Dr. Robert Masson helps patients live fully in the face of injury so they can be prepared for recovery.
Determination and grit are traits that define successful individuals, business leaders and athletes as they move in the direction of their goals. When faced with a roadblock, these traits carry them through.
Dr. Robert Masson of Masson Spine Institute is all of the above. He believes that, when properly prepared for a surgical intervention, patients come out on the other side ready to get back to an active, pain-free life. As a life-long participant in competitive sports, he has used his own techniques first-hand to bounce back from injury.
Advocating for Extreme Recovery
An internationally recognized neurosurgeon who specializes in micro-reconstructive spine surgery and sports spine surgery, Dr. Masson focuses on three main areas of spine health: cervical and lumbar disc disorder, cervical disc arthroplasty (artificial disc) and grade 1 spondylolisthesis. His patients are highly active individuals.
His practice is world-renowned for its functionally restoring treatment goals in the face of spinal disorders. Dr. Masson has treated a variety of amateur, recreational and professional athletes and Olympians repre-senting players from the NFL, NBA, MLB, PGA/LPGA tours, U.S. Soccer, UFC, U.S. Boxing, U.S. Ski team, U.S. Cycling and Wakeboarding teams. He is an expert consultant at spine health as it relates to sports and the fitness industry at large.
“Our role in the spine surgery cycle is to get people back to their life,” Dr. Masson says. “My practice is where people go when they want to restore their ability to chase their dreams and chase their sports.”
With tens of thousands of microsurgical spine procedures under his belt, Dr. Masson has advocated for prevention, wellness, fitness and extreme recovery for his patients since 1988.
Getting in the Right Mindset
In 2011, Dr. Masson found himself on the opposite end of the spine health spectrum when he landed on his head while on a trampoline with his son. His partner, Dr. Mitchell Supler, performed his cervical arthroplasty procedure several years later, and he was fully recovered within a month.
Dr. Masson’s extreme recovery was due in part to one of MSI’s core values: pre-habil-itation. Through adaptive fitness and improvement in nutrition, choices, and rest and recovery cycles, patients build habits that provide structure. Their bodies are then able to main-tain that preparation before, during and after the therapeutic intervention.
“It’s basically preparing yourself for future trauma,” Dr. Masson says, noting that most individuals don’t understand the value of pre-habilitation until they’re already in crisis.
The purpose of this concept is to strength-en the patient’s mind, body and soul in a way that prepares them for recovery.
“If you show up for the surgery strong, your recovery will be quick; if you show up for surgery in a deep, dark hole, your recov-ery will be long,” Dr. Masson says. “How you prepare for surgery is as important as if you should have it.”
At MSI, all surgery patients are treated like patient athletes in the sense that the more prepared they are for the trauma of surgery, the faster and stronger their recovery will be with fewer complications. Whether it’s for the practice’s most targeted procedure, cervical artificial disc surgery, or one of its other specialties, patients trust MSI to coach them toward recovery.
