Austin Sports Medicine

Yes, the doctors are top notch. Unfortunately, their Rehab group, as represented by Marcus Cantu, leave something to be desired. Every time I attended rehab, I paid at the time of service. Then 4 months later, Marcus reports to their financial system additional charges owed. This is illegal and improper. I attempted to contact their financial team, but it appears they out-​sourced it.

I would just like to thank Dr. Jake Manuel and the entire staff at Austin Sports Medicine. I had seen numerous physicians and decided to go with Dr. Manuel. My knee was quite complex and several surgeons did not feel comfortable taking it on.
I think best of all was Dr Manuel’s ability to explain the entire process from start to finish, and then execute the plan perfectly. The rehab was tough but went exactly as he predicted. I am not back play golf with a straight leg and no pain.
Please at least talk to Dr. Manuel about your options when thinking about a knee replacement.

Dr. Elenz is amazing as Linda, his nurse. When searching for a doctor for my son’s ACL repair, I wanted someone not too young but not too old, someone experienced yet young enough to be up to date. Dr. Elenz also did surgery for Lance Armstrong when he was in his prime so that sealed it! My son is now 4 years post surgery, he had two ACL repairs due to football (both right and left!) both done by Dr Elenz — one hamstring and one patellar. Both knees are doing great, thank God. After surgery and recovery he hasn’t had an issue, both knees feel stronger! Needless to say, when my daughter tore her ACL and Meniscus, we went to Dr. Elenz. She is 5 weeks post op and doing great! Thank you Dr. Elenz!!!

Dr. Douglas Elenz is incredible. I tore my ACL and meniscus playing soccer, I’m only three weeks out and I’m amazed. My incisions are SO tiny, it really is a work of art. Dr. Elenz is a renowned surgeon, truly the best. I know my knee is going to be even better than it was before my injury because of him.

Dr. Manuel performed a knee replacement surgery on my left knee two years ago. The knee never felt right; it was not stable even leading to my falling numerous times. Dr. Manuel’s surgery left me with daily pain. Dr. Manuel never acknowledge to me that anything could possibly be wrong and his response was, «I write more narcotic prescriptions than any of my partners.»

I have since had a revision surgery, while the second surgeon was not sure what he would find, continuous swelling told him something was wrong. The surgeon was shocked to find Dr. Manuel had installed the first knee replacement 15 mm out of alignment, the surgeon repaired what he could but much of the damage Dr. Manuel did to my knee is repairable. I still suffer daily pain and have had to eliminate hiking and bike riding, my two favorite activities.
I e-​mailed Dr. Manuel to ask address how the knee replacement could be that far off and why he never would address that something could be wrong basically abandoning me and recommending a lifetime of pain meds. He e-​mailed the following response:
«I truly am sorry about your situation. I promise that I did not intend to abandon you. I don’t think that I truly appreciated the complexity of your case.»

He continued, «While in hindsight, it was obvious that your knee was not working well. There is some thought that you should not revise a knee for a year after surgery. Such absolutes are not always true, and your case has taught a young doctor a painful lesson. «
I am certain there are patients Dr. Manuel operated on that were successful, however with all the experienced, good surgeons in Austin why take the chance with an inexperienced surgeon that does not recognize or appreciate cases that could be complex.

The staff was decent enough, but this review is mainly for Dr Jim Fernandez.
This guy is, hands down, one of the best, most cognizant doctors that I have dealt with. And, unfortunately, I have dealt with a lot of doctors.
Dr Fernandez did a nerve conduction survey on my hands, as I have a mysterious issue where they cramp up and lose grip for no reason, and my pain doctor wanted to rule out nerve issues.
Dr Fernandez is witty, he knows his job very well, and he managed to do the test in a way that was completely painless. He got a lot of background on my issue and, when the nerves came out looking fine, vowed to do some research and «write a long report» for my pain doctor.
I feel like, in doing this, he is going above and beyond what was requested of him. Most doctors, when asked to do a test or procedure by another doctor, simply do that test. Dr Fernandez decided to take ownership of the issue.
Hopefully, with people like him, I will someday be able to get through writing something like this without my hands aching.

I took my son to see Dr. Nathan Breazeale for a shoulder issue. He was very thorough and looked into all possibilities. He made my son feel very comfortable. He ended up giving him injections in his shoulder and had him back in marching band right away and without pain. I highly recommend Dr. Braezeale to anyone.

My doctor was Dr. Breazale (the knee specialist). Very personable and made a conscious effort to fully explain the injury.
He definitely cares about your recovery.
The entire staff is very timely and respectful, I never waited longer than 5 minutes in the waiting room.
All the doctors are accomplished athletes so they understand wanting to get back into peak performance quickly. Highly recommend.

So as I said I would do, here is my update regarding the doctors and nurses at AUSTIN SPORT MEDICINE. Dr. Kelly Cunningham and his nurse, Pete, should be ashamed! I have left 18 messages including hand written messages taken for Dr. K. Cunningham and numerous ones for Pete, since the doctor doesn’t have a voicemail, because he doesn’t want or like to deal with patient concerns!
Not once have I or my husband gotten a return phone call or letter regarding the misdiagnosis issue that has causes severe trauma and anguish. And when they realize that they missed some critical MRI scans, they even tried to play it off and backtrack their story. And John Guzimo is not only a liar, but is still one of the rudest, unfriendliest, truly awful people I have ever I countered! I haven’t written a review on Unilocal in 4 years, but I had to get it out to the public that if quality medical help with true compassion is what you seek-​look else wear!

First off, I’m giving two stars for the overall experience. Austin Sports Medicine does have some top notch aspects, but it has other aspects that are pretty abysmal.
The Good: Dr. Elenz seems to be an excellent surgeon. I recently had two knee surgeries done by him (my 4^th and 5^th surgeries on that knee), and two months out of surgery so far so good. He is very knowledgeable and took his time thinking about what procedure would be best given my nasty knee history. Hopefully it will stand the test of time. Louie, who works in the front office, is super nice and really a friendly face when you walk in. He recognizes patients and says hello, and he stands out on his own but especially among the shrews who work with him.
The Bad: What I really didn’t appreciate about my experience here is the lack of absolute clarity and openness about the fact that their surgical assistants are not contracted with Blue Cross Blue Shield. What this means is that if you have BCBS, and possibly other insurance, is that Austin Sports Medicine will bill you an extra $ 300 out of pocket when your insurance policy won’t cover the surgical assistant… not because they don’t cover that for these procedures but because they stopped contracting with surgical assistants. While the devil is definitely embodied in the insurance companies, it isn’t the patients’ fault that Austin Sports Medicine doesn’t have PAs or surgical assistants who were lucky enough to get under contract before BCBS stopped allowing it. What I don’t like about Austin Sports Medicine is that they didn’t tell me this until the day of my first surgery when I had to sign a piece of paper saying I’d pay $ 300 if my insurance didn’t cover anything. I did my homework and made sure the Dr was in-​network and all that, so surely I thought my bases were covered. Alas, I was sorely mistaken. When I was presented with the paper to sign, it was too late to say, nah, I’ll find someone else to do my surgery, meaning I’d have to rearrange time off from work, go through the whole process of MRIs and xrays and visits so a new Dr could do my surgery. Naively, I thought that my insurance would cover it. And, the Austin Sports Medicine people weren’t up front about this fact, so they cover their financial bases, the insurance company covers its bases, of course, and the patient gets screwed. Imagine my chagrin when I felt stuck because I was already in the middle of this process and had to go through the same thing again with the second surgery. That’s a total of $ 600 out of pocket, in addition to my $ 4000 high deductible. Not so sweet. Also, in PT they take on too many patients at once, making you feel a little like cattle – no individual attention. It’s likely not the fault of the therapists but rather seems to be consistent with their culture of caring more about money than health care.
The Ugly: What I loathe about Austin Sports Medicine are the rude, unfriendly, frightening women who work in the check out area. Though, I was there today and there was a new face, and she was quite nice. There are two women in particular who make my blood curdle, one is the older sour puss who has longish silvery blond hair. I’m not sure she’s ever smiled and seems to enjoy making patients feel uncomfortable in the check out process. We dare not ask questions. There is another, younger girl with dark hair who is not quite as bad but always seems put out by the presence of patients.
Overall, if I could do it again, I’d go elsewhere.

I recommend Austin Sports Medicine and their associated physical therapists in the highest possible way. I tore my ACL and meniscus back in June and went to Dr. Breazeale. He explained my options without pushing me toward any particular one, and I decided to go through with surgery. He did arthroscopic surgery — ACL graft reconstruction and meniscus repair — in July.
From my experience, Dr. Breazeale and his PA Carl are kind, knowledgeable, and thorough. The surgery went off without a hitch, and whenever I had questions, even after hours, Carl would call me right back. Afterwards, I went to Heidi, one of the physical therapists associated with Austin Sports Medicine. She was also great. I went in once a week at the beginning, then once every two weeks for most of the rest of the recovery. She gave me exercises to do on my own, and the visits were merely to check in and learn new exercises. She pushed me hard enough to recover, but never too hard. I was running by mid-​October, and now I’m up to running 4 miles.
Overall, if you want a respectful and competent doctor and physical therapist, go to Dr. Breazeale and Heidi at Austin Sports Medicine.

Had a pleasant appointment with Dr. Cunningham and Pete last month.
Torn ACL (chronic), torn meniscus and general knee instability. Dr. C reviewed the x-​rays, MRI, did an exam and got more tests done (in the next room). He was very deliberate and thorough the entire time and answered all of my pesky questions.
Knee surgery tbd shortly. They don’t accept my insurance and were almost apologetic about it (the payouts are lousy).
The fact that i am going to stretch my finances and pay cash is a testament of how good they are.

I was injured wile training, complete fracture of the 1^st. phalange with displacement, and called Austin Sports Medicine. The receptionist was discourteous and rude. This, as the first point of contact for current and future clientele, should have been my first warning. I was x-​rayed, placed in my room and seen by Dr. Manuel. He asked about my symptoms, looked at the X ray and asked, «So, what’s the problem? I see you have broken some bones in your foot before but everything looks healed». Amazed by this statement I stood up and hobbled over to the viewing screen and pointed at the toe…“Oh yes”, he said. I knew I was finished before he said another word.
I am not one to rant about other businesses on Unilocal,I have a business that is viewed and rated on here as well. BUT… When you have a receptionist that is rude, maybe the first few times, it cannot be helped but should be corrected. When your Dr’s cannot diagnose a fracture (wish I could post a couple of photo’s of the X ray and post op) you start to see a pattern and in business patterns can be beautiful or a sign of a need for change. Definitely the latter in this case.

He’s very efficient. did a series of bends and moves and etc. and quickly diagnosed my problem. Hip issue. He indicated that exercises would resolve this problem.
Very thorough, very nice. NO issues at all. I was worried given prior review, but. then you know how reviews can be, there will be a tendency to complain.
I was recommended to him by two colleagues who also found him very competent and very good.

I was hit by a car while biking and broke my collarbone 6-​months before my first Ironman. I happened to be referred to Dr. Elenz through a friend and I couldn’t have been happier with my entire experience. Dr. Elenz and his team were able to squeeze me in for surgery the day after I visited his office, he did an excellent job in putting a plate and seven screws into my collarbone and the entire recovery, follow-​up and rehab process was superb. Everyone at the office was easy to work with and very friendly.
I am currently 4 months out from the procedure and at 100% in my everyday mobility and triathlon training. My scar is also very minimal (feels like it’s shorter than the plate itself!) and Dr. Elenz put it at an angle so I can still wear sleeveless tops without it being noticeable. When I first had the injury, I was expecting to have to cancel my entire triathlon season but thanks to the right care from Dr. Elenz and the folks on his rehab team, I have my first race in two weeks and the Ironman is going to be a piece of cake — don’t think I could have done it without them!
Highly highly recommend if you are an athlete and want a doctor who can understand your needs and will help you get back to competition as quickly and safely as possible.
Edit to add: just about a year out from surgery and everything is holding up just nicely, no pain! First IM was a pretty smashing success (qualified for kona) and couldn’t have done it without Dr Elenz and staff!

This was one of the best experiences I have had with a doctor. I do not understand the previous review ripping Dr. Fernandez. He was not condecending at all and explained everything to me in terms I could understand. He even took the time to show my MRI results on his computer and explain them to me. He was not rude and was actually very nice and personable. He performed an injection on me and did not hurt at all, talking to me the whole time.
I do not see any of the qualities listed by the previous reviewer in Dr. Fernandez and quite the opposite. Maybe they got him confused with someone else.

**Rehab Review**
Lisa Ferris is a Genie! It’s like I rubbed her bottle and out popped a new knee. She is turning me back into a 34 year old athlete from the 80 year old Walmart greeter I was becoming. I highly recommend you put your injuries in her rehab immortal hands.

Lousy personal care that matches the medical care.
Went to Dr. Cunningham for moderate knee injury — pain, but limited impairment. He spent 5 minutes with me and gave me a diagnosis that is usually secondary, with no primary diagnosis and no MRI. He sent me for physical therapy for 4 weeks, which made me feel worse and sent paroxysms of pain through previously unhurt parts of my body. My physical therapist told me the diagnosis without a primary one wasn’t abnormal, encouraged me to stick through the treatment, and then started seeing other areas of concern before sending me back for an MRI. When I finally got the less than charming Pete on the phone, he told me that a physical therapist recommending an MRI was «highly unusual» and said I’d have to come back to see the doctor for yet another exam. At that point, having had enough of Pete’s arrogance and lack of conviction that what was missed the first time would be found the second, I asked for a switch to Dr. Elenz, whom a friend had recommended. Dr. Elenz refused to permit the switch.
So, off I went to another practice. The much thorougher, more compassionate doctor was able to see cause for concern in my x-​rays and immediately sent me off for an MRI. He also spent about 20 minutes answering all of my questions, recommending physical activity modifications, and trying to reassure me. He also told me he gets a lot of patients who leave Austin Sports Medicine and come to him. Gee, I wonder why.

This is a very professional office with professional doctors that treat worldclass atheletes. This is not the office if you are a talking and texting while driving entittled person that will whine when you are asked to get there early to fill out paperwork and show up later than your actual appointment. The staff is friendly and supportive, they inform you of what to expect and strongly encourage you to get into the office early if you can as it allows for them to complete and insurance or paperwork that you might need. I have seen Dr. Windler and would strongly encourage anyone seeking an orthapedic specialist to make sure you give Dr. Windler and the team at Austin Sports Medicine a try.
They are good people! They support the community and do a lot of work with a lot of people. You dont want to go to a doctors office where they get you in right away everytime and there is no wait ever… thats kinda like eating at a place that never has any cars parked in the driveway! There is a reason they are busy and the reason is that they are AWESOME!!!

I have had to deal with them on two separate occasions. The first with Dr. Breazeale. My son incurred a knee injury during football and was referred to me by the trainer at his school. Dr. Breazeale was very thorough and gave us alot of information. He was GREAT! His assistant is a little more of an acquired taste, but kind. I give two stars instead of one because of him.
My second experience was with Dr. Fernandez. I saw him after a car accident and was directed to see a phyciatrist. Dr. Fernandez is the absolute opposite of Dr. Breazeale. He is the most condecending, full of himself, rudest Dr. I have ever experienced. He made me feel like he thought I was making up my symptoms and didn’t believe me. I asked knowledgeable questions and he ridiculed my suggestions. To top it all off, he referred me to a physical therapy group who was just as bad as him. They must have an agreement, because Texas Physical Therapist was just as bad as him. You can find my review on them under their name. I have a post bachelor degree and know how to do research. It’s been over 1 year and I still am dealing with the repercussions of my accident. Dr. Fernandez never ordered an MRI or any other tests. He is not worth your time, you can find a much better, more experienced, knowledgeable doctor who still has an idea of what bed side manners are.

After tearing my ACL, I was referred to Dr. Windler by several soccer players I know (who don’t know each other). He is one of the best docs I’ve seen in any specialty. He’s likely done thousands of knees and shoulders and is a great surgeon. What makes him stand out is his bedside manner. He is very easy to talk to and ask questions of. I believe he’s a straight shooter who gives you options and his honest opinion. His assistant Jane is a lovely woman who is helpful, knowledgeable and very caring.

I wrote this review for Dr. Carey Windler 4 years ago… but I guess that his review should be under Austin Sports Medicine so I’ll paste it here. Since writing the review I’ve sent several people to Dr. Windler. I can’t comment on his staff because I haven’t needed to see him in years… but his staff could be the worst ever and I’d be fine with that as long as I can see the best Dr in town. Here’s my old review…
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If there were 6 stars, I’d give Dr Windler 7.5. Of all my Unilocal reviews, he would be the highest.
He has done two knee surgeries on me and not only is he the best knee Dr in Austin, but he’s by far the best physician of any kind I’ve ever met. And he’s not a surgery first kinda guy… he’ll listen to you, ask you what kind of lifestyle you want, and make recommendations.
I really could go on and on about Dr Windler but honestly, if you have knee (or shoulder) problems, go see him NOW!!!
He travels with the UT Football team and I think he’s the only knee Dr any of the UT athletes use. And he’s the guy the Dallas Cowboys used when they were holding training camp in Austin. (heck, he’s even so good that he made a cameo in Friday Night Lights as, guess who… the knee doctor).
Don’t bother looking any further. Go see Dr Windler and tell him Don sent you by.

I pay to work out hard with a group trainer 3 days a week and I work out with friends an additional twice a week. It’s very important to my overall well-​being that I keep my routine, so I was extra dismayed when 15 minutes after returning from a three day camping trip I promptly tripped over a hole *watching* a soccer game and badly sprained (grade 2) my ankle. Does watching a game count as a sports injury? No. But I wanted to get back to my workouts as soon as possible so I looked for a sports medicine specialist.
I almost didn’t try Austin Sports Medicine after reading the reviews here. But their web site seemed to offer exactly the service I was looking for. I wanted to be looked at by an orthopedic specialist, have an xray to rule-​out fracture, and to receive physical therapy so that I could get my full range of motion and strength back. I loved that I could do all of this at one place (and one co-​pay for me!). And I wanted to be back at the gym working out in my regular routine as soon as possible but not a moment before I should. I really wanted pros guiding me through the rehab.
So, rather than going to the urgent care over the weekend (and incurring those extra charges) I decided to sit tight until Monday so that I could be seen where I wanted to be seen. A notice on their website mentioned that they would try to get people who needed to be seen quickly in. I did the standard RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) strategy over the weekend, along with some ibuprofen.
I called them as soon as they opened on Monday morning, hobbling in to my office to get my calendar and my insurance card. I missed the choices on the automated answering machine, and so it is possible the first young woman who answered the phone was not the regular scheduler. She said I could be seen on Wednesday. I was crestfallen– was I suppose to stay in bed until Wednesday? I didn’t even have any crutches & I had no idea if it would be damaging to try walking on it. I grudgingly took the appointment but warned I would probably call back to cancel because I was going to look for someone who would see me that day.
After I hung-​up, I looked around for someone else sort of half-​heartedly and fumed a bit. Finally I picked-​up the phone to call them back to cancel the appointment if they would not see me sooner. This time I followed the answering machine choices for «appointments» and was connected to office angel LaQuinta. I told her how I was feeling, that I hadn’t been seen anywhere at all yet, that I’d believed they would fit me in earlier as the website seemed to promise, and that I really had no idea how to safely manage the injury until Wednesday. She politely and kindly explained that the doctors need to approve those emergency appointments and she would go and see what she could do. (I felt kind of badly then, because of course a sprained ankle is not an emergency! I was just anxious to be seen.) She came back to the phone and reported that the doctor I was originally to see could not work me in but that Dr. Cunningham could and would as soon as I could get there in the morning rush hour traffic. YES!!! I loved her!!! THANK YOU!
Once I got there, it was all professional and wonderful and just what I hoped for. I filled out paperwork, was promptly seen by the fabulous Dr. Cunningham. He did a gentle exam and had my ankle xrayed (only two rooms away!), then he explained in detail my injury and the course of treatment. He made sure I understood everything, then had someone come in to wrap my ankle & apply an aircast. They set me up with my first physical therapy appointment for 3 days later. I could have cried with relief — walking much easier– when I left the office barely an hour after I’d arrived. I will see Dr. Cunningham for a follow-​up in two weeks.
On Thursday I had my physical therapy appointment and Jimmy was wonderful showing me the exercises that would strengthen and appropriately stretch my ligaments. He helped me figure out what I could still do to work out while my ankle heals as well. The therapy appointment was extremely prompt. I will follow-​up weekly for a while and do my exercises at home in the meantime.
I am entirely pleased with my experience so far. My ankle is doing much better already. I will post a follow-​up when I am fully healed, but I hated to let this great office go without a good review in the meantime. Wish I could give it 4.5 stars.

I pulled my back Monday, called immediately for an apt. I was told the back doctor, Dr. Fernandez, was out of the office until Friday. I decided to wait in pain for the apt.
They asked me to send my back xrays. Did that. Called to ensure they got them. His assistant was nice enough to call me back to tell me they got them. At that time I asked if the apt would be longer than 1 hour because I had time constraints. She said to come at 9 am (my apt was 9:30). I wasn’t able to and got there at 9:30 for my scheduled apt.
I waited 45 mins. Asked the assistant if 45 mins was a typical wait for patients. She didn’t answer my question and tried to blame me — that I should have come earlier at 9 am like she suggested. She then told me I was 7 mins late (I signed in at 9:37am). She was confrontational. We talked for 5 mins. I waiting 50 mins for the doctor. I seriously think I would have waited over an hour to see him.
I left in tears, in pain, on a Friday afternoon with no hope of relief or help for the weekend.

I haven’t been to Austin Sports Medicine, so I can’t tell you how great their doctors probably are. My coworker recommended them when I was looking for someone to check out my sprained foot. The reason I haven’t been inside their doors is because the receptionist answering the phone was so rude, I didn’t want to make the effort to go out there, or give them my money. She was curt, snappy and told me they «didn’t do feet.»
There’s a right way and a wrong way to deal with emotionally distraught people who need medical assistance. This is not the right way. I can only imagine how many more people she may turn off to this clinic. Heed with caution.