Alpha Orthopedics & Sports Medicine | Spotlight

By
Steve Gamel
| Photos By Amber Boykin
Photography

We all deal with bone
and joint pain from time to time. It doesn’t matter
if you’re a star athlete trying to play through a knee injury, a weekend
warrior who’s made an unfortunate habit of rolling the same ankle one too
many times, or an older individual who has been living with seemingly
unexplainable hip and shoulder pain for the past five years. All we want is
for the pain to go away, and yet, many of us stubbornly delay asking for
help. Perhaps we think we can “tough it out,” or it’s not too severe, and the
pain will improve with time. In some cases, we resign ourselves to the notion
that we’re simply getting older and that there’s nothing anyone can
do.

Dr. Jon Thompson and Dr. Brian Snow, along
with the rest of the Alpha Orthopedics & Sports Medicine team, see
these scenarios daily. And while they admit some musculoskeletal issues are
more complex to treat, you’d be surprised how many can be fixed by visiting
your local orthopedic surgeon.

“In reality, it may not be arthritis at all,
and it may not be because you’re getting older. It certainly may not even be
something you have to live with forever. It may be something we can treat
easily and make go away, but until they come in and let us check it out, they
don’t know,” Dr. Thompson said. “At least once a day, I hear, ‘If I had just
come to see you sooner, I wouldn’t have had to live with this pain for the
past 10 years. Some things are easily treated, and that’s what we try to
provide for our patients.”

Orthopedic
Care Close to Home

Alpha Orthopedics & Sports Medicine
comprises top orthopedic surgeons, physician assistants, and staff — all of
whom are committed to providing excellence in orthopedic medicine for our
community. And they certainly are not the proverbial new doctors on the
block. In fact, Dr. Thompson and Dr. Brian Snow have a combined 25 years of
experience serving patients in McKinney, Prosper, and Sherman. Dr. Thompson
graduated with honors from Dartmouth College and earned his medical degree
from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda,
Maryland. He is double board certified in orthopedic sports medicine and
orthopedic surgery. Not to be outdone, Dr. Snow received his medical degree
from the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California and
completed his orthopedic surgery residency at the Los Angeles County + USC
Medical Center. He also completed his advanced arthroscopy and sports
medicine fellowship at the University of Utah in Salt Lake
City.

The McKinney office was opened in 2010. Since
then, they’ve added two additional full-service locations in Sherman and
Prosper and an easily accessible walk-in clinic in McKinney and Prosper for
immediate treatment of orthopedic injuries.

What does orthopedic medicine cover exactly?
In simple terms, it is anything related to bones and joints. This includes
ACL injuries, hip and shoulder pain, issues related to arthritis, ankle pain,
sports medicine, elbow pain, hand and wrist pain, and broken bones. Many of
the orthopedic issues they treat do not involve surgery and can instead be
treated through various therapies, medication, braces, etc. Should surgery be
the best course of action, Alpha Orthopedics is a specialist in minimally
invasive techniques as well as adult joint reconstruction and total joint
replacement, robotic-assisted joint replacement, and minimally invasive total
hip replacements. They specialize in using the latest technologies, such as
computer-aided and robotic-assisted techniques, to reduce both the time it
takes to heal and as well as the level of pain or discomfort associated with
the procedure.

“The misconception is that the only treatment
we render is surgery, and that’s simply not the case. In fact, most people we
see don’t need surgery,” Dr. Thompson said. “When surgery is needed,
technology has advanced to where we have better outcomes, smaller incisions,
and less rehab time. The human body hasn’t changed, but our techniques
have.”

Ortho
Express Walk-in Clinic

Accidents and injuries are never planned, and
the last thing anyone wants is to have to wait four to six weeks to get an
appointment with their local orthopedic or rely on emergency room care for
things like muscle injuries, fractures, sports injuries, sprains, and
strains. That’s why the team at Alpha Orthopedics & Sports Medicine
offers a convenient walk-in injury clinic for immediate care by one of their
highly-trained medical professionals.

The sooner you receive proper treatment for
an injury, the faster and easier your recovery will be. And because the
walk-in injury clinic at Alpha Orthopedics & Sports Medicine offers
services that match their full-time clinics, you have the opportunity to
return to the same team of dedicated providers for follow-up care after your
walk-in visit.

“One of the biggest challenges in all of
medicine is access to care when people really need it,” Dr. Snow
said.

You could have a kid who fell off a bike or
an active adult who rolled an ankle. The pain they’re experiencing is
immediate and needs attention.

We started the walk-in clinic 10 years ago,
and now it’s in both of our offices. They can walk in during normal business
hours.”

He added, “Not everyone needs orthopedic care
every day, but when they do, it’s nice to know that they can receive that
care close to home without having to drive further out. We love what we do,
and we’re here when you need us.”