Wellstar Orthopedics & Sports Medicine
Your favorite activities make everyday life your own, and bone or joint pain can keep you sidelined. At Wellstar, our skilled and caring team is ready to help you find relief and get back to life with less pain and more freedom.
Orthopedic specialists here offer complete care for all types of bone, joint and soft tissue injuries and conditions. From diagnosis and treatment through rehabilitation and recovery, we’ve got your back.
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Wellstar Breaks Ground on Cancer Care Facility in Spalding County
Highlights
Expert Treatment for Head and Neck Cancers at Wellstar
Head and neck cancers include several different types of malignant tumors affecting parts of the head and neck, including the nose and sinus cavities, mouth, throat, voice box and salivary glands. Head and neck cancers typically involve the mucosa, or the tissues lining these areas, and represent about 4% of all cancers diagnosed in the United States each year.
Treating head and neck cancers
If you are diagnosed with cancer, Wellstar provides expert care. Oropharyngeal cancers are typically treated with surgery (with or without radiation therapy) or radiation therapy (with or without chemotherapy) at equivalent cure rates. Goals of treatment are to remove the cancer, prevent its return and limit side effects.
“Wellstar providers work with patients to tailor care to their needs—based on effectiveness of the treatment, tumor location and stage, accessibility of the tumor to a surgical approach, risk of side effects and patient choice,” said Dr. Kia Jones, a Wellstar ear nose & throat physician.
In the Head and Neck STAT Clinics at Wellstar Cobb, Douglas and North Fulton Medical Centers, the patient meets with their entire treatment team in a single day during treatment planning and may start treatment sooner, which may improve outcomes for patients and provides more peace of mind.
New surgical method improves treatment
Transoral robotic surgery, offered at Wellstar North Fulton, has changed the way oropharyngeal cancers are treated surgically.
“In this procedure, the surgeon accesses the cancer by passing tools through the mouth rather than making an incision,” said Dr. Jones, who performs the procedure.
For those patients with early-stage tumors and limited disease in the neck, the surgery offers the patient a cure at a single intervention without the need for tracheostomy or abdominal feeding tube, faster return to taking food orally, improved outcomes and faster recovery. This is preferred over traditional surgical methods, which require splitting the jaw and/or the tongue or gaining access to the throat via neck incision.
Reducing your risk
You can take action against common risk factors by decreasing tobacco and alcohol use and getting the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.
Some well-known risk factors for the development of head and neck cancers include heavy alcohol and tobacco use, especially if someone uses alcohol and tobacco together. Men are three times more likely to be diagnosed with oral and throat cancer compared to women, according to the American Cancer Society.
An additional risk factor is HPV infection, which is related to the development of oropharyngeal cancer specifically. The oropharynx is the midsection of the throat and includes the tonsils and the root of the tongue or tongue base where the vast majority of these tumors originate. HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer is more prevalent now than HPV-related cervical cancer in women. HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer has been increasing in the United States over the last three to four decades, while the incidence of tobacco and alcohol-related tumors has been declining. More than 22,500 people are diagnosed with HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer each year.
Learn more about how Wellstar cares for head and neck cancers.
Highlights
Make Health Your Habit to Prevent Stroke
While strokes have become relatively common—more than 795,000 people in the United States have a stroke each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—many risk factors for stroke can be managed in partnership with your healthcare team.
Manage your risk factors
Factors that can increase your risk of experiencing a stroke include:
High blood pressure
Hypertension, or elevated blood pressure, increases the risk of a stroke. Stay up to date on your annual physicals to know your blood pressure levels, and if you have hypertension, talk to your clinician about managing it. “High blood pressure is the most modifiable risk factor, meaning it’s the one that is most treatable and has the most impact on one’s risk,” said Wellstar Neurologist Dr. Ashis Tayal. “It is vastly underdiagnosed and when it is treated, it’s often undertreated.”
High cholesterol
Cholesterol can build up and lead to clotting in the blood, which can cause a stroke if the clot travels and blocks blood flow to the brain. Your primary care clinician can help you monitor your cholesterol with a blood test and manage levels with medications or lifestyle changes.
Diabetes
People with diabetes are at increased risk of experiencing a stroke. Talk to your care team about diabetes screenings. If you are diabetic, discuss managing the condition with your clinician.
Smoking
Smoking can increase your risk of a stroke, so if you are a smoker, it is beneficial to quit. “Cigarettes accelerate atherosclerosis, or clogging in the arteries, and cause inflammation in blood vessels that then increases people’s risk of stroke and heart attack,” Dr. Tayal said.
Atrial fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation, a heart arrhythmia, can cause clots that then travel to the brain, leading to a stroke, according to Dr. Tayal. If you have atrial fibrillation, also known as AFib, partner with your healthcare team to manage the condition.
Other risk factors
While many of these risk factors can be controlled through medication or lifestyle changes in collaboration with a clinician, other risk factors for stroke can be out of your control. People of any age can experience a stroke, but stroke risk increases with age.
The risk of having a first stroke is nearly twice as high for Black adults as for white adults, and Black adults and Pacific Islander adults have the highest rates of death from stroke, according to the CDC. Hypertension is more common in Black patients, according to Dr. Tayal. People in rural communities may also experience higher rates of stroke due to limited access to healthcare and nutritious foods, he added.
To help lower stroke rates in our communities, Wellstar Community Health will distribute about 75 blood pressure cuffs in 2025 and educate community members about stroke risk and blood pressure monitoring at Wellstar Mobile Markets. The team will identify and distribute blood pressure home monitors to those coming to the markets who are diagnosed with high blood pressure, on blood pressure medication and do not have a home monitor.
Live to the Beat. Powered by Wellstar. is a pilot program to help community members at two East Point churches take charge of their cardiovascular health. Through the program, participants will meet monthly with a Wellstar Community Health community health worker to have their blood pressure checked and discuss ways to keep their heart healthy, such as proper nutrition, exercise and caring for mental health.
How to recognize a stroke
Learn the warning signs of a stroke, and if you notice any of these in yourself or someone else, BE FAST and call 911 right away.
Balance
Look for a sudden loss of balance or coordination. This can also appear as a sudden, severe headache or dizziness.
Eyes
Blurred vision, double vision or loss of vision can be signs of a stroke. If you think someone else may be having a stroke, ask if they are having trouble seeing out of one or both eyes.
Face
One side of the face may be feeling numb or appear to be drooping. Ask the person to smile and see if it appears uneven.
Arms
Check for sudden arm weakness or numbness. See if the person can lift both arms without one drifting downward.
Speech
Watch out for slurred speech or difficulty speaking. Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence to find out if they are having trouble talking.
Time
Don’t wait to seek care. If you notice any of these symptoms, call 911 immediately. The more treatment is delayed, the more the brain is damaged.