Tag: painful joints

Too many specialists for your painful joints often fail to solve anything. Here’s what to do instead.

Too many specialists for your painful joints often fail to solve anything. Here’s what to do instead. A patient recently visited with neck pain, shoulder pain, hip pain, knee pain, and wrist pain.   She has recently been seen by a rheumatologist for inflammation, an orthopedic for her back and hip pain, and a therapist for her shoulders, neck, and arms.   Months later, with thousands of dollars in MRIs, blood tests, and therapy she visited us hoping we had a better answer for why she was in pain, unwilling to stay on the medication that did little to relieve her pain.  Read More »

This doctor believes routine MRI’s of painful joints as we age is not helpful; however, a good exam can help you get out of pain at a lower cost.

This doctor believes routine MRI’s of painful joints as we age is not helpful; however, a good exam can help you get out of pain at a lower cost. Years ago, if we wanted to order an MRI scan, we wrote a prescription for the test and the patient would go.  At the time an MRI scan was the most sensitive test available to evaluate a joint or an area of the body. Most of this MRI scan offered inconclusive results and were very expensive.   Today, insurance carriers require doctors to pre-certify these expensive tests because too many tests were Read More »