A few weeks ago I was reading an article in the Seattle Times about high insurance deductibles causing limitation to access to health care. The story was about a woman having significant low back pain with sciatic nerve pain into her leg. This pain was making it difficult for her to sleep, work and do regular daily activities. Not ever having this before she went to a specialist whom ordered an MRI which diagnosed her with a disc protrusion irritating her sciatic nerve causing pain. Because of her large deductable, up to this point she owed $2,000 and had no further savings to receive any more treatment.
As an outpatient Physical Therapist this really disturbed me. We treat this type of condition regularly on a daily basis with a 90% success rate of resolving pain ss and helping patients return to their everyday activities. Our average number of visits to achieve this is 8 visits. So for $800 to $900 or less than half of what she spent she could have received treatment that would have resolved her problem 9 out of 10 times.
So I had to write this to let you, the public know, if you have a spine or orthopedic condition causing you pain or limiting your activities call a Physical Therapist first.
And just so you know, the sooner you see us the faster we can get you better costing even less money.
Hope to see you soon
All of us at Peak Sports & Spine Physical Therapy
