Recommendation sought for a knee specialist

Twisted my knee pretty good last Wednesday and still have quite a bit of pain.  

Can anyone recommend a nearby orthopedist who specializes in knees?  Have had good experience with Summit Medical Group and they are in-network.

Thanks in advance.

  


jimmurphy said:

Twisted my knee pretty good last Wednesday and still have quite a bit of pain.  

Can anyone recommend a nearby orthopedist who specializes in knees?  Have had good experience with Summit Medical Group and they are in-network.

Thanks in advance.

  

Anyone?  Maybe a regular orthopedist or sports medicine professional?


This is second-hand, but I know someone who had a good experience with

https://www.summithealth.com/doctors/stephen-kocaj-md


Dr. Michael Kelly, sports medicine and non-surgical orthopedics

776 Northfield Ave, West Orange, NJ 07052

www.drkelly.us

973-736-1939

Procaremedicalassociates@gmail.com


Thank you both!

Edited to add: neither has an available appointment until 12/6, so still looking…



I've always heard good things about Richard Rosa in West Orange. I've never seen him myself, though I have seen his partner, whom I wasn't too crazy about.


drummerboy said:

I've always heard good things about Richard Rosa in West Orange. I've never seen him myself, though I have seen his partner, whom I wasn't too crazy about.

Thanks very much db.


drummerboy said:

I've always heard good things about Richard Rosa in West Orange. I've never seen him myself, though I have seen his partner, whom I wasn't too crazy about.

He's booked for over a week too. I made an appointment with a Dr. Gregory Pinkowski in W.O. for tomorrow. If I don't like will make another with one of the recommendations here and just wait, I guess...


drummerboy said:

I've always heard good things about Richard Rosa in West Orange. I've never seen him myself, though I have seen his partner, whom I wasn't too crazy about.

Rosa replaced both of my knees 21 years ago and they're still in great shape. He's wonderful and his excellent reputation is well-deserved. It's tough getting an appointent with him though. 

Good luck with whomever you see. 


My guy...

He's a smartass, but in a good way.   https://www.gamedaydoc.com/

-s.


soda said:

My guy...

He's a smartass, but in a good way.   https://www.gamedaydoc.com/

-s.

Yeah, he replaced my hip and knee. Great doctor, and I've recommended him before, but I just know him as a surgeon.


Rosa’s partner is Jason Garcia.  Wife has had 2 surgeries with him and is thrilled.


According to my Electrophysiologist when I posed a similar question for my meniscus repair, "The knee is a **** little joint that performs one voluntary motion. No one calling themselves an orthopedist knows any more about the knee than anyone else who calls themselves an orthopedist." 

I'm sure that's some doctor flex and not entirely accurate but I thought it was a funny answer. 


I've occasionally scored much more timely appointments with specialists by going through the primary care doc.  Good luck, and i hope the knee starts doing better for you.


Thanks everyone for your input. I went to Pinkowski yesterday and got a good report. Expects that the meniscus was pinched and that I may have a bone bruise at the top of the tibia. Should resolve over a couple of weeks. X-ray showed no arthritis, so I got that going for me grin


That damn miniscus. I smushed mine years ago. I recovered but ended up with a knee replacement anyway.


I'm surprised that there was no mention of Eric Mirsky since he seems to be the "go to" knee doctor for everyone I know and he is in Summit Health.  I'm sorry I didn't see this sooner or I would have suggested him.  (He did my husband's meniscus surgery and, after a subsequent injury, has been doing the lubricant injections twice a year to try to avoid or at least delay a knee replacement.)  Pro tip - no matter what anyone with a white coat says, if the knee doctor says "no running", don't even get on a treadmill at a brisk walk.  

@jimmurphy - I'm glad you got a good report!


drummerboy said:

That damn miniscus. I smushed mine years ago. I recovered but ended up with a knee replacement anyway.

Yeah, seems to be a very common point of degradation.

I kept the appointment on the 28th with Dr. Rosa, in the event it is not better by then. Will cancel if it is.


sac said:

I'm surprised that there was no mention of Eric Mirsky since he seems to be the "go to" knee doctor for everyone I know and he is in Summit Health.  I'm sorry I didn't see this sooner or I would have suggested him.  (He did my husband's meniscus surgery and, after a subsequent injury, has been doing the lubricant injections twice a year to try to avoid or at least delay a knee replacement.)  Pro tip - no matter what anyone with a white coat says, if the knee doctor says "no running", don't even get on a treadmill at a brisk walk.  

@jimmurphy - I'm glad you got a good report!

Thank you!

I used to really enjoy running, but dropped it about 6 months ago. Hips, knees, even ankles are all the better for it.  The elliptical works well enough for me, although it's pretty boring.

I ran, well jogged, to catch a train this morning.  Immediately regretted it. No more until the knee feels better.


For what it's worth, Dr Pinkowsky did my massive rotator cuff repair in March and I thought he was excellent.  I'm also looking to have both knees replaced next year, so am interested in everyone's experiences with that.


mulemom said:

For what it's worth, Dr Pinkowsky did my massive rotator cuff repair in March and I thought he was excellent.  I'm also looking to have both knees replaced next year, so am interested in everyone's experiences with that.

I had my right knee replaced in December of 2017 by Michael Rieber (gamedaydoc from Soda's post above) and by April of 2018 I was playing racquetball again. And no knee problems since then.

Rieber is highly recommended by me.

(he later did my hip too. equally satisfied)


jimmurphy said:

sac said:

I'm surprised that there was no mention of Eric Mirsky since he seems to be the "go to" knee doctor for everyone I know and he is in Summit Health.  I'm sorry I didn't see this sooner or I would have suggested him.  (He did my husband's meniscus surgery and, after a subsequent injury, has been doing the lubricant injections twice a year to try to avoid or at least delay a knee replacement.)  Pro tip - no matter what anyone with a white coat says, if the knee doctor says "no running", don't even get on a treadmill at a brisk walk.  

@jimmurphy - I'm glad you got a good report!

Thank you!

I used to really enjoy running, but dropped it about 6 months ago. Hips, knees, even ankles are all the better for it.  The elliptical works well enough for me, although it's pretty boring.

I ran, well jogged, to catch a train this morning.  Immediately regretted it. No more until the knee feels better.

My spouse was in great shape after his meniscus surgery and he was not typically a runner at all.  (His favored exercise medium is on a bicycle.)  But he needed a cardiac stress test at some point and he told the med techs that he was not supposed to run, so they said something like "Well just walk on the treadmill as briskly as you comfortably can and stop if it hurts."  But that was lousy advice because once he was warmed up, it wasn't painful at all.  But shortly after completing the test and cooling down, while walking through the parking lot back to his car, he realized that his knee hurt and a few hours later it was very swollen.  Those med techs had no business telling him that and I haven't forgiven them for it!


So sorry that happened. The only exercise that I’ve seen in a PT’s office that doesn’t involve the legs is a kind-of rotary bicycle with the arms. Might have been a better solution.


jimmurphy said:

So sorry that happened. The only exercise that I’ve seen in a PT’s office that doesn’t involve the legs is a kind-of rotary bicycle with the arms. Might have been a better solution.

Yes, a bicycle or perhaps an elliptical would have been better.  And this only happened because the insurance wouldn't approve the alternative method for stress tests.  I'm not sure what that is, but it doesn't involve exercising apparently.  I guess the insurance company saved a little money then, but now they are paying for his knee treatments every six months and will likely have to pay for another knee surgery at some point.


sac said:

Yes, a bicycle or perhaps an elliptical would have been better.  And this only happened because the insurance wouldn't approve the alternative method for stress tests.  I'm not sure what that is, but it doesn't involve exercising apparently.  I guess the insurance company saved a little money then, but now they are paying for his knee treatments every six months and will likely have to pay for another knee surgery at some point.

There is a medicine based stress test but as I understand it it is not terribly pleasant.


Steve said:

sac said:

Yes, a bicycle or perhaps an elliptical would have been better.  And this only happened because the insurance wouldn't approve the alternative method for stress tests.  I'm not sure what that is, but it doesn't involve exercising apparently.  I guess the insurance company saved a little money then, but now they are paying for his knee treatments every six months and will likely have to pay for another knee surgery at some point.

There is a medicine based stress test but as I understand it it is not terribly pleasant.

It's not so bad. There's an initial rush after getting the med and it feels like your whole body has gotten warm, but it wears off quickly.


drummerboy said:

Steve said:

sac said:

Yes, a bicycle or perhaps an elliptical would have been better.  And this only happened because the insurance wouldn't approve the alternative method for stress tests.  I'm not sure what that is, but it doesn't involve exercising apparently.  I guess the insurance company saved a little money then, but now they are paying for his knee treatments every six months and will likely have to pay for another knee surgery at some point.

There is a medicine based stress test but as I understand it it is not terribly pleasant.

It's not so bad. There's an initial rush after getting the med and it feels like your whole body has gotten warm, but it wears off quickly.

I think that was the one initially prescribed but our insurance wouldn't cover it LOL



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