Innovative pain-relief treatment allows woman to enjoy trip to Italy
Geri Maschio spent more than a year planning a girls trip to Italy, but pain in her hip threatened to keep her from getting on a plane and experiencing the cities she’d been dreaming about.
Maschio started experiencing pain in her hip two years earlier. She tried a variety of treatment options to find relief, but none fixed the issue. Unfortunately, physical therapy didn’t help, and Maschio needed a hip replacement.
She was referred by her primary care doctor to Dr. Jeffrey Selby, an orthopaedic surgeon at UK Orthopaedic Surgery & Sports Medicine.
By that time, Maschio’s pain had become too severe for her to continue without treatment. Hip replacements require about four to six weeks of recovery, but Maschio’s trip was quickly approaching, and she refused to forgo her long-planned vacation.
“I wasn’t going to be the person who bailed at the last minute – the trip was a year in the making,” she said.
Another route to pain relief
Luckily, Selby knew of another orthopaedic physician at UK who might be able to help. He referred her to Dr. Kyle Smoot, who suggested using ultrasound-guided injections to treat Maschio’s hip pain. The procedure required little recovery time and would allow Maschio to travel.
Ultrasound-guided injections are used to treat pain stemming from conditions like chronic tendinopathy, muscle tears and carpal tunnel. They’re used in a variety of joints – including the hip and knee – and can also be used diagnostically to identify and differentiate a patient’s pain.
Maschio felt prepared for the procedure, which was performed while she was awake and numbed, but wasn’t sure what the outcome would be.
“I trusted Dr. Smoot because I was totally confident seeing anyone Dr. Selby recommended,” she said. “And Dr. Smoot and the athletic trainer [Amy Waugh] were so kind when they explained everything to me.”
The day before her trip to Italy, Maschio had an appointment with Smoot to receive her injections. Recovery was simple, she said. She let the numbing medication wear off and then felt immediate relief from the pain that had threatened to keep her from going on the trip of a lifetime.
The very next day, Maschio got on the plane for an eight-hour trip. She spent 12 days in Italy walking five to seven miles a day – pain-free.
“I know I wouldn’t have made it on this trip without Dr. Smoot and Dr. Selby – I couldn’t have done it without them,” she said.
