Crosby's Spinal Diagnosis is "Promising" Says The Pens Staff

[Kipper]

Penguins say captain Crosby's diagnosis is promising

By Chris Harlan, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

If Sidney Crosby did sustain a neck injury, maybe this latest diagnosis will be the key to his recovery, Penguins teammates said Monday.

"It's great to know, when something is wrong, to know what's going on," defenseman Kris Letang said. "Now he can really focus on getting back and treat whatever is wrong."

Crosby skated yesterday at Consol Energy Center, two days after the team confirmed that a Los Angeles-based spine specialist diagnosed Crosby as having "suffered a neck injury in addition to a concussion."

The injury was "fully healed," the team said.

"If that is the case, then hopefully it maybe puts some of this stuff behind him," defenseman Brooks Orpik said. "Maybe it was a mental hurdle, just not knowing. It's just good to see him back."

An unnamed independent physician will review Dr. Robert S. Bray's findings, but those results are not yet available, coach Dan Bylsma said. Bylsma was hopeful for a definitive diagnosis, and said the uncertainty surrounding Crosby's injury has been difficult for everybody.

"I think all along you'd like to have a definitive answer about what Sidney has, so that you know the road (to recovery)," Bylsma said. "I think that's the most difficult thing about it, starting last year with a concussion and going forward: You don't have a definite answer."

The team returned from the all-star break Monday with an afternoon practice but Crosby did not participate, having skated earlier with injured teammates Jordan Staal and Simon Despres.

Crosby hasn't played since Dec. 5.

"If there was some type of exact road he could go down, that would be a positive thing for Sidney and getting him back to full health," Bylsma said. "I don't know if that's the case, but it would be a good thing."


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Pens staff

[vandelay industries]

Mechanism of concussion can cause C1/C2 misaligment. C1/C2 misaligment can cause dizziness/headache. Crosby docs should've checked for this. It shouldn't have gotten to this point, this far into treatment and post-onset, that this was discovered.

Sadly, I see this all the time where something goes undiagnosed from the "medical model" and I point out the problem when I see it and then work to fix it.

It's simply a "scope of practice" issue, not negligence. Many many times I've had patients come in who were at their doc or at the ER and, after x-rays etc, told they were "fine". I then x-ray them, see the misaligment, show the patient, then work to fix it. It's not that it was missed by the Doc (they look at an x-ray and see no fractures and no tumors= no problem, I look for misalignment), it's just not in their scope of practice and expertise to diagnose that.