Patients needing a medical diagnosis for physical medicine issues as well as on-site physical therapy can get both at one place.
Back Pain & Sports, located at 6815 Dixie Highway, Suite 3 in Clarkston, has been in operation for 1-1/2 years. The facility is run by Dr. Ed Atty, who is also the Co-Medical Director at McLaren Regional Rehabilitation Center in Flint, and Brian Keyes, a licensed physical therapist.
Atty explained how the practice first started.
“In my field, we work a lot with physical therapists,” he said. “One of the things I wanted to do was work closely with physical therapists to collaborate on appropriate treatment plans. I thought we could provide better care if we open a clinic where the physical therapist and physician can work closer together and the patient’s progress was monitored more closely.”
“Since I live in Clarkston, I know this area is a strong community and feel our clinic will serve the community well.”
“After a thorough physical examination, I will determine the plan of each care for each patient I see,” he said. “If physical therapy is the part of that plan, I will have Brian evaluate and treat the patient accordingly if the patient chooses to have therapy here. Our clinic is unique in that a patient can be referred to see a PM&R physician, physical therapist and/or both.”
Brian provides services for patients with physical therapy prescriptions from other physicians as well.
In a newsletter, Atty talked about how the PM&R field works:
nPM&R physicians, also called physiatrists, work to restore functional skills, self-sufficiency, and the mobility of people with temporary or permanent disabilities. These disabilities may range from minor sports injuries to more complex conditions such as paraplegia.
nThey work with patients who are dealing with the following issues: low back pain, neck pain, myofascial pain syndrome, fibromyelgia, sports injuries, carpal tunnel syndrome, work-related injuries, brain injuries, strokes and spinal cord injuries.
nThe PM&R approach provides patients an individualized plan of treatment, prevention of future problems and goal-directed care with steps in place to treatment favors less extreme interventions to maximize patients’ function first, before resorting to more costly procedures.
“Over the past 1-1/2 years, we have had great results with this team approach,” Atty said.
“We’ve learned to have the patient take an important role in their rehabilitation,” Atty said. “A lot of therapy is education of the patient. Our clinic is small enough where we can keep an eye on every patient. It’s more of an individualized type of treatment. Patients have informed us this was very different from the larger physical therapy clinics, but has been very beneficial.”
Back Pain & Sports is located at 6815 Dixie Highway, Suite 3. For appointments or more information, call 248-625-9466.