Today I want to share with you a story about a patient that we recently had come to our clinic. This story isn't unique to this person as we have stories similar to this one throughout the year. This story is meant to highlight why we have created the clinic as we have. It shows what can happen when good providers are working with patients in a system that allows them to give great care. If you feel like you haven't received great care for an injury, we would encouraged you to schedule a visit today.
A few weeks back a patient came to us for basically a second opinion. The patient has been experiencing persistent numbness in the ring finger and pinkie finger of her right arm. This numbness would occur when she was driving, carrying heavy grocery bags, doing yard work, and would also wake her up several times a night when she was sleeping. The symptoms became so annoying that she decided to see an orthopedic surgeon for the issue. The surgeon suggested that her numbness was due to irritation of the ulnar nerve that can get pinched on the inside of the elbow. He suggested two options for the patient. He could move where the ulnar nerve sits in the elbow with surgery, or she could try physical therapy. The patient didn't want surgery right away so she opted for physical therapy.
The patient went to a physical therapy clinic in which she was 1 of 5 patients each hour that the provider was responsible for seeing. This means that the patient got about 10-15 minutes with the physical therapist and then would be passed along to a technician for exercises. Within the brief time the patient had with the provider, the provider read the diagnosis, looked at a couple of things, and then suggested that she just have surgery on the elbow. This suggestion was based on the belief that the physical therapy cannot help an ulnar nerve that is pinched at the elbow. Understandably, the patient wasn't very satisfied with this information so she decided to get a second opinion, which is where we come into the story.
The patient decided to come to us for a second opinion. Her main question was if physical therapy could help eliminate her symptoms and help avoid surgery. We started our visit as usual by noting the diagnosis that she was given (Ulnar Nerve Pinch) but starting from scratch by asking specific questions about her symptoms. This information gathering process takes about 20-25 minutes. We then spent about 15-20 minutes gathering physical information about how the body is moving and what makes the symptoms change. By the time we have gathered this information we are usually about 2/3rd's done with the first visit, which might sounds like a waste of time, but it's actually the most important part of our process, and here is why. We came to believe that her numbness was actually coming from her neck and not her elbow. We believed that if we treated her neck, this would resolve her symptoms. We spent the remainder of the visit treating just her neck, and then gave her one simple thing only for the neck. At the next visit, the patient reported no symptoms during the day with all with the typical aggravating activities, and her night time symptoms were 50% better. Within 3 visits we had fully eliminated her symptoms and started to develop a strength training program for her upper body and neck. Within 3 visits we had changed her symptoms, returned her life back to normal, and never touched the elbow. This is the type of results that can happen when good providers, treat motivated patients, in a system that works. Did we mention she never needed to get surgery? Incredible to think had she followed the guidance of the first physical therapist, she would have had surgery on her elbow which likely wouldn't have changed her symptoms at all. If you have been told that surgery is the only option, or that Physical Therapy (PT) won't help, or even that PT didn't help. We would strongly encourage you to see a provider who has the time to complete a full assessment. If you live within the Carson/Reno/Tahoe area, we would love to see you here in our clinic. If you want more information about our clinic and what we offer check out our page here! Book an appointment today!
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