In the span of two days, two starting quarterbacks suffered significant joint injuries. Washington’s Jayden Daniels dislocated his left elbow against Dallas on September 20. New York’s Jaxson Dart injured his left knee when two defenders hit him against Los Angeles on September 21. Neither returned to his game. [1–3] The difference between a short absence and a prolonged recovery will depend on the anatomy of the injury and the stability of the joint. Below is the orthopedic reasoning behind...

By Dr. Sarang Desai — Fellowship-Trained Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Surgeon Sports Medicine | McKinney and Flower Mound, Texas If you play or coach on turf, you've probably heard players say "turf beats up your body." As a foot and ankle surgeon who takes care of athletes, here's the honest version of what the research shows. Overall injury rates on modern turf and grass are pretty similar. But when you zoom in on the foot and ankle specifically, the picture changes: artificial turf is the...

By Dr. Sarang Desai | Orthopedic Surgeon, Fellowship-Trained in Foot & Ankle | Sports MedicineMcKinney and Flower Mound, Texas Barefoot running has been promoted as a return to “natural” movement—a way to improve technique, strengthen the foot and prevent the injuries supposedly caused by modern running shoes. Others portray it as a direct path to Achilles tendinopathy and metatarsal stress fractures. The science supports neither extreme. Running barefoot changes biomechanics, but it does not...