A couple of years ago, Mike’s hip pain had gotten so severe that he could barely walk. He made an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon, who told Mike he needed a hip replacement. He immediately scheduled and underwent the surgery, but his pain never went away. At a follow-up visit, his doctor ordered an MRI to determine the source of Mike’s ongoing pain and found Mike had a pinched nerve in his back. His treating physician explained it was caused by a stretch injury from the first operation, and Mike had another surgery to relieve the pressure on the nerve.
But pain continued to plague Mike, and he was fed up with the surgeries that didn’t seem to be helping. “I wanted an unbiased, quality second opinion,” he said. He contacted Best Doctors, a free service provided by his employer, to get a case review by one of Best Doctors’ leading specialists. The Best Doctors staff was quick to respond to Mike’s initial call and performed an in-depth intake. His member advocate and lead physician were both friendly and made sure the process was straightforward. Best Doctors collected Mike’s medical information for him and sent it to an expert in orthopedics.
In the thorough Best Doctors report, the expert explained Mike’s pinched nerve couldn’t be treated with surgery, and it wasn’t even located in his back. The expert said the neuropathy in his hip was permanent, and because of this, the second surgery wasn’t appropriate. Mike wanted to explore all possible options before accepting his diagnosis of permanent neuropathy. His member advocate set up a call with the expert, who patiently answered all of his questions.
The expert recommended Mike see a pain management specialist and a physiatrist for physical rehabilitation. After speaking with the expert, Mike realized he should have contacted Best Doctors long before he did. The Best Doctors team had been more helpful than he could have imagined.
“I expected a lot from Best Doctors and they delivered,” he said. “On a scale of one to 10, I would rate the services as a 10.”
Mike was relieved to finally have a plan for treating his pain. He made appointments with a pain specialist and plans to see a physiatrist as well. He said, “People should engage with Best Doctors as soon as they have some type of medical issue, because it’s good to get an unbiased second opinion and direction on where to go.”
