SEAPT

10/11/2026

Found in the wild 🤪

07/02/2026

Yesterday officially marked the first day that adults with Medicaid insurance in Arkansas can be treated at PT clinics not directly attached to a hospital system.

This change in policy will allow patients the opportunity to now receive care closer to home which means easier/faster access to PT services and improved outcomes.

We wanted to give a special shout out to a few APTA AR members who have been working behind the scenes to get this new ruling established and in place over the past few years.

Big thank you to APTA AR Payment Chair Gabe Freyaldenhoven, State Affairs Chair Seth Coulter, and member Bo Renshaw for their countless volunteer hours to improve access for Arkansans with adult Medicaid.

06/05/2026

I’ve seen it time and time again throughout my career: a new patient walks into my office with knee pain, shoulder pain, or an MRI showing a meniscus tear, rotator cuff tear, arthritis, or “degeneration.” The implication is often immediate but that something is damaged, worn out, and in need of fixing.

But pain is rarely that simple.
One of the hardest and most important lessons I’ve learned in 30 years as an orthopedic surgeon is that imaging does not reliably tell us what hurts. Structural changes on an MRI do not automatically mean there is tissue damage requiring surgery. In fact, many of the so-called “abnormalities” we see on scans are often age-appropriate findings, not a sentence about your future.

I’ve seen far too many people rush into surgery because of frightening words on an X-ray report. But imaging alone should never guide the entire decision-making process. I run with people who have “bone-on-bone” knee X-rays and remain active, strong, and functional. There is far more to the story than what appears on a scan.

That realization changed the way I think about osteoarthritis. In the summer of 2025, I published a book here on Substack about knee osteoarthritis (OA), built from decades of clinical experience and conversations with thousands of patients living with knee pain. This series challenges the outdated “wear and tear” narrative and the myth that arthritis means you need to stop moving and start resting.

Instead, it explores what the evidence actually shows: how metabolic health, strength training, movement, recovery, and lifestyle profoundly influence pain, function, and long-term outcomes. It walks readers through the treatment process step by step and helps them understand if and when surgery should truly be considered.

If you’ve been told you’re “bone on bone,” that your joints are “worn out,” or that you need to stop being active, this is where I would encourage you to start.

The link is here: https://howardluksmd.substack.com/p/knee-osteoarthritis-book?utm_source=publication-search

04/20/2026

Shared from Dr. Howard Luks

03/18/2026

Let us help you move more and load more to regain function, to build up, and lower your risk of decline💪🏻

03/04/2026

Every time I hear physical therapy referred to as an “ancillary service,” I have to pause… Ancillary.

By definition, ancillary means providing support to the primary activities of an organization. Secondary. Supplementary. Auxiliary. Helpful, but not central. That framing is the problem. Because if exercise, movement, function, and pain management are “secondary,” then what is primary?

We treat the consequences of immobility, metabolic disease, deconditioning, chronic pain, post-surgical recovery, and orthopedic injury daily. These are not fringe issues. They are major drivers of disability, healthcare utilization, and long-term cost.

Physical inactivity is a leading modifiable risk factor for chronic disease, associated with cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, and all-cause mortality. Chronic musculoskeletal pain is among the top causes of disability globally. Post-operative outcomes are strongly influenced by rehabilitation and progressive loading… yet we are labeled “ancillary.” Let’s be honest about what that word implies. It implies optional. Revenue-adjacent. Something that enhances the primary service rather than something foundational. But movement is not optional biology.

You cannot separate medicine from movement. You cannot manage cardiometabolic disease without addressing activity. You cannot meaningfully treat chronic low back pain with imaging and injections alone. You cannot restore independence after a stroke without rehabilitation. You cannot return an athlete to performance without graded loading.

Exercise is not an add-on. It is a biologic input. Physical therapy is the discipline that applies that input safely and progressively. The irony is that healthcare spends billions managing the downstream effects of inactivity, frailty, deconditioning, and chronic pain… and then categorizes the profession addressing those variables as “support.”

Function is the outcome patients actually care about. Can I walk? Lift my child? Return to work? Play golf again? Live independently? Physical therapy is not ancillary to medicine. It is core infrastructure. Movement is not subordinate to health. It is foundational.

02/21/2026

01/28/2026

SEAPT is open for business today. We will be here until 4:30 today. They are out clearing our parking lot as I type!

01/27/2026

SEAPT is open today, Tuesday 1/27, until 4 and we will open on Wednesday at 9.