Plan the drive from Gilbert before your clinic visit

The Chandler office is west of Gilbert

The clinic address is 1100 S. Dobson Rd., Suite 210, Chandler, AZ 85286. From the Heritage District, the estimated drive is about eight miles and 18 to 22 minutes. Both Ray and Warner head west toward Dobson Road. Check current traffic because that travel time isn't a promise.

From Power Ranch or Trilogy, plan roughly 11 miles and 22 to 25 minutes. Queen Creek or Germann roads and Loop 202 are common choices. Roadwork to widen the Santan can make travel times change from day to day. Save the address and confirm the appointment before leaving home.

The clinic number is (602) 837-PAIN / (602) 837-7246. Ask about arrival time, clothing, medicines, and activity limits. Clear answers can make the day less rushed.

A comfortable ride starts before you get in the car

Warm a stiff joint and move it gently before leaving, then set the seat so your knee or hip isn't sharply bent. On a longer ride, allow time to stand and loosen up when needed. Don't finish a hard exercise session just before the drive.

Bring brief notes saying where the ache is, when it started, and which movement worsens it. Pack a list of medicines and any past X-ray report you already have. These details help keep the exam focused.

After the visit, follow the activity directions you were given. When no limits were discussed, ask before testing the joint with golf, pickleball, or yard work. Let the joint settle before deciding how it feels.

Sources

1. A cross-sectional study contacted 273 of 317 US centres offering direct-to-consumer stem-cell therapy, posing as a 57-year-old man with knee osteoarthritis. The mean advertised price of a unilateral same-day stem-cell knee injection was $5,156 (SD $2,446), and centres claimed a mean clinical efficacy of 82% (SD 9.6%) - a figure with no support in the published evidence. The gap between the quoted number and the trial data is the single most useful thing a patient can be told before a consultation.

   Piuzzi NS, et al. — The Stem-Cell Market for the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis: A Patient Perspective.. The journal of knee surgery, 2018. DOI: 10.1055/s-0037-1604443.

2. Medicare's National Coverage Determination covers autologous platelet-rich plasma ONLY for chronic non-healing diabetic, pressure or venous WOUNDS, and only under Coverage with Evidence Development inside an approved clinical research study. There is no Medicare coverage pathway for PRP as a treatment for osteoarthritis or any other joint indication, which is why these injections are quoted as cash prices.

   Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services — Autologous Platelet-rich Plasma (Coverage with Evidence Development). CMS.gov, 2012.

3. Roughly 14 million people in the United States have symptomatic knee osteoarthritis, and more than half of them are under 65 - with nearly 2 million under 45. The market for a cash-pay procedure sold as an alternative to joint replacement is largely working-age people who are being told they are too young for surgery.

   Deshpande BR, et al. — Number of Persons With Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis in the US: Impact of Race and Ethnicity, Age, Sex, and Obesity.. Arthritis care & research, 2016. DOI: 10.1002/acr.22897.