Denver-area PT

[bdoughty]

Well, this board worked when I was looking for surgeon, perhaps it will work equally well for PT. Can anyone make a referal for physical therapist south of Denver? I had surgery in Boulder and they had no referals down here. Would love to hook up with a therapist with experience working with resurfacing patients. Surgery was Mar 2 and I maxed out the in-home sessions, ready for the next level. Thanks in advance.

Bill

[strost]

Got some Castle Rock PT recommendations for you - Chad at Denver Physical Therapy on Castleton Way. Recommended by my chiropractor. I worked with him after I ruptured my disc last fall. He encouraged me to get my hip resurfaced as well due to the limited range of motion. I will likely work with him once I have it done.

Eric Dinkens of Select Physical off Perry Street in the Safeway Plaza. He helped rehab my husband after knee surgery and was referred by his ortho in the Tech Center. He also helped me rehab my broken shoulder and rotator cuff.

Did Dr Rector do your resurfacing? Let me know your experience with him. I'm planning on flying to SC for Dr Gross because of the thousands of hip resurfacings he has done. Dr Rector's numbers were a little light on petite women.

Let me know how you are doing too. Would be nice to have a local person for support.

[bdoughty]

Thanks for those recommendations – I’ll check them out. Castle Rock is a bit farther south; I’m in Lone Tree, but they certainly are doable if they’re good.

Yes, I went with Dr. Rector. Got lots of good feedback initially, then when I met him I really like him. While his numbers are a little low compared to the “superstars” such as Dr. Gross, Dr. Su, et al, he is definitely at the head of the next wave of surgeons performing this procedure and was endorsed by the moderators of the two popular resurfacing sites. He’s approaching 500 cases and has had only 2 that required revisions, both were complex situations. I also liked that he uses the Birmingham device, which has the longest track record of any of the current implants. My process has gone smoothly. Boulder Community Hospital was pretty good, Dr. Rector's team has the process nailed down pretty efficiently. I'm now just past the 3 week mark, walking with cane and just about ready to “solo” at least around the house. I’ve been cleared for stationary bike, elliptical machine, treadmill, pool/whirlpool and will return to work Monday. Overall I’m delighted with the outcome so far; the pain now is all surgical recovery, the hip itself feels fine.

That all said, I don’t know how many of Dr. Rector’s patients have been similar to your situation. I am a “classic” patient – 52, have been active my entire life, good bone structure, etc. so there were really no special considerations for me. However, if I were a more complex case or had mitigating factors, I can certainly understand the desire to seek out someone who is adept at handling those situations. Have you spoken with Dr. Rector? Do you know how many similar cases to yours he has done?

Selecting the right surgeon is critical, so while I love Dr. Rector and will use him again if the right hip acts up (I have moderated OA there), you certainly can’t go wrong with Dr. Gross.

Thanks again for your input and feel free to contact me for further discussion. It’s a tough decision and I’ve been grateful for the support I’ve received from others who have traveled the same road, so I’m delighted to “pay it forward.”

Bill

[strost]

Lone Tree is not that far from Castle Rock. I used to live up that way, so you are looking at about 15-20 minutes. Chad is off Founders Parkway and would be a little closer. I'd suggest you call both, ask their experience and then if you feel it is too far ask them if they have anyone they can recommend in Lone Tree to save you the drive.

I did go see Dr Rector a few months ago as I wanted a third opinion. The initial ortho I saw wanted to do a total hip on me. That is when I started researching and found this site and then Dr Gross. Dr Gross has been great at answering my questions over the past few months. Dr Rector was also good at the phone consults, so I wanted to check him out in person. He said only 20% of his cases have been women, so that brought his number at that time down to about 80 women. Since I have a small frame which can be more challenging, I felt Dr Gross would be the better choice (plus his numbers are probably closer to over a 1000 women). Dr Gross was the only one of the 3 drs to say I have a CAM deformity with the angle my femoral head sits on the femoral neck. I wonder why the other drs never said anything about it or maybe it is Dr Gross's level of experience.

Let me know who you wind up with for therapy. I'd be willing to drive a bit if you find someone fantastic. I doubt there are too many therapists that have lots of experience in that area since resurfacing is not big out here. Hopefully, Dr Rector will change that as I see this as a much better option than a total hip for the younger demographics.

Take care.
Susan

[bdoughty]

Susan,
Your path is similar to mine. Problems for years, initially diagnosed as back issue (I do have a couple of degenerative discs). I moved to Colorado from Atlanta in April, went to ortho here in Dec and got same news - need THR. Research led to resurfacing and Dr. Rector. If this all came about in Atlanta, I'd probably have ended up with Dr. Gross too. I haven't seen anyone with even Dr. Rector's experience in that market. I've heard Gross has had great success with smaller women and complicated cases, so sounds like the way to go for you as long as you can swing it!

I'll let you know what I end up doing with therapy - need to choose soon. Thanks again.

Bill

[bdoughty]

Susan,
After researching several options, I've decided to try out Colorado Athletic Conditioning Clinc. They offer multiple modalities of therapy in addition to manual, including massage, aqua and orthotic services, all of which are of interest to me, and they have several locations convenient to mine. So 1st visit is tomorrow, we'll see how it goes.

Bill

[strost]

Great. Let me know how it goes. Are they in Lone Tree? I'm willing to drive a bit for the right mix of modalities.

[bdoughty]

They have 5 locations, main 1 in Aurora on S. Chambers Road at intersection of Hampden, as well as 3 right around where I live and work (basically I-25 and Lincoln). See www.cacc-pt.com for more info. I'll let you know what I think.

[bdoughty]

Hi, Susan.

So I've been going to see Jeff at the CACC Lincoln location now for a couple of weeks and I seem to have lucked out. He is familiar with hip resurfacing and has even worked with a few of Dr. Rector's other patients. He's pushed me but not too much, good interpersonal skills, good people assisting him. I'm going 2x's/week and next Monday I'm going over to their Aurora location for a pool therapy session - they use local rec centers for this, also do it in Parker.

Results have been good. Tossed the cane last Wednesday at 5-week mark. Still stiff, particulary on "start up" in a.m. and from my desk. Have the ever-present "clunking" sensation that others report, which can be disconcerting but it's just the muscles and tendons slopping around a bit. People say it goes away but can still pop up even a couple of years later. Have gotten back to the gym - Sunday I rode stationary bike for 30 min, then did lower leg weight workout. Going light, no leg presses yet, but starting to activate the muscles again. Yesterday did 1 mi walk on treadmill, then upper body weights. Feeling it, but again, not painful. Hoping a can get a few stretches to do.

That's the latest. If you're OK making the drive to I-25 and Lincoln, I'd recommend Jeff.

Bill

[johndz]

Hi, Dr. Rector did my left side 10 days ago, and my right side in January. Both of mine have gone perfectly. It's been a very positive experience with Boulder Community as well.

I'm 48 and in good health otherwise, so I realize the cards were stacked in my favor.

[Denver_wrench]

I'd be interested in joining someone in the Denver metro area to work out. I just got back from my last PT at Kaiser; they are kind of limited as to how many sessions they order. If I feel I need to I'll go out-of network for more, but for the time being I'll do the exercises I've been given. Motivation is always a problem for me with this stuff, so a little company and accountability attached to my workout may be just the thing.

[Boomer]

I have had my initial consultation with Dr. Rector, but have not scheduled my first procedure yet. I have started a program of physical therapy called "Stretch To Win" with Shawn Caldwell, a chiropractor in Wheatridge who works with the Rockies and Broncos. Dr. Caldwell has been working on my hip capsules to increase my range of motion, and to encourage some healing by loosening the joint capsules. He understands hip resurfacing, and believes the better my range of motion before the surgery, the easier and more complete my recovery will be. The sessions are an hour long and entail serious assisted stretching. Dr. Caldwell is a serious chiropractor and works hard at this.

I have had only three sessions with Dr. Caldwell, but I am already experiencing better range of motion, a more normal walking gait and significantly less pain. My friends have commented that I appear to have lost most of my limp, which I have had for two years. I work on stretching at home to retain the benefits of Dr. Caldwell's efforts, but have no doubt that he deserves 90% of the credit for my improvement. I went to Dr. Caldwell to get an understanding of the kind of physical therapy I would need after my first hip resurfacing, hoping to incorporate it into a daily routine so that my recovery would be more natural. I had no illusions that the PT would actually make me better now.

If you are near Wheatridge and want some help getting your hip ready for resurfacing, or you want a faster recovery, give Dr. Caldwell a call. 

[BillyH]

Hi All!  I had my hip resurfaced by Dr. Pritchett almost a year ago.  Recovery has gone mostly well.  I've been slowly working my way up to running under the direction of my PT since 6 months post-op.  I'm now up to 4 x 6:00 running with 1:00 walking in between.  I've sort of plateaued there though.  I start to get soreness/slight pain in the hip area. 

My PT has moved so I'm posting here to see if anyone has any recommendations for the south Denver area (I'm in Highlands Ranch).  I see recommendations here but from 2011.  A PT with experience with hip resurfaced athletes would obviously be ideal.  A therapist that works with runners would be an added bonus.  Please let me know.

Thanks,

Billy (aka "Bionic B")