Dr. Ryan Pflugner
Sports Medicine
Birmingham, NM
17 years experience male
Locations
Office
Birmingham, AL
Phone
Practice website
About
SpecialtiesDoctors may have more than one area of specialty interest. Board certification in a specialty area means the doctor has completed formal training and has practice experience in that specialty, and has passed the certification examination from the corresponding accredited medical specialty board.
Doctors may have more than one area of specialty interest. Board certification in a specialty area means the doctor has completed formal training and has practice experience in that specialty, and has passed the certification examination from the corresponding accredited medical specialty board.
Sports Medicine
Doctor Q&A
63 Answers
35 Agrees
The number of answers this doctor has agreed with.
A 39-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Very Specific: The most obvious signs of meniscal tears is a knee that locks up or gives out on you with activity. There are some clinic exam techniques that clue d... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.5k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 43-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Either: The best choice between the two is the one your surgeon is most comfortable with. The patella graft is more reliably large enough to replace your acl... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 34-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
YES!!: Gaining full extension should be the first thing that you work on achieving. Depending on the type of graft you have it may be more difficult to get ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 31-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Strong!!: It depends, but once a bone is healed usually it is as strong or stronger than before you broke it. There are many other factors that go into answeri... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 23-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Depends: There are many reasons why an acl reconstruction fails, sometimes it is due to technical failure, sometimes from infection, sometimes from a new traum... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.8k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 33-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
No: Non surgical treatment for acl ruptures includes physical therapy to stregthen your hamstrings as well as wearing a brace that stabalizes your knee. ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Sure!: Many herniated discs can be treated without any type of procedure. As long as you are not experiencing symptoms like, numbness or weakness in your le... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 45-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Many: If you have a meniscus tear that has is symptomatic, i.e. Pain, swelling, locking up or catching, or causing your knee to give way then surgery is a g... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.5k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 48-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Follow the Protocol: Your surgeon/physical therapist should have you on a specific protocol that maximizes your recovery and minimizes the risks. Things you should avoid ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 44-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Maybe: It is a good option if you have minimal arthritis localized only to the side of the joint where you are having the treatment done. If you have modera... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 29-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Could be many things: It depends on what your specific symtoms are. If you have have just pain with no other symptoms then it may be due to your mechanics during your golf... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 29-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Depends. : Scaphoid fractures come in many varieties. If you are young and active, your ortho doc may suggest getting back to activities sooner with surgery. If... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6.1k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 26-year-old female asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Inflammation: Shoulder "crunching" could be completely benign, especially if it is not painful or you are not limited by it. If it is painful you may have develope... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 48-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Prevention: The best thing to do is stay in good shape by cross training and learn to jump and land without putting undo stress on your knee.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 22-year-old male asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Tell your surgeon!: Acl surgery can cause swelling in the knee, especially in the early recovery. It is most important to work on regaining full extension over the next ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.2k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 45-year-old female asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Infection?: If your doctor ordered a crp, typically they are looking for markers of infection. The clinical exam is more important in determining if you have an ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.5k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 34-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Depends: The location of the fracture is important to when you will be able to go back to activities. The closer to your "ankle" the fracture is the more rest... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 29-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Not usually: Most of the time they are not used.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 34-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Physical Therapy: You should begin a dedicated physical therapy protocol that has been time tested to help maximize range of motion of your knee while not placing your... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.8k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 42-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Depends: As a rule of thumb, failure of surgery to fix the problem is usually the number one complication. Infection, nerve, or vessel injury is another compl... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.8k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 37-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Depends.: Allograft tendons can be as strong or stronger then autograft tendons, depending on what you are comparing. Patella tendon autografts are "gold stand... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 37-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Depends: Daily recommended intake for women 19-49 is 1000mg per day, over 50 is 1200mg per day. It is also important to make sure you are eating a healthy, ba... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.8k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Yes...maybe: Depending on your symptoms, your orthopedic surgeon may recommend physical therapy as a first choice of treatment. Other options for treatment are in... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.8k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 33-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Depends: Recovering from an acl surgery follows a specific time course depending on how well you progress through physical therapy. The one factor that you ca... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.8k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 32-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Get examined: The best and most reliable way to know is to have your knee examined by a sports medicine doctor.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 58-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Back Pain?: Back pain in an adolescent is not uncommon and can sometimes be debilitating. Many different conditions can give the symptoms your son has, a few can... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6.1k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 21-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Knee Pain?: Many things can give you "crunchy" sounds when you bend your knee. Most likely you have some chondromalacia where your patella meets the femur. It c... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6.1k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
You should go: If you are having the symptoms that you described in your question then you may be doing more damage to your knee each time you feel like it is going ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 43-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Now!: You should work towards full extension as soon as possible after surgery. I expect my patients to have it by 2 weeks post op, check them again around... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.8k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 29-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Graft choice: Acls are reconstructed in several ways. One way is to take the central third of your patella tendon with bone attached at either end and reconstruct ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.8k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 31-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Long recovery: If your surgery is done only with a scope(labral repair) or if done with a full incision the recovery involves giving the repair time to heal followed... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 19-year-old male asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Depends!: You are very young, but it is in your age group that we see the highest failure rates. As long as your knee is stable then i would not pursue any sur... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.2k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 35-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Not to long: If you have a reconstruction then the acl wil heal enough to starting doing pivoting at 8 months with most people back at full sporting activities in ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 47-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Depends: It may heal up as quickly as 2 months. If the injury was severe and you have a highly comminuted fracture then it may take many more months and possi... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 31-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Today: As long as there were no complications during the surgery he should be walking the day after.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.3k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 50-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
RICE: When you strain muscles the best first thing to do is the "rice" principle. Rest, ice, compression, elevation. The next step is to get involved in a ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6.1k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 31-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Yes: There are no contraidications to perform knee arthroscopy during your menstral cycle.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 47-year-old male asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Yes....Maybe: It depends on how old the tear is and the quality of the muscle(fatty infiltration).
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 37-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Better function: After surgery, depending on if the meniscus is repair or removed, you should be involved in a rehab protocol the is specific for acl/meniscus recovery... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 29-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Surgery: The standard treatment is a knee arthroscopy to reconstruct the acl with tissue that is taken from you or from a cadaver. The meniscus is treated wit... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 46-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Depends: The first treatment typically is physical therapy for chronic injuries depending on what was injuries. If you have intact ligaments then i would start... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 45-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Sometime not much: It sometimes can be difficult to distiguish the two from symptoms patients experience alone. That is why a good physical exam is key to making the di... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 44-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Relief!: Hopefully you will get relief from compression on your ulnar nerve. There are a few ways to move the nerve to help prevent further compression and ea... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.8k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 25-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Difficult!: Rehab is not easy, but it is absolutely necessary. The most important thing to focus on initially is regaining full rom, especially extension, and mi... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.2k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 36-year-old male asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Rehab is important!: Microfracture surgery's goal is to attempt to recreate as normal as possible your cartilage. It forms fibrocartilage from the stem cells that are exp... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.2k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 46-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Go see surgeon: Your bf needs to see his surgeon immediately. If he truly has synovial fluid leaking from an incision site this is a potential source of infection. A... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 43-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
How old/active?: Depends on physiologic age, activity levels, if and how much does it interfere with those activities or your activities of daily living. It is possib... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.8k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 48-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Maybe: Having pain after(or during) activity is not a good sign. There is a possibility that you have a stress fracture, it could also be many other possibl... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 34-year-old male asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Get checked quickly: Even though you are young, i would be seen by a doctor as soon as possible, even if it means going to the er. It is not uncommon for young men to hav... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.2k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 33-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ryan Pflugneranswered
Sports Medicine 17 years experience
Yes: Many people have lived very active lifestyles after having and acl injury. Most of these people wear a special acl brace and keep their hamstrings st... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
TestimonialsRecommendations and Thank you notes are endorsements given from patients or other doctors.
Recommendations and Thank you notes are endorsements given from patients or other doctors.
2
Recommendations
202
Thank you notes
HealthTap member
Mar 30, 2015
Dr. Pflugner is an amazing doctor! #nationaldoctorsday2015 #virtualflower1
HealthTap member
Mar 31, 2015
Dr. Pflugner is an amazing doctor! #nationaldoctorsday2015 #virtualflower1
HealthTap member
This was very helpful. Thanks! Thank you for your input. I think it is the most helpful and realistic. I have a fibular fx now but previously had subluxation during tennis. Heal time is 3-4 or 6-8 ...Read More
HealthTap member
This saved my life. Thank You! Awesome my knee is stable I'll just keep doing the rehab exercises! Thank you so much!
HealthTap member
Thanks for your quick reply! Any guess of where pain is coming from? Is it kidney? Thank u.
Education & Training
Medical/Graduate school
University of Alabama School of Medicine, AL
Graduated 2006MD
Awards
Top Sport Medicine Specialist , Second Place, Alabama - Winter
2013
Top Sports Medicine Specialist , First Place, Alabama - Summer
2013
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