Jed Robinson, MD - Physiatrist
Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Medical Services Currently Offered by Dr. Jed Robinson
Musculoskeletal pain evaluation and management.
Dr. Robinson see’s patients that have pain in their joints, muscles, tendons, nerves, back, neck or other body parts. He sees patients that have been in a car accident, perhaps injured at work, overdoing it with vigorous weekend activities or perhaps simply by living life!
- Back Pain
- Neck Pain
- Shoulder, Hip, knee, and elbow pain
In addition to exercises, therapy, and medications, other services offered by Dr. Robinson include the following:
- Ultrasound guided Joint injections, knees, hips, shoulders, elbow and wrist.
- Trigger point injections—throughout the body as needed.
- Spinal injections including SI joint injections, lumbar epidural steroid injections, and facet joint injections, Medial branch blocks/ RFA’s.
- Tenex tenotomy: Treatment of Chronic tendon pain. Sometimes called tendinitis or tendinopathy. This condition can be difficult to treat on your own using over the counter medications, therapy or exercises. If your pain continues despite many treatments, you could be a candidate for Tenex Percutaneous tenotomy.
- EMG/ NCV: Electrodiagnostic nerve testing.
Make an Appointment
Dr. Robinson’s office accepts all major insurance carriers, and see’s workers compensation patients as well as following motor vehicle accidents.
If you wish to see Dr. Robinson in person, please contact RMA, Rehabilitation Medicine Associates in Eugene Oregon. Or call the phone number below.
RMA Scheduling for Dr. Robinson. (541) 683-4242
Dr. Jed's Story...
Not that long ago a patient asked how long I had been doing this; my mouth turned with a smile “40 years!” I said. She laughed, ‘You aren’t old enough to be doing anything for 40 years.
I kept working on the nerve conduction study we were in the middle of and said something to the effect of ‘When I was 6 years old I remember first asking how does a muscle work? Does it pull or does it push?’ Turns out it pulls as thousands of perfectly arranged actin and myosin strands, glide past each other with repeated ‘power strokes’ of the myosin head. This molecular action happens thousands of times very quickly. As the strands shorten, the muscle shortens, and the human body effects a movement.
So yes, for over 40 years I’ve been looking into how the body works.
Interest from a Young Age
Around that same age I started to wrestle. Wrestling for a first grader is a chaotic and intermittent endeavor, but that too was a beginning in the study human mechanics; form and function manifest into direct physical competition with another human machine. Over the years I expressed my developing interest and my mother bought me a few books on nutrition and exercise. I would study and apply.
At that time the primary goal was in the building of my own body. Get stronger, build ‘better and bigger!’ In my teen years I started buying muscle magazines, I joined a classic weight training gym as soon as I found one that would allow someone so young to join. I then trained and worked out as often as I could. The pinnacle 😉 of my pure weight training career was in the spring of my senior year in high school when I took 3rd in the ‘Mr. Teen Las Vegas Athletic club’ It was during that very competition that I knew body building was not for me; I really just wanted to be fit, look good, feel good and understand how the body worked.
It was the pursuit that I craved, seeking the perfect form, The Best way to work out, The Best way to build muscle, The Best way for the human body to move. The muscle and fitness magazines I devoured with eager eyes. I would get so excited about the latest and greatest! But soon I was also getting confused… this month it was one thing, the next month it would be another. What was THE RIGHT WAY?
Physiatrist - Practitioner of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Those questions took to me Corvallis Oregon where I studied Exercise and Sport Science graduating with my bachelors in 1997. I focused in Sports Medicine & Rehabilitation and became a Certified Athletic Trainer (ATC). During my undergrad work I had the goal of going to Physical Therapy school to learn the craft of human movement and how to apply this knowledge to help others overcome injury. During my first true Kinesiology class (the study of human movement) the instructor mentioned the word ‘Physiatrist’, that is a Physician Practitioner of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. I still remember that single moment, the special tingle I felt in my brain and soul. This was the highest form of study a person could do in the quest to understand how the human body works.
It wasn’t immediately I decided to pursue medicine or to become a Physiatrist, the thought of going through that much schooling simply seemed overwhelming at first, however step by step it became clear that I was to become a Physiatrist.
Following my undergrad work I moved to Portland Oregon and began work with a local high school as an Athletic Trainer while taking additional courses that were required to get into medical school. I took another job making custom orthotics and began working as a Personal Trainer in NW Portland. I engaged in these professions over next few years interspersed with a few months here and there working as a construction laborer, also a study in human form and function! At some point I realized my foundation needed to be broader and stronger to further advance my ambitions.
Masters of Science in Kinesiology and Physiology
To take my next big step in learning about how the human body worked I moved to Boulder Colorado for 2 years and earned a Masters of Science in Kinesiology and Physiology. In addition to course work, I spent many hours in the library studying various works on the human body. At least as importantly, I spent many hours rock climbing, mountain biking and hiking where I directly channeled the pure joy of human movement.
Eventually I moved back to Portland Oregon and completed Medical School in 2010, then moved to San Antonio Texas for my 4 years of specialty training in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. Over the years I’ve managed a rehab unit in a hospital, worked as part of an Orthopedic group, specifically working closely with spine surgeons, and applied the craft of medicine to thousands of patients.
While my medical practice is interesting and challenging, the layers of bureaucracy and paperwork weigh heavy. I perform nerve testing, and many different types of injections, both across the various peripheral joints and the spine. All these indeed hold interest, often they help patients overcome pain, but my deepest interest has always been to better understand how the body works in a mechanical fashion. Above that, my true calling is to help others better understand the function of their own body.
My Practice
In my current medical practice I’m probably one of the slowest doctors in America. 😉 I spend time assessing the underlying reasons why a person may be having pain. Performing physical exam maneuvers and observations to understand how the forces through their joints, muscles and tendons is perhaps less than ideal, and more importantly, determining what precise exercises can help this person to restore the most ideal motion possible for them to reduce and eliminate their pain.
In my medical practice I often directly instruct patients in therapeutic exercises assuring that the leg is turned ‘just so’, that the hips are tilted appropriately to best load the targeted muscles and not allow the body the ‘cheat’ its way through the motion by compensating with inappropriate muscles and motions.
I like to think that taking all this time with my patients is incredibly helpful to them. However, the very nature of this time intensity limits how widely it can be applied and limits how many people I can help.
A Website with Purpose
The purpose of this website, which actually began years ago under the name “The Human Machine Project” is to help people identify where their pain may be coming from, to direct them to the most appropriate exercises, and to help them perform these exercises to restore the closest to perfect form and function.
It gives me great joy to know that I can now help many more people to better understand their own bodies, to help people engage exercises with precision and purpose as we all pursue perfect movement together!