Dr. Josh Hackel, M.D. is a board-certified and fellowship-trained sports medicine physician who specializes in treating musculoskeletal and orthopaedic injuries. His primary aim is to maximize healing and minimize recovery time, allowing for a rapid return to sport, work, and daily activities. His clinical interests include treatment of the musculoskeletal system, including ultrasound-guided, minimally-invasive procedures such as bone marrow- and adipose-derived stem cell injections; platelet-rich plasma therapies (also known as PRP); Tenex (percutaneous tenotomy) of the elbow, ankle, plantar fascia, knee, hip and shoulder; and radiofrequency ablation for chronic pain and/or arthritis of the hip and knee.
Dr. Hackel trained under world-renowned orthopaedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews during his fellowship at the American Sports Medicine Institute (ASMI) in Birmingham, Alabama. Following his fellowship, Dr. Hackel was one of two physicians selected by Dr. Andrews to move to Gulf Breeze, Florida and launch the Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine. The Andrews Institute has experienced remarkable growth since that time and is today one of the leading multi-specialty clinics in the country.
Dr. Hackel was the first physician at the Andrews Institute to utilize stem cell therapy successfully in the treatment of soft tissue injuries and joint disorders and is an internationally-recognized expert in stem cell therapies and ultrasound-guided procedures. He is a pioneer in the diagnostic and therapeutic uses of musculoskeletal ultrasound in an orthopaedic practice, and developed one of the first musculoskeletal ultrasound continuing education courses in the country. He has been teaching fellow clinicians how to effectively use musculoskeletal ultrasound in their practices since 2009; to this day, his educational course is considered one of the best in the country by his peers.