Elbow Surgeon Near St. Louis
If a workplace injury or ongoing strain has left your elbow swollen, weak, or painful to bend, you need an elbow surgeon who can pinpoint the cause of your discomfort. Dr. David M. Brown of OrthoMissouri has cared for hand, wrist, and elbow patients in the St. Louis area since 1998, with a practice built around workers' compensation cases and the physical demands of returning to a job. A fall, repetitive strain, or a single traumatic event at work can all lead to the same swollen elbow, and Dr. Brown evaluates the full picture before recommending surgery.
Elbow Conditions We Treat
As an orthopedic elbow specialist, Dr. Brown treats the elbow injuries most common in manual labor, warehouse, construction, and repetitive-motion jobs:
- Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis): inflamed tendons on the outside of the elbow make gripping and lifting painful.
- Cubital tunnel syndrome: pressure on the ulnar nerve causes numbness and weakness in the ring and small fingers
- Elbow fractures from falls or impact: includes radial head, olecranon, and distal humerus breaks; and ligament injuries that leave the joint loose or unstable.
Each condition gets its own evaluation, since similar symptoms can point to different injuries.
When Elbow Surgery Is the Right Next Step
Surgery isn't Dr. Brown's first choice. Most elbow injuries start with rest, bracing, activity modification, and physical therapy, and many patients recover without ever needing an operating room. When conservative treatment doesn't resolve pain, nerve symptoms, or joint instability after a fair trial, that's when surgery becomes the right conversation.
Patients searching for an orthopedic elbow specialist near them are often looking for exactly that: someone who won't rush to surgery, but also won't leave them in pain for months waiting to see if conservative care eventually works.
Workers' Compensation Elbow Care in St. Louis
A large share of Dr. Brown's elbow patients are hurt on the job, and OrthoMissouri's process reflects that. We work directly with case managers and workers' compensation insurers, documenting work restrictions clearly and planning around a patient's job duties.
If you're a warehouse worker searching for an elbow doctor near you after a lifting injury, or a case manager trying to get an injured employee in front of a specialist who understands occupational claims, this is the coordinated care built for exactly that.
Why St. Louis Patients Choose Dr. Brown
Dr. Brown holds dual training in orthopedic and plastic surgery and is a member of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand, the American College of Surgeons, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, and the American Association for Hand Surgery. That combination matters most in the elbow, where nerves, tendons, and soft tissue sit close together, and a repair that ignores one often compromises another.
It's Time To Get Expert Care for Your Elbow Injury
If you're dealing with elbow pain from a workplace injury, don't wait for it to get worse. Contact the office of Dr. David M. Brown at (314) 782-1994 to schedule an appointment for treatment of your elbow at OrthoMissouri.
Frequently Asked Questions
If my employer's workers' comp insurance already sent me to another doctor, can I still be seen by Dr. Brown?
In most Missouri workers' compensation cases, your employer or their insurer has the right to choose which doctor treats your claim initially. That said, you can ask your claims adjuster or case manager to refer you to Dr. Brown specifically, and OrthoMissouri's staff regularly works directly with case managers to help coordinate that kind of referral. If you're unsure where your claim stands, call our office, and we'll walk you through your options.
How long will I be off work after elbow surgery?
It depends on the procedure. Minimally invasive surgeries for nerve compression or tendon problems often allow a return to light-duty tasks within one to two weeks, while fracture repairs and larger reconstructions generally take longer before a full-duty release. Dr. Brown builds recovery plans around your actual job duties, then works with your employer and case manager to set realistic return-to-work milestones.
Do I need to see a hand and elbow specialist, or is a general orthopedist enough?
For many elbow injuries, a general orthopedist is a fine place to start. But the elbow packs the ulnar nerve, several tendon attachments, and a joint capsule into a small space, and injuries there often involve more than one structure at once. Dr. Brown's dual training in orthopedic and plastic surgery, reflected in his American Society for Surgery of the Hand membership, is built for exactly that overlap.