attention, rest or further treatment, things could get worse. In this case, pain, although uncomfortable, is a ...
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Posted By Vernon B. Williams, MD
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13-Oct-2017
“Right now, for the overwhelming majority of people and the overwhelming majority of time, a concussion is a clinical diagnosis,” said Dr. Vernon Williams, a sports neurologist and director of the Kerlan-Jobe Center for Sports Neurology and Pain Medicine at Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles. “We make the diagnosis based on the signs and symptoms along with the ...
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Posted By Vernon B. Williams, MD
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2-Oct-2017
Why is consistency in the NFL or any other sport at any level so elusive, even when a team appears to have the personnel to avoid a sudden dip? The simple answer: Human nature allows for accepting pats on the back and reveling of a win. In turn, that can impact the approach for the next game and change the result. That was coach Doug Marrone’s challenge this week, beginning with ...
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Posted By Vernon B. Williams, MD
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25-Sep-2017
Both Mays and Dr. Vernon Williams, sports neurologist and director of the Kerlan-Jobe Center for Sports Neurology and Pain Medicine in Los Angeles and a consulting team physician for the Rams, suggested Kizer may have been affected without realizing it. They described the "postdrome phase" of a migraine, where the headache is gone, but performance is still impacted. The Browns declined a ...
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Posted By Vernon B. Williams, MD
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12-Sep-2017
There’s a lot experts still don’t know about fibromyalgia. For starters, no one knows why the condition affects more women than men, Dr. Rosick says, adding that it may simply be hormonal. Experts aren’t even sure what causes fibromyalgia in the first place, but Vernon Williams, M.D., a sports neurologist and director of the Kerlan-Jobe Center for Sports Neurology and Pain ...
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Posted By Vernon B. Williams, MD
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24-Aug-2017
You might have sleep apnea. Sleep apnea, a potentially serious condition that causes people to repeatedly stop breathing during their sleep, can cause you to wake up with a headache. The headache is due to lack of oxygen and increased pressure that can develop in your head due to the condition, Vernon Williams, M.D., sports neurologist and director of the Kerlan-Jobe Center for Sports Neurology ...
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Posted By Vernon B. Williams, MD
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22-Aug-2017
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Electrotherapy and acupuncture are associated with reduced and delayed opioid use after total knee arthroplasty, although more-robust evidence for these and other nonpharmacologic interventions is needed, researchers say. Dr. Vernon Williams, director of the Kerlan-Jobe Center for Sports Neurology and Pain Medicine at Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles, ...
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Posted By Vernon B. Williams, MD
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3-Aug-2017
In hopes of providing some semblance of privacy on a busy sideline, the NFL will use on-field tents this season to serve as examination rooms for players who might be concussed. A small, collapsible tent will be positioned behind each team’s bench for games, starting with the Hall of Fame Game on Thursday night between Arizona and Dallas. The tent will be positioned around an examination ...
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Posted By Vernon B. Williams, MD
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17-Jul-2017
Until very recently, the widespread recommendation by the medical community to patients who had suffered a concussion was simple and straightforward: rest, rest and more rest. The trauma that the brain sustains during a concussion can be from linear forces (like when the brain is forcefully pushed up against the hard ridges and walls of the skull), or from rotational forces (like when a ...
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Posted By Vernon B. Williams, MD
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12-Jul-2017
Quinn in the confidence of his teachings, is of the Seattle Seahawks school of thinking as their former defensive coordinator, who also use similar teaching techniques when able to be hands-on with their players. It shows that this rugby tackling isn't an entirely new concept in the NFL. This method only needs to take firm hold in implementation in a conservative league. Dr. Vernon Williams, ...
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Posted By Vernon B. Williams, MD
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12-Jul-2017
Floyd suffered two concussions over a span of 34 days last season. It took him two months to recover from the second one. Both occurred in head-down collisions with a teammate. Floyd has spent a lot of time this offseason working on his tackling and getting his head out of the way, according to The Chicago Tribune. “I agree with that and everything that we can do to minimize the risk and ...
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Posted By Vernon B. Williams, MD
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7-Jul-2017
It is estimated that traumatic brain injuries (TBI) affect nearly 1.7 million people annually in the United States.1 The most commonly reported complaint associated with TBI is headache, which can result from mild, moderate, or severe injury. The International Headache Society defines post-traumatic headache (PTH) as one that develops within 7 days following TBI or after regaining consciousness ...
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Posted By Vernon B. Williams, MD
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6-Jul-2017
Over the last few decades, the prevalence of narcotic painkiller (also referred to as opioids) use in the United States has skyrocketed. This class of medications suppresses the body’s perception of pain by blocking signals between the brain and the nervous system. In the past, usage of opioids for pain relief was mostly limited to short-term instances of severe pain, such as during the ...
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Posted By Vernon B. Williams, MD
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28-Jun-2017
Former Georgia standout Leonard Floyd, who’s from Eastman, suffered two concussions during his rookie season and told the Chicago media after a recent minicamp practice that it took two months to recover from the second concussion. “The fact that it took two months is a little unusual, but we also know that there are a lot of variabilities from person to person,” said Dr. Vernon ...
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Posted By Vernon B. Williams, MD
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19-May-2017
Common Triggers for Migraines But not everyone has the same triggers, says Dr. Vernon Williams, a neurologist and founding director of the Kerlan-Jobe Center for Sports Neurology at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles. Triggers can be difficult to identify. For instance, you can come in contact with a trigger as much as 48 hours before your migraine, a trigger might not lead to a ...
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Posted By Vernon B. Williams, MD
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11-May-2017
Believe it or not, 38 million Americans suffer from regular migraines, and many don’t even know it. Yes, the debilitating side effects of a migraine can knock sufferers off their feet and leave them pleading for relief, as the pulsing and throbbing continues from several hours up to several days in some of the most severe cases. But for others, the headache pain associated with their ...
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Posted By Vernon B. Williams, MD
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21-Apr-2017
There are really, really bad headaches and then there are migraines. As a lifelong migraine sufferer, I know a migraine is in my future because my body gives me advance warning in the form of a dull headache the day before and bouts of blurred vision, which are known as "aura." According to Dr. Vernon Williams, a neurologist and director of the Kerlan-Jobe Center for Sports Neurology and ...
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Posted By Vernon B. Williams, MD
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3-Apr-2017
"Dr. Williams, would you let your son play football?" Over the course of a 20-year career as a sports neurologist, that question is one of the most frequently asked by patients, friends who are parents of young athletes and the public in general. Early in my career, the question was related to the risk of musculoskeletal and spine injury. Aware of the risk of fractures, bruises and other ...
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Posted By Vernon B. Williams, MD
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27-Mar-2017
The wide range of etiologies underlying neuropathic pain render this modality a particularly challenging condition to manage. In addition, most available treatment options have limited efficacy. As the population ages, and as both the incidence of diabetes and the survival rates after chemotherapy treatment increase, the number of patients with neuropathic pain is expected to rise, according to a ...
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Posted By Vernon B. Williams, MD
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13-Mar-2017
Amitriptyline The antidepressant amitriptyline is also used to prevent and help reduce the frequency of migraines, says Dr. Vernon Williams, director of the Kerlan-Jobe Center for Sports Neurology and Pain Medicine at Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic in Los Angeles. Some physicians prescribe it off-label for people who have difficulty sleeping, too, he says. It can cause such side effects as ...
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Posted By Vernon B. Williams, MD
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6-Mar-2017
Concussion Controversy: Who Should Have the Final Say? Deciding on a kid's 'return to play' is a serious medical move, but some parents and coaches are weighing in by Carleen Wild | Updated 06 Mar 2017 at 1:22 PM How much of a say should parents have about whether their child goes back into a game after suffering a concussion? The debate is making its way through the North Carolina ...
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Posted By Vernon B. Williams, MD
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2-Mar-2017
Concussions are among the most common – and potentially dangerous – injuries seen in sports medicine. Part of the danger surrounding them is the abundance of misinformation spread by word of mouth among the athletic population, plus false information that’s readily available and shared on the Internet. Education is the best shield to protect from what can be lasting and lingering ...
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Posted By Vernon B. Williams, MD
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22-Feb-2017
His mother and grandfather had the condition as well. Mark Westwood / Getty Images David Cassidy, star of the hit 1970s musical-sitcom The Partridge Family, revealed sad news on Monday: He’s battling dementia. The singer/actor disclosed that he has the disease, which causes a person to lose their memory, after reportedly struggling through a performance in Agoura Hills, California, on ...
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Posted By Vernon B. Williams, MD
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6-Feb-2017
Although gender equality in sports continues its steady progression, there is 1 area that appears to be linked with disparity of a different sort: A growing body of research suggests that compared with male athletes, female athletes at both the high school and collegiate levels have a higher risk for concussion and worse related outcomes. "There is an increased frequency of concussion among ...
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Posted By Vernon B. Williams, MD
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28-Jan-2017
When it comes to neurological health, people often consider it in terms of what to fix when things go wrong. From concussion to chronic pain conditions, many still believe that brain health is only something that can be repaired once its damaged and not something that can actually be enhanced. But the truth my friends is that you CAN and should make enhanced brain health a focus in your life. Not ...
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