Northern Michigan's News LeaderHealthy Living: Game-Changing Surgery

Everyday thousands of people are benched due to an injury. But you don't have to play through the pain any more. As Robyn Haines reports in healthy living, surgery can be a real game changer.

Millions of weekend warriors will end up at the doc's office this year. Backs, knees, shoulders, ACLs, hips-all pushed to the extreme and exhausted! Tim Acevedo was more comfortable on two wheels than two feet until the competitive cyclist was literally thrown off his game.  

Traditional suture repair failed just one week after surgery- then, Tim met Emory Sports Medicine Specialist Doctor Spero Karas, one of the only U.S. surgeons doing clavicle repair with a European device called a sub-acromial hook plate. Implanted during surgery, studies show the hook plate stabilizes the joint during healing. Three months post-op, Tim's shoulder was stable enough to remove the plate. Now, he's back on two wheels.

From avid athletes to those who work out just a few times a week, our knees take the most abuse. Traditionally, doctors would replace the entire joint. Outpatient partial knee replacement surgery is shorter and less invasive than a total knee. 

Patients are able to walk without crutches or a cane two weeks after surgery. For tennis fanatics, researchers at Stanford have developed a surgical alternative for tendinitis-using your own blood. The result: a 93 percent success rate-equal to surgery, but without the knives.