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Hello to all our friends,
This month, we would like to address three areas; rotator cuff tears, anterior cruciate ligament tears, and the importance of contacting your insurance providers by phone or email if you have physicians, physical therapists and any other healthcare providers that are not in your plan.
Orthopedic surgeons here in Michiana have educated me over the years about what I am about to share with you. Studies from their own specialty areas state that as we reach our 60’s, we have a 60-65% chance of having a rotator cuff tear, without symptoms. As we reach our 70’s and then 80’s, we have a 70-75% and then, an 80-85% chance of a torn rotator cuff without symptoms. Some rotator cuff tears do not need to be treated, and some can be healed with physical therapy alone.
With this understanding, if you fall or lift something heavy and begin to have terrible shoulder pain and weakness, visiting a reputable physical therapist and orthopedic surgeon might be a good idea. However, getting an MRI might NOT be the best idea until maybe 2-3 months after a reputable physical therapist is able to assess how serious your shoulder injury might be and treat it.
We have seen many people over 60 who have fallen or lifted something awkwardly and then felt a pop or sudden, severe pain. This was followed up by days of being unable to lift their arm and nights of sleep difficulty. After visiting our therapists, most have worked their way back to sleeping through the night and lifting their arm overhead. They eventually regained most of their strength. This was all accomplished without invasive surgery! We would prefer to evaluate potential rotator cuff patients before having an MRI, to help them, in many cases, avoid having to go through the kind of long, drawn-out rehab process that follows rotator cuff surgery, unless absolutely necessary.
Moving on to ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) surgery…. we would like to help you decide if it is worth your while having the surgery or not. I’d also like to emphasize the importance of researching which provider to go to for surgery and therapy for each particular surgery, in my 41 years of experience, anterior cruciate repairs have become less of a guarantee than in the past.
It frustrates me to know that a high-level athlete can take between 6-13 months to get back to their sport, with no major complications. How can it take one athlete, with no other major complications only 6 months and others much more when their drive to succeed are the same? The answer is quite clear. The surgeon and physical therapist are key!
I know how important it is for athletes to get back to their sport. For athletes, in particular, they need a surgeon and therapist that know the details of the athletes’ particular sport, and these 2 providers may often not work in the same facility, and that’s ok! We work very closely with our patients’ physicians, even though we are not in the same building. We also have therapists that have competed in football, basketball, soccer, volleyball, baseball, and run track. It is worth your while researching and finding the best orthopedist for your particular injury and for your therapy. This goes for all patients but is even more crucial for athletes. Too many settle for convenience and whatever their insurance approves. This needs to change!
A new patient came to me recently because he said everyone was recommending me, but he was frustrated that I wasn’t in his insurance plan and thought it was because we didn’t want to be! I informed him that his insurance would not allow us in their plan. For years, we have tried to get into this plan, and they won’t allow us in, even though they have a 5-week waiting period to get into their physical therapy! This is extremely disappointing for us and unfair to our community.
How can this change? If people would demand which physicians, surgeons, physical therapists, etc., they would prefer in their plans, maybe this would change. The days of sitting back and paying for your company’s insurance, with no input of who’s in it, needs to end. Please think twice before agreeing to the terms of your company’s insurance. The deductibles and co-pays are getting higher and higher as time passes. Since you are paying so much more than many years ago, make it your responsibility to have an impact on which physicians and caregivers you will be needing and seeing.
In summary, think twice before getting shoulder surgery after 60 years old. Take the time to find the best surgeons and physical therapists for ACL or any kind of surgery and rehab. Email your insurance providers, and request that they include the providers of your choice and choose your insurance carefully.
Thanks for reading and look for ways to get stronger and healthier every day.
Enjoy the journey,
Fran McDonald President/CEO
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