A free orthopedic screening for people with joint pain will be held from 3 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 27, on the HonorHealth John C. Lincoln Medical Center campus at the Cowden Center, 9202 N. Second St., Phoenix, AZ 85020.
Licensed physical therapists will evaluate patient pain in the neck, back, hip, knee, shoulder, elbow, wrist, ankle or foot.
During the 15-minute screening, the therapist will:
- Test the patient’s strength and flexibility.
- Test tissue tension to determine whether the pain is due to a musculo-skeletal (orthopedic) condition or another kind of health problem such as a systemic disorder or infection.
- Discuss treatment options and recommend a course of action. When appropriate, patients will be referred to a primary care physician.
Interested patients are asked to call 623-580-5800 or visit HonorHealth.com/events for an appointment.
“Many people tough it out every day with pain that not only keeps them from enjoying recreational activities with friends and family, but actually prevents them from performing as well as they could on the job or in other activities of daily life,” said Jeff Abernethy, PT, DPT, OCS, FAAOMPT, Outpatient Physical Therapy Services manager at John C. Lincoln Medical Center.
“Many of these people don’t get help, because they don’t know help is available for their problem,” he explained. “Others may be afraid of surgery or can’t spare time for extended recovery.”
However, many people with joint pain now can be helped with treatments that don’t require surgery or extended recovery time, Abernethy added, noting that even when surgery is appropriate, new procedures are often not as difficult as they were years ago.
“We hope our free screening can connect people in pain with real solutions for their problems,” Abernethy said.
