They walk in, those that can anyway, to clinics in Natchez and Vidalia seeking something simple &045;&045; to regain proper use of their body.

From across a large part of Mississippi and Louisiana, patients with injuries, joint problems and other orthopedic ailments come into Natchez and Vidalia to be treated.

Some of the best orthopedic surgeons in two states are right here in the Miss-Lou, and patients from a wide area of two states come to get treatment here.

&uot;Some people think they can go to Jackson for better care, but they’ll probably just be at a bigger hospital where they’ll just be a number,&uot; Dr. Robert Haimson, of Passman Haimson Orthopedic Sports & Rehabilitation, said.

&uot;People are starting to realize they can get the same or better quality here, and they’re coming, even from areas that might be closer to Jackson or Baton Rouge or Monroe.&uot;

Orthopedics is a vital part of the local medical scene, and local athletes can take advantage of some top-notch medical care. There was a time when that wasn’t true. There were qualified orthopedic specialists, but even a few years ago there weren’t enough for all the patients.

&uot;I came here because there were so few orthopedic doctors, it was an underserved community,&uot; Haimson said. &uot;I thought, coming from a big city setting, that it would be slow here. But I do 700-800 surgeries a year. Most orthopedic surgeons do 300 a year, maybe.&uot;

Haimson moved here five years ago with his wife, who grew up in the area, and their children.

At Riverpark Medical Center in Vidalia, Dr. John Fairbanks, of the Fairbanks Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Center, also sees patients from across the Miss-Lou.

Fairbanks grew up in Vidalia and moved back in 1997, in part because he thought there was a need for another orthopedic surgeon.

&uot;I thought there was a need for a recently trained orthopedic surgeon,&uot; Fairbanks said. &uot;I always loved this area more than any other place I’ve ever lived. It’s home to me.&uot;

And he certainly has no plans to leave.

&uot;I’ll be buried in Sicily Island,&uot; Fairbanks said.

Just about any type of surgery or other treatment can be done at local facilities, both doctors agreed.

&uot;I do pretty much any knee and shoulder surgery,&uot; Haimson said. &uot;There’s just a few rare injuries that have to be sent on to other places, some elbow surgeries like the ‘Tommy John’ procedure that you hardly ever see.&uot;

Haimson and Fairbanks both trained specifically in sports medicine in addition to their general orthopedics training. Haimson worked in the San Francisco area at a hospital that treated a number of local professional and collegiate athletes.

Fairbanks trained in Birmingham, Ala., under Dr. James Andrews, widely regarded as one of the nation’s top orthopedic surgeons.

&uot;I thought studying sports medicine would give me a deeper level of expertise than most orthopedic surgeons,&uot; Fairbanks said. &uot;To do that, one needs to spend time with a master surgeon. I spent seven months on a daily basis with Dr. Andrews. Not many people can claim they trained with him.&uot;

Haimson also said the care his patients receive from other staff at the hospital is excellent.

&uot;We have amazing nurses,&uot; Haimson said. &uot;The operating room nurses here could go to any big hospital in the country and the surgeons there would be happy to have them.&uot;

Orthopedics has seen a huge shift in the last few decades that has been hugely beneficial to patients. The advent of arthroscopic surgery, in which a tool is inserted into joints to do surgery rather than having to open up the entire area, has made surgery much easier to recover from. Instead of having large openings in the skin to get to the joint, arthroscopic surgery leaves very small incisions where the tools were inserted.

&uot;I can scope just about anything,&uot; Haimson said. &uot;There are a few surgeries, like knee replacement, where you obviously have to open the area up, but just about anything else can be arthroscopically.&uot;

Arthroscopic surgery, and some other advances, allow patients to go home much sooner than they used to and have much fewer problems getting back to full use of their joint.

The other big change over the last few decades, Fairbanks said, has been the emphasis and physical therapy and aggressive rehabilitation.

&uot;The most important thing is a close alliance between the surgeon and the therapist,&uot; Fairbanks said. &uot;Maybe 20-40 years ago that wasn’t the case. Some surgeons used to think (physical therapy) didn’t make a great deal of difference. My training was just the opposite of that.&uot;