Dr. John Shufflebarger enjoys the challenge of being an orthopedic hand surgeon and loves the fact that he gets to help people each day. “It’s very rewarding to be able to make such a big impact on people’s everyday lives,” he explains. “The majority of people I treat have a pretty significant recovery in the use of their hands. In fact, we are able to get major function back in 95 to 98% of the people we see here.”

According to Dr. Shufflebarger, physical therapy is a very important part of people’s recovery from hand surgery. “That’s why people have to be motivated and able to do their rehab. They have to be able to sacrifice and be able to tolerate some pain in order to get function back. It’s tough, but the majority of people do pretty well. People have to understand that therapy can be difficult but it really pays off in the long run. Fortunately, we have some really good therapists here in our Orthopedics department.”

Some of the typical problems that Dr. Shufflebarger sees patients for are broken wrists, carpal tunnel releases, tendinitis, congenital deformities, lumps and bumps, contractures, nerve compression, soft tissue injuries, and infections. Whatever the treatment required, he enjoys building close relationships with his patients. “I like to be really thorough and give patients a good treatment plan and follow it through until it’s successful. I feel that once I see a patient for a problem that problem becomes mine and I will work as hard as I can until that problem goes away.”

Although he has practiced at other health care organizations, Dr. Shufflebarger now feels very at home here with Reliant. “I like the way Reliant’s medical system runs. It’s really efficient and up-to-date – and I think it delivers a superior brand of medical care. We also have a great relationship with the hospital here, which helps us provide top-notch surgical care.”

In his spare time Dr. Shufflebarger enjoys spending as much time as possible with his wife and children. He also likes to travel and garden. Originally from West Virginia, his father worked for the Southern Railroad and he has enjoyed model trains as a hobby for most of his life.