General Practitioners

• Arthritis
• Primary Care
  If you have chronic pain, some kind of injection therapy may be helpful, but there are other, more effective, and potentially less expensive treatments available. Contact me or your regular physical therapist, or your primary care physician to discuss your options and find what may be the most effective treatment for your specific situation.

Radiologist

• Ultrasound
• MRI
  Patients will hear me say over and over “MRI is really only for surgical planning. If you’re ready for surgery, then you need an MRI.” It doesn’t tell you “what’s wrong” or tell us if you need surgery or not. I ran into a research study today that demonstrates my point.
• Computed Tomography
  This surgeon’s ad encourages prospective patients to obtain a “Free MRI/CT Scan Review,” then tells the story of a patient who drove hours to see the surgeon and was scheduled for surgery after his MRI review.

Surgeons

• Orthopedics
  We have two ways to help you there – Contact us with your question, or search this knowledgebase. There are specific categories along the navigation bar, and some links that may be of interest as well. This knowledgebase is written for patients and healthcare practitioners that do not have an intimate understanding of orthopedics.
• Arthroscopy
  A surgery using an arthroscope (a small device with a camera, inserted into the joint), also called “scoping,” has been the standard of care for years when one suffers a tear of a mensicus, or a crack or blistering of articular cartilage. Cartilage doesn’t heal so arthroscopy allows a surgeon to gently shave and smooth surfaces, so that the jagged, torn, edges, don’t create more inflammation and problems.
• Arthroscopy
  If you’re young and tore your meniscal cartilage as a result of a sudden pivoting movement, then arthroscopy is an effective treatment. However, if you’re older (nearing or past 50 years old) and you can’t trace your problem to a specific injury, then there has been research evidence for some time indicating that at the very best, arthroscopy provides 18-24 months of relief before the knee ends up in the same state as it was before surgery.
• Hip Replacement
  He underwent a hip replacement a couple of weeks earlier, after suffering for 15 years with arthritis-related hip pain. After performing a few light exercises at home, he was referred for outpatient rehabilitation, with his first priority to get back to work, hiking, biking, and riding his motor cycle.
• Knee Replacement
  Anyway, over the off-season, the scope and therapy bought him the two additional seasons that he needed, and then some. To my knowledge, he has not yet returned for a knee replacement, and it has been several years.
• Knee Arthroscopy
  A Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) was published in the BMJ, clearly recommending that knee arthroscopy not be the treatment of choice for those with knee osteoarthritis. It could not be any more clear: “We recommend against arthroscopic knee surgery in patients with degenerative knee disease.”

Physical Therapists

• Sports Medicine
  However, even in the most elite sports medicine clinics, the bulk of physical therapy is conducted with simple items like dumbbells, ankle weights, resistance bands, small electrical stimulators, ultrasound machines, cold and heat. By the time the athlete is able to use heavier weight equipment and machines, the injury has already healed and rehabilitation is over.
• Physical Therapy
  This is standard, traditional, physical therapy. I currently work at Texas Health – Plano Presbyterian, but occasionally provide coverage in other areas. If you choose this option you can either contact the clinic directly and then let me know so I can follow-up on it, or I forward your information to the clinic site where you will be seen. Insurance verification, notification, and scheduling will be handled by the facility, which will bill your insurance plan.
• Frozen Shoulder
  An orthopedic physical therapist also knows when to say when – in some instances physical therapy will not be the most beneficial treatment – and you and your doctor should know that as quickly as possible. In some cases you may need additional specialist evaluation – by an orthopedic or neurological surgeon, for example – or you simply have a problem that will respond to another modality of treatment – for example a frozen shoulder that responds better to dynamic splinting than therapy. In all of these situations you and your doctor will receive prompt feedback so that you can get on to the most beneficial treatment for your situation.
• Back Pain