Taking a much-needed break from her busy day—she was juggling her college courses as they approached the end of the semester—Carly Quinn went into her kitchen to make lunch. Her innocuous afternoon quickly took a turn when, placing the dishes in the sink to wash them, Quinn dropped a bowl. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain. Crimson blood gushed from a large gash on her pinky, while drops spattered the sink. The 19-year-old started to panic. Could she simply bandage her finger and get back to work? The answer quickly became clear: she needed medical attention.
Not wasting any time, Quinn turned to a team of doctors she trusts, Premier Orthopaedics, where her family has long been going and where she’d been previously seen. Inside, the medical staff knew they needed to act fast. A bit blood-averse, Quinn was on the verge of a panic attack. Seeing Quinn’s distress, the team calmed her down, distracting her with questions about her schoolwork. “The staff and the doctors were absolutely amazing trying to deal with [the injury] and help me calm down and understand that I was fine,” says Quinn. “They were really great and supportive.”
All the while, Gregory Tadduni, M.D., who practices at the Ridley Park location, looked after her wound. Wanting to be certain no nerve or bone damage had occurred, he recommended an X-ray, which came back clear. Carefully cleaning the deep wound and checking for any shards of glass, Dr. Tadduni expertly stitched the cut, stemming the bleeding along with Quinn’s panic. A hand and wrist specialist, Dr. Tadduni has decades of experience treating patients for everything from nerve damage to carpal tunnel syndrome.
In under an hour, Quinn was stitched up and ready to go home. She had a few follow up appointments to make sure everything was healing properly, and six weeks later, her hand was as good as new. “I don’t have any pain at all. I haven’t had pain for weeks—I completely regained normal function,” Quinn says.
That’s the sort of treatment Quinn’s witnessed at Premier Orthopaedics on multiple occasions. “Whether you’re a new patient or [a return patient], the staff and the doctors are just incredible to all of their patients. They’re so understanding and comforting, especially in situations like mine,” she says. “It’s a great environment to be treated in and they really make sure that they are there for you and control your pain.”
Such was the case for Steve Mayo, whose experience with Premier Orthopaedics was a bit different. Unlike Quinn’s, his injury wasn’t immediate, but developed over years, ultimately hindering his life in many ways. Developing shooting pain in his knee, Mayo struggled to get around, to the point where he relied on a cane. In so much pain, Mayo, a longtime teacher at an arts-focused school in Delaware, even retired after he feared for the safety of his students. “I worked in the computer lab and I would often use my chair to wheel around the classroom because it was just too painful to get up,” he says. “I was concerned about my class’s safety if something were to happen.”
Nothing seemed to help—not anti-inflammatories or even the injections he was getting in his knee. “I was doing cortisone and then an artificial cartilage,” says Mayo of the injections. “They helped, but they were just masking the symptoms—they weren’t really treating the cause and became less efficacious.” The pain persisted.
After unsuccessful treatments, Mayo returned to his general practitioner, who X-rayed both his knee and hip. It was then Mayo discovered the pain was coming from an unexpected place—his hip. After meeting with a number of specialists, Mayo decided to go with Chet Simmons Jr., M.D., who practices out of Premier Orthopaedics’ West Chester office. An expert in his field, Dr. Simmons performs nearly 200 hip replacements each year. Mayo was immediately at ease upon meeting Dr. Simmons and the surgery became a fairly easy decision. Instead of suffering through or masking the pain as he had for so long, Mayo relied on Dr. Simmons to treat the cause of it.
Mayo was a textbook case, suffering “significant stiffness and restriction of motion—difficulty putting on shoes and socks or entering and exiting a vehicle,” explains Dr. Simmons. And “conservative measures such as medication, exercise and physical therapy” didn’t relive the pain. For most hip replacement patients, the hip “ball and socket has worn away and the hip is ‘bone on bone’ or close to it,” adds Dr. Simmons.
After the surgery, Mayo’s world changed immediately. Where he once was uncomfortable even driving, much less going for a walk, he has regained his ability to live without pain.
However daunting a hip replacement sounds, the surgery is quick for most. It takes around an hour and patients are able to walk with assistance the same day. Mayo’s surgery was so seamless that within a month, during which time he underwent physical therapy, he was able to walk around the block and drive without pain. Now he’s able to play with his godchildren’s toddler and keep up with his dog when he goes on walks.
When it comes to health, the doctors at Premier Orthopaedics put not only the body, but also the mind, at ease —the true hallmark of excellent care.
Comprising physician offices, physical therapy, MRI, and urgent care, Premier Orthopaedics has more than 35 convenient locations throughout the Greater Philadelphia area. Call (855) 678-4624 or visit premierortho.com. Appointments are available within 24 hours.
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