About Glendale Sports Scan

Your own exam decides your care

A page can't test your strength or motion. It can't feel swelling or see skin color. General advice also can't tell whether an old scan finding causes today's soreness. That's why your doctor must examine the joint.

Urgent symptoms need care, not more reading.

Get prompt help for a bent joint or pale foot. New numbness also can't wait. Fever with a hot joint needs fast care. For steady soreness, use the site to plan what you'll tell your doctor.

The ownership note helps you weigh the advice

The clinic owners also run this publication. A booking may benefit their business. You'll see the ownership note on every page. Keep that in mind when reading about clinic care.

The site can't choose a treatment for you.

Ask what your exam showed and why an option fits. Ask what it involves and what could go wrong. You can also ask what happens if you wait. A clear answer should connect care to your soreness and daily movement.

Sources

1. This review of imaging in tendinopathy makes the central point that there is NO direct link between tendon structural disorganisation on ultrasound or MRI and clinical symptoms, so imaging findings can create a confusing clinical picture rather than clarify it. It also examines whether imaging predicts onset of pain or clinical outcome, and whether tendon structure has to improve for the patient to get better.

   Docking SI, et al. — Tendinopathy: Is Imaging Telling Us the Entire Story?. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther, 2015. DOI: 10.2519/jospt.2015.5880.

2. Fifty-one people aged 40-70 with NO shoulder symptoms in either shoulder had one shoulder scanned by ultrasound. Abnormalities were found in 96% of them: subacromial-subdeltoid bursal thickening in 78%, acromioclavicular osteoarthritis in 65%, supraspinatus tendinosis in 39%, subscapularis tendinosis in 25% and a partial-thickness bursal-side supraspinatus tear in 22%.

   Girish G, et al. — Ultrasound of the shoulder: asymptomatic findings in men.. AJR Am J Roentgenol, 2011. DOI: 10.2214/AJR.11.6971.

3. A meta-analysis of 63 studies covering 5,397 knees of asymptomatic, uninjured adults found cartilage defects in 24% overall and meniscal tears in 10%, rising sharply with age: cartilage defects in 11% of adults under 40 and 43% of those 40 and over; meniscal tears in 4% under 40 and 19% at 40 and over. Bone marrow lesions were present in 18% and osteophytes in 25%.

   Culvenor AG, et al. — Prevalence of knee osteoarthritis features on magnetic resonance imaging in asymptomatic uninjured adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.. Br J Sports Med, 2019. DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2018-099257.

4. Across 516 hamstring injuries in 23 European professional football teams, 58% were imaged. Lay-off time tracked radiological grade closely: 8, 17, 22 and 73 days for grades 0 to 3. But 70% of the injuries were grade 0 or 1 - meaning NO fibre disruption visible on MRI - and those grades accounted for 56% of all days lost. Reinjuries were 16% of injuries and every single one was in the biceps femoris.

   Ekstrand J, et al. — Hamstring muscle injuries in professional football: the correlation of MRI findings with return to play.. Br J Sports Med, 2012. DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2011-090155.

5. The American Medical Society for Sports Medicine's position statement on regenerative medicine exists precisely because the field has 'produced widely varying opinions' and because regulators, clinicians, scientists, patient advocacy organisations and the media have raised concern about how these products are used. It sets out terminology, the basic science and clinical evidence for orthobiologics, regulatory considerations, and best practices for introducing them responsibly - describing the evidence as growing that CERTAIN products are safe and potentially efficacious, not as settled.

   Finnoff JT, et al. — American Medical Society for Sports Medicine Position Statement: Principles for the Responsible Use of Regenerative Medicine in Sports Medicine.. Clin J Sport Med, 2021. DOI: 10.1097/JSM.0000000000000973.