Restorative Health Services
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“They used to make them out of wood,” said Boyd, whose right leg was amputated at the knee after a mowing accident when he was 3. “They would put rawhide on the outside of the wood to hold it together. Now they make them out of fiberglass and carbon composite. It’s a world of difference.”
What’s also different for Boyd is he no longer has to make trips to Nashville. Certified prosthetist-orthotist Aaron Sorensen has opened an office in McMinnville at 205 Oak Park.
This makes the fourth office for Sorensen, who also has offices in Nashville, Lebanon and Murfreesboro. He said he was seeing so many patients from Warren County and surrounding areas in Murfreesboro, he decided to open an office here.
“I was seeing patients who would come from 30, 40 and 50 miles away,” said Sorensen. “The Murfreesboro office was drawing a lot of people from this area so I thought we might be able to draw even more if I just came down here. And since we’ve been here, we’ve seen patients from as far away as Knoxville and Chattanooga.”
The business is called Restorative Heath Services and artificial limbs are a main focus. The business also fits people for ankle and knee braces and makes diabetic shoe inserts.
Sorensen is helped in the office by Rachel Friddle-Johnson, who is doing her residency. She is the fourth generation in her family to pursue this line of work.
Sorensen says he’s known since working in prosthetics in high school this is what he wanted for his career.
“The place where I was working had a window so you could see in and out,” said Sorensen. “And I saw an elderly lady who was wheeled in in a wheelchair. But when she left, she was able to walk out. That’s when I knew this is what I wanted to do.
“It’s important to me to feel like I’m helping the community. This is a way to get people back to a level of normalcy that they’re used to.”
Technology has greatly enhanced the prosthetics used today – and the time it takes to make them. Boyd came in for an appointment at 1 p.m. Monday. By 3:30 p.m., he was walking out the door with a new leg.
“This is something that used to take weeks,” Boyd said. “And then if you needed a minor adjustment, you still had to make a trip all the way to Nashville.”
Stanley Barnes, who also has a prosthetic leg, agrees.
“It used to take four or five trips to Nashville to get it right,” he said. “And back in those days, they would be heavy, like maybe 14 pounds. Now they’re closer to 4 pounds.”
Boyd’s new leg was even lighter than that, weighing in around 2 to 3 pounds. He says he has never been limited in what he can do and still tends to over 30 head of cattle on his farm.
“I’ve been able to play limited sports, ride a bike, and coach basketball for 14 years,” said Boyd. “It hasn’t stopped me from doing anything.”
Sorensen says anyone who has an artificial limb, but who may not be completely satisfied with its functionality, can come by for a free consultation.
“It’s a pretty big thing to not have proper use of an arm or a leg,” said Sorensen. “If a patient has a prosthetic and for whatever reason they aren’t happy, they can come talk to us.”
Restorative Health Services is located at 205 Oak Park, a little road off Sparta Highway. To get there, take your first right after passing Edd Rogers Automotive and before you get to Middle Tennessee Building Supplies.
Sorensen has office hours in McMinnville on Mondays and Wednesdays. His phone number is 507-9900.