When you’re working with the team at the Michigan Center for Regenerative Medicine, you may often hear the term Physiatrist thrown around when referring to Dr. Nabity. We thought it would be a good idea to unpack this term and provide you with a bit more information about the benefits of working with someone like Dr. Nabity who has such a wide array of expertise involving physiatry.
What is a Physiatrist?
A Physiatrist is a medical professional that primarily provides two different areas of medical treatment; physical medicine and rehabilitation. The physical medicine component deals with anything that may involve musculoskeletal issues such as neck pain, knee pain, shoulder issues, or any movement based discomfort.
The rehabilitation piece is primary individuals who are dealing with traumatic events such as brain injuries, strokes, or have disabilities that require wheelchairs or other assisted devices. These individuals may now be stabilized from a medical standpoint, but now must go through rehabilitation to get back into a community based living situation.
Function is a Key Component to Physiatry
The goal of any Physiatrist should be to maximize a patient’s function. This can most often be done by taking a look at an individuals current pain condition, or disability and determining what barriers are present that are preventing someone from reaching their functional goals. Once those barriers have been identified, a Physiatrist can help an individual to develop a rehabilitation plan to begin to reach those goals that may have once seemed unattainable.
How Does Physiatry and Regenerative Medicine Go Hand in Hand?
As a Physiatrist, Dr. Nabity and his team are trained to diagnose musculoskeletal conditions through physical examinations, but we are not a team of surgeons, which is a key distinction. Because of this, we don’t have a bias towards surgery and instead work to use other means to resolve health conditions through exercise programs, or stem cell injections. Thanks to stem cell treatment options through regenerative medicine, we’re actually able to place a needle and inject stem cells which can actually begin to regrow tissue in an area to improve function and reduce pain. This distinction is key compared to a doctor who may immediately recommend surgery or simply advise receiving a Cortisone shot which does little other than block the pain for a short time as opposed to getting to the root of the problem.
Interested in Learning More About How Dr. Nabity And His Team Can Help You Reach Your Health Goals?
We hope this article has given you a brief explanation of physiatry and how it can benefit your unique health situation. If you have questions about anything covered here, or if you’d like to learn more about Dr. Nabity and the team at the Michigan Center for Regenerative Medicine, feel free to give us a call today at (248) 216-1008