Make Pain a Thing of the Past – pain managment – Physician Partners of America

Tag Archive for: pain managment

What is the Best Office Chair for Back Pain?

Traits of office chairs that reduce pain in the back and neck –

Does your back and neck hurt while you are at work or sitting for long periods of time? You might be sitting in the wrong chair. The best office chair for back pain is based on preference and varies from person to person, however, there are features you should consider when looking for some pain relief at work.

Lumbar support office chairs

We all know the position you get into when you sit for too long and your back begins to round. Because your lumbar spine (lower back) curves inward, if lower back support is not given, your lumbar spine can become strained. A good chair should offer lumbar support, if you want even more structure, adjustable lumber support is a way to personalize your chair and get your positioning exactly how you want it.

Adjustable armrests

Armrests are very underrated but offer neck and shoulder strain reduction. Your elbows should rest lightly on the armrests and bend at about a 90-degree angle when using a keyboard and mouse. With adjustable armrests, you can ensure they are at the correct height for you and not adding more strain.

Deep seat

This feature is probably the most overlooked one when purchasing a new office chair for back pain. With a deep seat, you should be able to sit with your back against the backrest while leaving 2 to 4 inches between the back of the knees and the seat of the chair. This will help with posture and relieving strain off the back and neck.

Adjustable height office chairs

We are all different heights. Because of this, no one chair fits all. The best office chair for back pain will give you the support needed. It should allow you to scoot all the way to the back of the seat with your feet flat on the floor, thighs horizontal and arms even with the height of the desk. The average height of the chair for most people ranges from 16 to 21 inches off the ground.

While all of these are very important to remember when buying a new office chair, remember it will not cure your pain. If you are already having chronic neck or back pain and are seeking relief, contact Physician Partners of America to schedule a consultation and let us help you.

 

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Patient Care Champions – Gary Lindsey, APRN-C, DC

GARY LINDSEY, NURSE PRACTITIONER, RICHARDSON

Our employees are all patient care champions, but some go the extra mile and we want to give them the recognition they deserve. They embody the PPOA values known as S.I.T.E. – Safety, Integrity, Teamwork, Empathy – which informs our service to patients and the community through high quality health care. 

Gary Lindsey, APRN-C, DC, has done many things with his life – sales, financial services, and chiropractor – but the theme that ties it altogether is caring for others. The nurse practitioner at the Physician Partners of America – Richardson, Texas, clinic is popular with patients for his knowledge and compassion.

“If you want to label my career, it’s service to others in any shape, form, or title,” he says. He comes into the clinic most days at 7 a.m. It’s a day filled with new patient visits, follow-up appointments, in-office procedures, referrals, documentations – and the dozens of other tasks to help chronic pain patients find relief. He works with pain management specialist Christopher Creighton, M.D.,

The best part of the job? Reaching people through their pain.

“It’s about giving people hope. I believe a great deal of the negative behaviors we see in people are just a reaction to fear,” he says. “It takes on many different presentations but it boils down to the same basic emotion.  If I can get past that and open their hearts and minds, then some real healing can take place.”

Lindsey learned about the value of compassionate healthcare early in life. A native of Jacksonville, North Carolina, he spent part of his childhood in Okinawa (he is of Okinawan descent). He remembers a particular physician who helped his father, a decorated war veteran of Korea and Vietnam, find relief.

“My dad had life-long debilitating back pain that would bring him to his knees. I remember vividly helping him off his knees so he could stand, get dressed and go to work,” Lindsey recalls. “It was a local doctor, Dr. John Dudley, who kept my father working for another 18 years past his 21 years of active duty military service.

Lindsey says Dr. Dudley inspired him to pursue a similar career path.

“My father retired with over 10,000 hours of sick leave and he never called in sick.  Dr. Dudley did this for many people in my hometown and made an indelible impact on me.  If I can do the same for others then my life is well lived.”

After working at a variety of jobs from service manager at a bicycle shop to top-rated sales rep for wireless phone companies and a financial services advisor, he returned to his first calling, healthcare.

Gary Lindsey earned his Doctor of Chiropractic from Parker University in 2002.  He ran a busy practice in Arlington, Texas, but saw its limitations. “I knew I wanted to know more about the entire continuum of care for the type of patients I treat, from conservative care to surgery to chronic management.  I looked at other various professions but knew that if I wanted to genuinely care for people nursing is about as close as you come,” he says. “So I started from scratch in my spare time, went back to school from an Associate’s through to a Master’s degree all over again.

He earned his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Nursing from Samford University and became a board-certified orthopedic nurse. He working at several healthcare companies and hospitals before coming to PPOA.

“I started in August 2016 and my second day on the job, our founder, Dr. Gari, handed me a laptop and said, ‘Go see patients; you know what to do,’ and I have not stopped since,” Lindsey recalls.

Gary Lindsey and his wife Tresia, recently celebrated their 26th anniversary. They are parents to Jacob, who is a 2016 United States Naval Academy graduate and naval aviator.  Gary Lindsey enjoys competitive cycling, the outdoors, and has driven high performance sports cars in Europe.

He has kept all his licenses active and continues his education current for both nursing and chiropractic.

“I am not done learning, growing, or advancing in my current field so my journey is to still keep putting tools in my toolbox,” he says. “My dream is to keep working, not retiring, and be able to confidently help others regardless of problems they bring me.  Also,” he adds with a smile, “because I have no idea how to play golf.”

 

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PPOA to Open First Phase of Merritt Island Medical Pavilion

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Pain Management Clinic will Relocate from Rockledge

Tampa-based Physician Partners of America (PPOA) is proud to announce that it will open the initial phase of a 30,000-square-foot Merritt Island Medical Pavilion at 450 E. Merritt Island Causeway, Merritt Island, Fla., 32953.

On Monday, July 30 PPOA’s Space Coast interventional pain management practice will move from its Rockledge location to the new state-of-the-art building, which is housed in a former Circuit City store.

“This move will serve two purposes. It will allow us to serve more patients in the market and make it more convenient for patients to get many medical services in one place,” said PPOA Chief Operating Officer Josh Helms.

The Merritt Island Medical Pavilion is intended to house multiple specialties in 6,872 square feet. Future expansion will add another 7,318 square feet of medical office space, in addition to a 9,824-square-foot, state-of-the-art ambulatory surgery center with two operating rooms and one procedure suite. The final phase of the construction will include a catheterization lab, pharmacy, laboratory, and imaging services.

Merritt Island Medical Pavilion Welcomes Rockledge Patients

The company’s Rockledge facility, at 211 Coral Sands Drive, will permanently close its doors at the end of the business day on Friday, July 20. Its resident pain management physicians, Drs. Jorge Fernandez-Silva and Sheldon Cho, will begin seeing patients on July 23 at the medical pavilion. Their practice will be renamed Physician Partners of America Pain Relief Group – Merritt Island. 

There will be no disruption of service to patients of Drs. Cho and Fernandez-Silva. Medical records will move to the pavilion. Service hours will continue to be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.

Patients can still make appointments with Drs. Cho and Fernandez-Silva by calling 844 542-5724. The fax will remain 321-507-4638.

Merritt Island Ambulatory Surgery Center to Open in the Fall

The next phase of the Space Coast development will be an ambulatory surgery center expected to open in mid-November.  The center intends to partner with orthopedics, ophthalmology, spine and other specialties within the Merritt Island market.

Second Pavilion Planned for Orlando

Physician Partners of America’s second medical pavilion is also under construction in Orlando, adjacent to the company’s pain management office at 1736 33rd Street, Orlando, Fla., 32839. The facility’s resident physician, Dr. Taufiq Ahmed, will move his office into the new facility in August, and the current space will be turned into a new ambulatory surgery center.

“The multispecialty pavilion is an important part of the company’s goal of consolidating many services under one roof,” Helms said. “This model is the future of healthcare, and we want to stay ahead of the curve in a booming state like Florida.”

Pain Clinic Move Will Not Impact Patients

There will be no disruption of service to current patients of Drs. Cho and Fernandez-Silva. Medical records will immediately move to the pavilion. Service hours will continue to be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.

Patients can continue to make appointments with Drs. Cho and Fernandez-Silva at the Merritt Island Medical Pavilion by calling 321-735-6220. The fax will remain 321-507-4638.

 

This post has been updated to reflect a new opening day.

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Dr. Rodolfo Gari Talks Work Injuries And Ways To Avoid Them

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Cyndi: The daily grind of working in an office can cause pain that people often try to ignore, but sometimes that pain can affect your whole life and it should not be ignored. Dr. Gari from Florida Pain Relief Group joins us now with more. Dr. Gari, good to have you back.

Dr. Gari: A pleasure

Cyndi: A lot of people try to just ignore the pain, but if it’s really starting to bother them, and it’s affecting their whole life, why should they go see somebody like you?

Dr. Gari: Well because one of the things, for example, the reason why we as human beings have something called pain is because it’s a warning signal. Think of it like you’re driving your car and it starts to flash saying that the engine oil is low. You’re about to get into something really bad. So if you have pain, from whatever that may be, that’s your body telling you, “Hey you gotta go and get this checked out.” Because it can and normally does get worse if it’s not treated.

Cyndi: When you see people that work in an office environment, what kind of pain are they usually coming to you with?

Dr. Gari: Usually some sort of work-related injuries. Sometimes it’s a fall, you know. I get a lot of patients of mine that are workman’s compensation. For example that they get sent over because they are lifting boxes, they hurt their back. Sometimes they’re typing, they’re using a lot of computers, they get repetitive stress injuries like carpal tunnel. They get neck injuries, you know, from maybe reading, from having the head too low. Just about any type of activity can happen…if you sit for long periods of time, that can affect your lower back. In fact, one of the biggest pressures on your lower back is when you’re sitting down.

Cyndi: Really?

Dr. Gari: What I tell some of the patients…

Cyndi: I’ve got that. I’ve got it here, I’ve got it here. So and I tend to just think, you know, that’s just the cost of doing business. But I don’t have to live with this pain.

Dr. Gari: Well, you know, in a way it’s some of the things that we do, but there’s things that can be done. For example, if you sit a lot, you can sit on one of those medicine balls. That helps with your core muscles. Also, if you can stand, there’s a lot of these desks that you can actually raise up. And standing actually reduces the pressure on your lower back, and that helps quite a bit.

Cyndi: I’m looking into that. Back to the worker’s comp situation. How does that all work when somebody comes to you with that?

Dr. Gari: Well, the worker’s compensation was meant to help the injured worker. It’s a great program because people need help. What they’ll do is when someone gets injured, they’ll work with the worker’s compensation, they’ll get an adjuster. That adjuster can send the patient to someone like us to evaluate what’s going on. We can make a diagnosis on what’s happening, what’s causing the injury, and what we want to do is help them out and, you know, try to get them back to work.

Cyndi: Definitely. That’s the goal, right? You don’t want to have more time than you need. What about repetitive stuff like typing? I’m just thinking of everyone around me on our computers, just that alone. Do you see a lot of people coming in just with carpal tunnel?

Dr. Gari: We see a lot of that. We see a lot of people with pain. And our hands weren’t made to be typing all the time. It was meant to grab and doing things with it. So things that are not natural, they can cause a lot of injuries. And one of the things about the worker’s comp that you mentioned earlier is that if we can see that patient earlier…the studies have shown very significantly that the earlier that you treat that injured worker, the more likely that he is or she is to get back to work.

Cyndi: All right. Well Dr. Gari, thank you very much. You can contact Florida Pain Relief Group to schedule your same-day appointment. Visit their website or you can give them a call: 844-Kick-Pain. Dr. Gari, thank you again.

Dr. Gari: My pleasure.

Cyndi: We’ll be right back.

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