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Lincoln Orthopaedic Center
Dr. Douglas Tewes
Lincoln Orthopaedic Center
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Helping Athletes Get Back in the Game
By Jodi Fuson
Plagued by right knee problems since his high school days ofplaying football, baseball, and basketball, Dr. Douglas Tewes (pronounced“ta-vus”) can relate to the athletes he treats. “It does allow you to reallyunderstand what people are going through,” shares Dr. Tewes, who joinedthe practice at Lincoln Orthopaedic Center in 1993. His colleague,
Dr. Matthew Reckmeyer, has performed a few surgeries on Dr. Tewes’ knee since then.
The group at Lincoln Orthopaedic Center includes eight other orthopaedic specialists, one physiatrist, and has its own outpatient surgery center next door. “We’ve got great camaraderie among the staff,” Dr. Tewes says. “Everyone is interested in meeting the highest level of orthopaedic care.” Orthopaedic services cover a wide scope and include arthroscopic procedures; arthritis treatment; ankle, knee, hip, and shoulder replacement; hand and upper extremity care; spine and neck treatments; and meniscus, ligament, and rotator cuff repair.
Dr. Tewes’ interest in orthopaedics was sparked when he shadowed Omaha surgeon Dr. Richard Pitner, who has been practicing for 52 years. After completing a
residency at the University of Kentucky, Dr. Tewes completed a sports medicine fellowship in Minneapolis so he could sub-specialize in sports medicine. While there, he worked with the Minnesota Vikings, the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the University of Minnesota’s football team.
Dr. Tewes’ involvement with sports teams continues, as he is the team physician for Concordia University athletes in his hometown of Seward as well as the Lincoln Saltdogs. As a group, the orthopaedic specialists at Lincoln Orthopaedic Center also provide supervision to eight area high school athletic trainer programs in the area, Doane College, and Nebraska Wesleyan University.
In addition to being board-certified in orthopaedic
surgery, Dr. Tewes is also board-certified in orthopaedic sports medicine and is a member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, the American Medical Association, the Nebraska Medical Association, the Nebraska Orthopaedic Society, and the Lancaster County Medical Society.
As a sports medicine specialist, Dr. Tewes says that his treatment approach begins with forming an understanding of what his patients are doing and what their lifestyles require. One longtime patient wanted to put off reconstructive knee surgery so she could continue to run. Dr. Tewes worked with her on some stretches and exercises to buy her some time. “Our job is to allow people to resume the activities they want to resume,” he explains.
Sports medicine treatment can incorporate exercise, training and supervision, surgical intervention, post-injury follow-up, and rehabilitation. Dr. Tewes spends about 60 percent of his time performing surgeries and the rest seeing patients in the clinic setting. Some of Dr. Tewes’ specialties include meniscus repair, ACL reconstruction, knee replacements, rotator cuff repair, and shoulder reconstruction. Physical therapy intervention is a common part of the follow-up treatment that Dr. Tewes prescribes. He also works closely with athletic trainers to transition athletes from physical therapy to competition.
As team physician for the Concordia Bulldogs basketball team, Dr. Tewes treated player Mary Janovich during her college career, first repairing her torn right ACL and then scoping her meniscus. Dr. Tewes completed the procedures at Lincoln Orthopaedic’s outpatient surgery center in Lincoln. Then, Mary had to sit out the first six games of her senior season because
she reinjured her meniscus, which Dr. Tewes ended up scoping again.
Mary shares that Dr. Tewes worked hand-in-hand with Bulldogs athletic trainer Randy Baack to monitor her progress and discuss the protocols she should be following. Mary recalls that Dr. Tewes once scolded her during one of his regular visits to the Concordia campus for doing something she wasn’t supposed to be doing during practice. “He’s a very personable guy, but he tells it like it is,” Mary explains. “He just puts things into perspective, so you understand the consequences that would come from it.” Along with the admonishments that Dr. Tewes gave her, Mary says he also encouraged her to work hard so she could get back to the game quicker. “They got me back really quickly,” she says. “It went very smoothly.”
Over the years, Dr. Tewes has had the privilege of caring for celebrities, shooting hoops with Michael Jordan, treating professional rodeo cowboys, and advising extreme fitness athletes, like a brother-and-sister team who ran a marathon on the Great Wall of China. Dr. Tewes says he especially enjoys treating high school and collegiate athletes because of their passion for their sport. “That’s the thing about working in that sphere,” he shares. “They’re highly motivated and happy to get help.”
Lincoln Orthopaedic Center offers a patient-centered approach to all manner of orthopaedic treatments and procedures. To learn more about their services or to make an appointment, visit ortholinc.com or call 402-436-2000. Lincoln Orthopaedic Center is located at 6900 A Street, in Lincoln, and they have outreach clinics across the state of Nebraska.
