Talking foot and ankle injuries & treatments with NY’s finest – Dr James McWilliam MD
It was fantastic to welcome New York’s finest, Dr James ‘Jim’ McWilliam foot and ankle surgeon to Scotland recently to our InternalBrace 10-year celebration. While he was here we took the opportunity to record a podcast episode in which we talked not only about his work in collaboration on the InternaBrace with Prof Mackay but also about his practice in general and some of the sports injuries he sees and treats.
Unique sports injuries podcast hosted by expert, specialist sports orthopaedic surgeon, Professor Gordon Mackay, and broadcaster Jennifer Reoch who asks the questions you all want answers to! Together they explore the world of sport, injuries, treatments, rehab, and recovery.
We have amazing guests who range from Olympians to weekend warriors in all sporting disciplines- from football to skiing, golf to rugby, we learn how they managed their injuries and recoveries and discover what impact this had on their sporting careers. But we also love to chat about their sporting careers and highlights.
In other episodes, experts in fields of sports medicine and rehab join us to discuss how advances in research, technology and treatments are helping athletes both avoid injury or accelerate recovery.
Conversations range from the light-hearted to the more serious and along the way it is hoped listeners pick up tips about how to deal with your own sports injuries, how to avoid injury, and just enjoy the general sports chat.
In our latest episode, we have the privilege of chatting with a young cross-country mountain bike champion who has the world at his wheels! Just 22, Charlie Aldridge first rode to victory in 2019 becoming Junior World Champion, and three years later claimed the prestigious title of British National Champion.
But his recent achievement is his biggest win to date – becoming the 2023, U23 World Champion – a victory made even sweeter as it was won on home turf in Scotland. Of course, it's such a high-octane sport he has already faced some injury hurdles along the way, sometimes battling more than just his competitors!
So far he has batted off a serious posterior shoulder dislocation, a broken collarbone, and a savage cut to a knee that would have had most of us calling for help – not Charlie he just cycled home! We talk to him about these injuries and his treatments and it's fascinating to hear his take on tackling recovery.
Prof Mack met Charlie when his shoulder insisted on popping out following his dislocation and he explains a little more about why a posterior shoulder dislocation can be trickier to treat than the more common anterior dislocation.
So join us as we unravel Charlie's incredible journey so far and look ahead, we all hope, to Olympic glory. Jennifer and Gordon find out more about the disciplines within the world of competitive mountain biking and Charlie has top tips for anyone wanting to take up the sport.
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We chat over his current thinking on treatments for everything from ankle sprains to achilles ruptures and the common but painful complaint – plantar fasciitis. Jim explains why new innovations, including the InternalBrace, mean he is able to offer advanced surgical solutions for ankle and achilles injuries rather than falling back on more conservative traditional treatments which can often leave athletes with permanently weak tendons and ligaments and many patients surprisingly disabled 10 years on.
He also has some great self-help tips for plantar fascitis sufferers and on ways to avoid Achilles injury in the first place.
Have a listen – it’s a short and sweet episode but packed with lots of great info.