Front Range Orthopaedics, a Centura Health Clinic, combines an award-winning, hospital-based orthopedic program with well-respected orthopedic surgeons. Its goal is to provide patients with the ultimate experience and excellent outcomes when undergoing orthopedic surgery. Care, comfort and peace of mind is constantly a top priority from the first office visit, to surgery and hospital stay.

How did you get your start in orthopedics and sports medicine?

Growing up, I was an athlete, so it was a natural fit when I started looking into medicine. I feel I can relate with athletes, amateur and professional, and help them get back to the activities they love after an injury knocks them down.

I received a Bachelor’s in biology and communications at the University of Colorado in Boulder, where I also attended medical school, followed by a five-year orthopedic surgery residency in New York and a year-long sports medicine fellowship in Ohio, specializing in shoulder and knee reconstruction. I’m thankful for all of my experiences, especially for my communications studies. I believe it has helped me in learning to listen to my patients and give them both the empathy and clear answers they need to take steps towards health and recovery.

What orthopedic and sports medicine needs does our community have?

Colorado Springs in a unique place to practice sports medicine. We have a lot of military folks in town – I call them my warrior athletes. We care for many of the injuries they sustain, including quite a few shoulder, knee and hip injuries. Then, out east, we have the farming population. We treat people from the rural communities for a variety of injuries – everything from farm equipment accidents to run-ins with barnyard animals. I just reconstructed an ACL that was damaged when the patient was kicked by a horse.

The Springs is also full of outdoors enthusiasts; I see a lot of ankle fractures and broken wrists – definitely some Incline injuries. We’ve also got the skiing and snowboarding population and mountain bikers, so really quite a variety of sports injuries, in all shapes and sizes of people. I’ve done everything from a hip labral repair in a 14-year-old ballerina to treating a torn rotator cuff in a 70-year-old skier.

What are some of the most common ailments you treat? How can people work to ensure health in these areas?

About half of my patients are average, active people and the other half are professional or student athletes. I see quite a bit of rotator cuff tendinitis in all ages, which typically results from overuse of shoulder in general labor or over exercise. While it is fairly common and easy to treat, it can be avoided by strengthening the rotator cuff through specific exercises, particularly important for athletes.

Meniscal tears – a twisting injury to the knee – are also fairly common, as is tendinitis – a painful tear – in the hip. I also see quite a few labral tears, which are twisting injuries in the hip joint. However, only about 10 percent of patients I see require surgery; many can be treated with physical therapy to help the body naturally repair itself. There are plenty of non-operative and preventative treatments people can add to their routines, including proper diet and moderation of exercise as they age.

What are some recent developments in your field? How has this improved treatment and recover for your patients?

In the last ten years, we have really increased in our understanding and knowledge of hip arthroscopy, which is a minimally invasive surgical procedure on a joint. Historically, when a patient had a hip injury, we didn’t have the technology to go in and arthroscopically repair it; now, we have a mini, high-definition camera that we can insert into the area and use to guide the surgeon. Twenty years ago, we had to make a five-inch incision, and now we just need to make three, small holes; it’s much easier on the patient. The cameras have also continued to improve, just like your TV at home. Now, when you look at a standard definition screen, you notice a difference.

Joint replacements have also become more anatomic, functioning more and more like the body’s original joints and hopefully lasting patients longer through their lives. Both of these improvements have made surgical recovery a much easier process. Anything we have done and can do to make treatment less invasive helps patients recover more quickly. Our physical therapists have also learned quite a bit in recent years about getting post-operative patients into therapy immediately, versus waiting for them to wear and get cut out of a cast. We now emphasize the importance of motion earlier, which has significantly cut the average time in therapy.

Have you seen any partnerships develop locally in the world of orthopedics and sports medicine?

On April 1, Front Range Orthopedics teamed up with Penrose-St. Francis Health Services, part of the Centura Health team, to lead the way in local orthopedics and sports medicine.

We operate the Orthopedic Center for Excellence five days a week on the sixth floor of St. Francis Hospital for patients who’ve had total joint replacements, including hip, knee, shoulder and ankle. It’s truly a one-stop-shop: patients can see a doctor, get physical therapy, have X-rays done, and more. This facility allows us to be more available to patients on the north and east ends of town. We’ve already seen patient outcomes improve over the summer as care is now more seamless and immediately available.

Front Range Orthopaedics is also growing, with locations from Monument to Woodland Park – we are continually branching out to bring quality, orthopedic care to the entire Pikes Peak region. We even have doctors who travel to provide care to underserved areas, including monthly trips to La Jara, Colo., outside of Alamosa.

We also have valuable partnerships with local athletic teams, including the Colorado Springs Switchbacks, F.C. We attend games at Sand Creek Stadium and provide medical care for the players; it’s been great working with professional athletes. I also serve as the team doctor for the Falcon High School football team.