HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS INJURIES LED HIM TO BECOME AN ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON:  While in high school, Dr. Dettling played football and baseball. He had broken his leg playing football but was able to recover, and continued to play sports. Later that year, he threw out his shoulder playing baseball and was told that nothing could be done to bring him to full recovery. While he had originally aspired to be a professional baseball player, his injuries sparked an interest in becoming a doctor. While in medical school, he naturally gravitated towards orthopedic medicine, particularly sports medicine.

THE SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN WORK INJURIES AND SPORTS INJURIES: When someone injures their tissue, such as a shoulder or knee, they are very similar, but just in a different population.  It comes down to pure physics when someone injures a body part. The injury that occurs from falling off a ladder, will look almost identical to an injury that occurs from a rough contact sport. Injured workers and sports athletes both want to get back to work as soon as possible, and as safely as possible.  One of the key differences is that professional athletes will not have light duty work available; they must be fully recovered to go back to work.

HAVING A SUPPORT SYSTEM IS A CRITICAL COMPONENT TO RECOVERY:  When a patient has family members, friends, and co-workers that are supportive, they will recover quicker. Whether it is going to a friend’s house, or a friend driving them to their initial physical therapy appointments, being surrounded by people that care about them, is key to recovery. When a patient doesn’t have family or friends close by, they tend to struggle post-injury. When an employer can provide light duty within their restrictions, it really helps injured workers from becoming isolated, which is a huge detriment to the recovery process.

“GOOD” PHYSICAL THERAPY MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE: Physical therapy is not one-size-fits-all; the therapist is the difference-maker. A good physical therapist is very engaged, hands-on, and really pushes the injured worker to regain their range of motion. Physical therapy can be a very difficult process and requires a lot of work from the injured worker, but it is a critical piece of recovery. One surgeon can perform the same surgery on three different patients, but they will have different outcomes depending on their therapist, and the work that the patient puts into it.

TIMELINESS OF CARE IS ESSENTIAL TO RECOVERY: Utilization Review (UR) is widely used in Worker’s Compensation to prevent unnecessary treatment, but there are times that it can delay time-sensitive treatment. An example of this is a distal biceps tear, which has a finite time of about six to eight weeks to repair, or there is a huge risk of not making a full recovery. If Utilization Review takes four weeks to authorize an MRI and then takes another six to eight weeks to authorize the surgery, the procedure will not have the same outcome as a patient who had it immediately. Changes are needed in the UR system to ensure that essential, and imperative treatment is authorized with urgency.

HIS CAREER HAS ALLOWED HIM TO COMBINE HIS LOVE OF ORTHOPEDIC MEDICINE, AND HIS LOVE OF SPORTS:  He considers himself very fortunate to be able to help people who have either had a sports injury, or a work-related injury. He understands their frustration, angst, and the difficult road to recovery, due to his previous high school injuries. He is very empathetic to injured workers who are nervous about being out of work and having families to provide for. He also gets to still be involved in his love of sports, since he is the Medical Director of both the Vegas Golden Knights Hockey Team, and the Cirque du Soleil Shows in Las Vegas, Nevada. If you would like to contact Dr. Dettling, go to www.jamesdettlingmd.net.