Orthopedic Total Wellness

Integrating Chiropractic into an Orthopedic Total Wellness Program Benefits FOI Patients

In its continuing commitment to provide the most innovative and highest quality of care for patients, Florida Orthopaedic Institute is pioneering a revolutionary concept that integrates chiropractic into its continuum of care. The process, known as Orthopedic Total Wellness (OTW), is spearheaded by Dr. David Reina, DC.

“Our goal is to take the practice of chiropractic to a new level because it is a proven effective complement to the therapies and treatments we use here,” Reina explains. Most people probably identify chiropractic as spinal adjustment and manipulation, but OTW vastly expands the concept to promote not only pain management, but also the healing process. “Working in collaboration with our medical, surgical and physical therapy teams, OTW offers patients a full spectrum of therapies that have been effective in helping treat conditions beyond the spine without the use of medications and surgery,” Reina says.

FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE

Reina points out that OTW looks at the whole functional perspective of how a body is working, not just one part, to determine the cause of the problem, not just its effect.

“In many instances, a condition may actually be quite complex, involving many parts,” he says. “Chiropractic attempts to determine the origin or source of the pain. Just because a patient has a degenerative disc, for example, doesn't mean that this is the source of the problem. If a disc is degenerative at a certain level, why did that level degenerate and how can we prevent it from getting worse? What does that level affect and what affects that level? By integrating OTW into the treatment protocol, we ensure that all related issues are examined and treated.”

COLLABORATION

Orthopedic Total Wellness is a collaborative process between the primary care physician and the chiro team. “When I have a patient who is experiencing pain but does not have a condition where surgery is a viable option, I might send him to OTW to help provide the relief he needs,” says Dr. Seth Gasser, MD Sports Medicine Physician at FOI. “We have had success treating patients with a combination of OTW and physical therapy. It gives us another option for conservatively managing patient care.”

“OTW is also effective in reintegrating sensory and motor functions both pre and post surgery and before physical therapy,” Reina adds. “We find that it not only helps reduce pain, but augments PT and makes it more effective.”

EXAMPLES OF OTW AT WORK

A patient has a rotator cuff problem or weakness from mild compression in one of the nerves from the neck, and surgery does not appear to be an option at this time. The traditional protocol would be to prescribe pain medication and refer the patient to physical therapy. At Florida Orthopaedic Institute, the chiro team at OTW might get involved to analyze the dysfunction.

“If the condition has damaged one of the muscles to the point where it functions incorrectly, the cause can be an incorrect sensory / motor pattern,” Reina explains. “If the sensory / motor pattern is not clear, PT will only reinforce and exacerbate this aberrant motion pattern. Unless you evaluate and test global function, you will not know the potential until after the fact.”

The solution, he says is a functional assessment and course of treatment. “Chiro will define the functional pathology, reintegrate function and send the patient to PT properly diagnosed, safe, integrated, and ready to strengthen the muscle and increase endurance and range of motion,” Reina says. “OTW is the missing step between surgery and PT.”

Dr. Reina points out that medical trends are moving in the direction of total health and seeking solutions outside the traditional realm of modern medicine. “At Florida Orthopaedic Institute, we want to be on the leading edge of therapies and techniques that work best for our patients. OTW is still in its early stages, but we have great hopes that it will help us treat our patients more efficiently and effectively.”