I saw Dr. Tom Hackett in Vail, Colorado at the Steadman Clinic (https://www.thesteadmanclinic.com/). Initially, he seemed very skeptical when I explained SIRVA and I don’t believe he had seen a SIRVA case before, but since it is kind of a specialty sports medicine clinic in a small town, that makes some sense. I chose to see Dr. Hackett because I knew he was considered an absolute top-quality shoulder doctor and his reputation is stellar.

After showing Dr. Hackett some of the research papers on SIRVA, he seemed to go through a 180 degree shift in attitude and it looked like he understood that the problem was very real and serious, and he recommended we do surgery on my shoulder. I didn’t end up getting surgery with him (I saw another orthopedist closer to home) but I would have trusted him with my shoulder absolutely.

I realized after this appointment that there are some orthopedists who have heard of SIRVA, some who haven’t, and among those who haven’t, there are two types, those who will be humble enough to sit there and learn something from a patient and those who are closed off to that possibility. Dr. Hackett may not be knowledgeable about SIRVA specifically, but he came around and he would probably be an excellent choice of a shoulder doctor to see about SIRVA–although I wouldn’t travel out of my way since he lacks specific expertise in it.