Mike Tankersley was 46years old when his son,Adam, was born nine

years ago. He quickly learned thatraising a child presents differentchallenges for older parents, particu-larly when it comes to activities.

As Adam grew, he began to playmore sports. Tankersley, who alsohas two grown daughters, wanted toparticipate in his son’s activities. Hewanted to continue to play catch,shoot a basketball and swing a golfclub, but the growing pain in hisright shoulder was holding himback.

Ultimately, he opted for shoul-der-replacement surgery at WestTennessee Bone & Joint Clinic tomaintain a more active lifestyle.

“For years, I had shoulder prob-

lems,” Tankersley said. “Astime went on, the pain in myshoulder just got increasinglyworse.”

His physician, Dr. Harold M.“Trey” Antwine III, presented a va-riety of treatment options. Dr.Antwine asked Tankersley about hisgoals for the outcome, and Tankers-ley said he wanted to be able tokeep up with his son.

Tankersley had no cartilage inhis shoulder, however, so they de-cided that surgery was the best op-tion. Dr. Antwine scheduled ashoulder-replacement procedure lastJanuary to restore the desired levelof movement and functionality toTankersley’s arm.

“My goal was to still play sportswith my 9-year-old,” Tankersley

said. “I’m not going to be aMajor League pitcher, but I canthrow a baseball adequately nowto play with my son.”

Within a few days after sur-gery, Tankersley began physicaltherapy, which required threevisits a week to the Bone & JointClinic. By the end of April, hewas making two visits a week.

“Those guys are wonderfulphysical therapists,” Tankersleysaid. “They have a positive atti-tude, and they’re there to helpyou get your mobility back.”

By May, he was finished withphysical therapy and was senthome with an exercise routine

and resistance bands to helpstrengthen the new joint. By July, hehad the mobility and strength heneeded to throw a baseball.

“It was a very big day when Iwas able to get out there and throwthe ball like I wanted to,” Tankers-ley said. “Having a child late in life,you always worry they’re going to beat a disadvantage because they haveolder parents. So, it means theworld to me to be able to play withAdam. And, I don’t feel like he’s at adisadvantage.”

Keeping you...

ActiveActive

Keeping you...Active Active … is a quarterly

newsletter from WestTennessee Bone & JointClinic. The clinic’s 11 physicians specialize insports medicine, handinjuries and disorders,and orthopedic diseasesand musculoskeletal in-juries. For copies of thisnewsletter, contactAdam Kelley, MarketingDirector, at731.661.9825.

In this issue:Strength training for children andadolescents ...

Dr. Mike Cobb volunteers …

Dr. David Johnsonto lead stateorganization …

Training for a halfmarathon…

Continued on Page 3 …Like us

on Facebook!

Shoulder-replacement sur-gery allows dad to playsports with his son

After shoulder-replacement surgery toalleviate chronic pain, Mike Tankers-ley now can play baseball, basketballand other sports with his son, Adam.

731.661.9825 n 888.661.9825 n www.wtbjc.com

Winter 2013 Sports Medicine • Orthopedic Excellence

In today’s soci-ety, sports arebecoming more and more com-

petitive. Athletes at younger andyounger ages are starting to play year-round competitive sports and trainspecifically for those sports.

Strength training is becomingmore common in sports in whichsize and strength are important. Ifdesigned and supervised properly,strength training in youth is safe andeffective, and research has shownthat it does not have adverseeffects on skeletal growthor flexibility.

The followingrecommendations forstrength training inchildren and adoles-cents are accepted bythe American Academyof Pediatrics and the lead-ing sports medicine organi-zations:

n The child needsto be 7 or 8 years ofage before startingany resistancetraining.At thisage, thechild should havethe proper balanceand postural control to safely per-form the exercises.

n Preadolescents and adolescentsshould avoid power lifting, body-building and the one-repetition max-imum lift or “maxing out” untilskeletal maturity is reached.

n Under no circumstancesshould the athlete take perform-ance-enhancing substances or ana-bolic steroids.

n Athletes should have a pre-participation exam before starting astrength-training regimen. Childrenwith congenital cardiac diseaseshould see a pediatric cardiologist be-fore any strength-training exercises.

n The programshould be a mini-

mum of eight weeks, and each sessionshould be 20 to 30 minutes long.Three times per week is believed tobe the most effective.

n Strength-training exercisesshould be learned first with no load(no resistance). Once the technique ismastered, then resistance (freeweight, machine weight, therabandsand balls) can be added. Repetitionscan also be adjusted, with higher-repetition and lower-weight exercises

as the goal. Emphasis is on propertechnique and form.

n Exercises should includethe core muscles (abdomen,gluteal muscles and lowerback) and all major musclegroups.

n Increases in weight should beintroduced slowly in increments of 5to 10 percent.

n The program should include a10- to 15-minute warm-up and cooldown.

n Athletes should have adequatefluid intake and proper nutrition,both of which are important in main-taining muscle energy stores, recoveryand overall performance.

n Close supervision by a qualifiedinstructor is critical for safety.

If these guidelines are followed,then strength training in this agegroup can be safe, effective, healthproducing and enjoyable.

Guidelines on healthy strength training for children and adolescents

Test your knowledge aboutstrength training for young ath-

letes

Are the statements, below, Fact or Fiction?

Statements1) Strength training is for adults only and should never beused in children under the age of 13.

2) It is important to include warm up and cool down ac-tivities with each strength workout.

3) To be effective, kidsshould do strength trainingon most if not all days of theweek.

4) Children should not attempt maximal lifting.

5) The safest method for strength training in children isthe use of weight machines.

Answers1) Fiction: With appropriate instruction and supervision,strength training has many benefits in children, includingimproved bone-mineral density, stronger ligaments and ten-dons, help in maintaining a healthy weight and an im-proved attitude about lifelong fitness.

2) Fact: A few minutes of stretching and aerobic activityhelps warm up the muscles and reduce risk of injury.

3) Fiction: Two to three strength workouts per week areplenty for your child to reap the benefits. These workoutsshould not be performed on consecutive days so that mus-cles have sufficient time to rest.

4) Fact: The goal of strength training in young athletes isnot to bulk up. It is to promote a healthy body. Do not putemphasis on how much weight your child can lift. He orshe should be able to complete 10 to 15 repetitions of an ex-ercise without pain or undue strain.

5) Fiction: Most weight machines are designed for adultbodies. Use other forms of resistance, such as body weight,elastic bands, medicine balls or light free weights. Focuson correct technique and form to minimize risk of injury.

By Jesse Gatlin,

Physical Therapist

By Doug Haltom, M.D.

From Page 1…

Tankersley, First Vice President-Investments at MerrillLynch Wealth Management, said his experience at West Ten-nessee Bone & Joint Clinic has been excellent, and everyoneon staff routinely delivers high-quality care. The doctors andphysical therapists help patients meet their goals, which is agreat approach because patients can determine the right courseof treatment for their desired outcome, Tankersley said. It’s alsoconvenient to get the treatment you need – from checkups tophysical therapy – at one location.

It took about six months after surgery for Tankersley to beable to use his shoulder like he wanted. His recovery is still on-going. “It gets better every day,” Tankersley said. “It’s a slowbut steady process.”

He would do it again in a heartbeat, he said, as he recom-mends it to anyone whose quality of life is suffering due topain or the inability to participate in certain activities. How-ever, he advises people who are considering this type of proce-dure to be realistic about recovery.

“It doesn’t happen overnight. But, if you do what yourphysician and physical therapist say, you will get a good result.”

David Johnson, M.D., to lead Tennessee Orthopaedic Society

David Johnson, M.D., has been elected presidentof the Tennessee Orthopaedic Society for 2012-

2013. He has been serving on the Tennessee Or-thopaedic Society Board for the past three years. 

The Tennessee Orthopaedic Society is dedicatedto providing the best orthopedic care to Tennesseeresidents with ongoing information and activities re-lated to the practice of orthopedics. Recently hon-ored as the 2012 State Society of the Year by theAmerican Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, theTennessee organization is committed to increasing public awareness andhealth care improvement for people with musculoskeletal impairments.   

Dr. Johnson, who has practiced at West Tennessee Bone & Joint Clinicsince 1990, is a fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeonsand a member of the Tennessee Medical Association, Southern Medical As-sociation, West Tennessee Consolidated Medical Assembly and the WestTennessee Physicians’ Alliance. 

Dr. Johnson’s hobbies include boating, hunting, crossfit and runningmarathons. He and his wife, Stephanie, have two children.    

Shoulder-replacement surgery

Most patients know the physi-cians at West Tennessee Bone& Joint Clinic through clinic

visits or the physicians’ reputations as or-thopedic surgeons. Some have seen thedoctors on the sidelines at high school andcollege athletic events, ready to help if aninjury occurs.

Many people, however, are not awarethat the clinic’s physicians give their timeand skills to others who need their help.“They don’t talk about it; it’s just some-thing they do because they are passionateabout helping others,” said Practice Ad-ministrator Donna Klutts.

Dr. Mike Cobb is one of those physi-cians. With the support of the other doc-tors at West Tennessee Bone & JointClinic, he spent more than a week inHaiti treating victims of the 2010 devas-tating earthquake as part of an orthopedicsurgery team. Through the Mobile Med-ical Disaster Relief Ministry, he returnedin 2011 and 2012 to work in a primarycare clinic outside of Port-au-Prince.

Other mission trips includedframing houses for Habitat forHumanity in Gulfport, Missis-sippi; a medical trip to Jamaicawith the Christian Medical As-sociation; and a mission tripwith the Evangelical ChristianChurch to a Guatemala orphan-age. Volunteer work closer tohome has included framinghomes in Jackson for Habitatfor Humanity and tutoring chil-dren at Evangelical ChristianChurch.

On his most recent trip toHaiti, Dr. Cobb had the unex-pected pleasure of getting to know severalmembers of the Union University basket-ball team and coaching staff as they alsowere doing mission work in Haiti.

“West Tennessee Bone & Joint workswith athletes, trainers and coaches fromUnion regularly, but this gave me thechance to really get to know them and de-velop relationships with them that have

lasted well beyond the mission trip,” saidDr. Cobb.”

“Dr. Cobb is a servant who finds joyin helping others,” said Kayla Hudson,Union’s assistant women’s basketballcoach. “I was amazed by his medicalknowledge, but even more astounded bythe genuine love and compassion he usedto deliver care to patients.”

Physician volunteers his timeand skills to those in need

Above, Dr. Mike Cobb visits with a Haitian patientafter doing surgery on her leg in 2010, just after thedevastating earthquake struck Haiti.

Lowell Stonecipher, M.D.

Michael Cobb, M.D.

David Johnson, M.D.

KellyPucek, M.D.

HaroldAntwine III, M.D.

DavidPearce, M.D.

JasonHutchison, M.D.

AdamSmith, M.D.

J. DouglasHaltom, M.D.

JohnEverett, M.D.

MichaelDolan, M.D.

Donna Klutts, CMPEPractice Administrator

Keeping You ActiveThe physicians at West Tennessee Bone & Joint

Clinic, P.C. specialize in comprehensive orthopedic

care. They diagnose and treat diseases and injuries

of the bone, muscles, tendons, nerves and ligaments

in adults and children. They are Board Certified.

They see patients in …Jackson • Brownsville • Selmer Lexington • Parsons • Dyersburg Union City • Bolivar • Ripley

24 Physicians Drive, Jackson n 731.661.9825 n 888.661.9825 n www.wtbjc.com

Half-marathon runner in-spired by coworkers

Trish Pearson’s journey to run the St.Jude half marathon began two yearsago when she started training for the

December 2011 event. “I lacked confidenceand didn’t run,” said Pearson, West TennesseeBone & Joint Clinic Administrative Assistant.

Pearson, who is married and has two chil-dren, started training again last June, and thistime, she completed the half marathon onDecember 1. “It was awesome,” she says. “I’mhooked. I want to do it again.”

Her training included running three tofour miles three to four times a week over thesummer and increasing her distances as theweather cooled this fall. Two weeks before theevent, she ran about 11 miles — her farthestin her training program.

She was inspired by Dr. David Johnson, aphysician at West Tennessee Bone & Joint,and his wife, Stephanie, who are veteranmarathon runners. “I wanted to be able to dosomething like that,” Pearson said.

However, she credits coworker Adam Kel-ley’s constant encouragement as the reason

why shekept train-ing.

Heradvice toothers isto notgive up. “It’s hard to get started,” she said,“but you can do it.”

On the day of the Memphis race, she andher coworkers, Marketing Director AdamKelley and Physical Therapist Jesse Gatlin,joined a few thousand other runners for theannual half marathon on the streets of down-town and midtown Memphis. The event,which raises money for cancer research andtreatment at St. Jude Children’s ResearchHospital, also includes a marathon and 5K.

“Running the half marathon was hard,”Pearson said, “but it was an amazing day. Itwas so fun and so inspirational because youare running for those kids. I saw the faces ofparents and children being treated at St.Jude’s, and I just wanted to keep going.”

Trish Pearson and Adam Kelley, employees atWest Tennessee Bone & Joint Clinic, are readyto run the St. Jude half marathon.