Observations of a Body Tuning Patient and Student

I first came to the Body Tuning clinic as a patient, looking to improve my posture and relieve my back pain. I laid down on the table, and the therapist, Daniel, began working on my problem areas, gently swinging and stretching the limbs, massaging tight muscles, applying pressure into critical points, and stimulating the tissues with electrical and electromagnetic devices. I felt my breathing become deep and relaxed, as though years of tension were melting away. I felt that I was in the right place. 

As Daniel worked, he also talked with me and helped to resolve my doubts and questions, gave me pointers as to the causes of my discomfort, and how to correct my structure. He pointed out the imbalance between the left and right sides of my body, and prescribed an exercise to correct it. He also gave me an exercise to deepen my breathing, and one to straighten my spine. After some time of working with both Dr. Tatz and Daniel, I have learned much about my body, and I have seen my body change in noticeable ways both externally and internally. I feel distinctly different now. My spine is more straight, I can breathe more deeply, and I feel more balanced and harmonious within my body than I have felt in a long time.

I was very impressed with my treatment results, and I wanted to learn how this is done. So I decided to volunteer as an assistant and student at Body Tuning. Now, since I have had the opportunity to observe and assist Dr. Tatz and Daniel, I have been able to see how the physical therapist assesses each patient, and observes where the imbalances are which cause pain and discomfort. I can see that, through much experience working with people’s bodies, along with study of anatomy, the therapist develops an intuitive knowledge of how a healthy body should look, feel, and move, and how to correct imbalances.

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How hands-on physical therapy can help in COVID-19 rehabilitation

If you’ve had COVID-19 and you’re experiencing any respiratory, cardiovascular, neurological, or psychological problems you may be what doctors call a “long hauler”, otherwise known as people who experience COVID-19 symptoms that linger for weeks thereafter. Today, you will see that physical therapy is one of the best options to rehabilitate post COVID-19. Many articles will write about exercise programs that were made to specialize in rehabilitation, but what many programs are missing is the art of touch that western physical therapy does not offer. Writing from Body Tuning & Physical Therapy, a clinic in NYC with heritage from Eastern Europe, we want to tell you about the importance of touch in COVID-19 rehabilitation.

Why Touch?

Though exercises are important to do, one cannot truly understand their patients’ body by way of observation. Touching the body to feel each muscle, tendon, ligament, and joint is the best way to connect internally and help the fascia and lymphatic systems. When one suffers from an injury or an illness working internally is the best way to reduce inflammation, produce blood flow, and enhance immunity. You can see why we’re so shocked no one has mentioned massage therapy until now. Going to a specialist who understands how to strengthen the body, feel how it is within, and use modalities, unique exercises, and breathing techniques is the best way you’ll make improvements on the health and functionality of a patients’ body.

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Interview with piano students at the Manhattan School of Music

Joseph Champlin* and Talia Anev* are two pianists who moved to America from Eastern Europe and became friends at the Manhattan School of Music. Champlin grew up in Belgium; whereas Anev is from Bulgaria. The two of them have been clients of Dr. Tatz, and his associate, Daniel Padmos for a few years now. They sat down and shared their stories of what led them to Body Tuning and the difference it has made on their mental and physical health.

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Safely reopening on May 4th

On Monday, May 4th we will be reopening the doors of the Body Tuning studio to accept in-office patients. We will be operating by appointment only and with limited staff of Dr. Tatz and Daniel. So please leave a message when you call the office and it will be returned as soon as we can.

Safety is everyone’s number one priority as we start to weigh the risk of exposure vs value when leaving the home.

Here’s what we are doing to protect you and ourselves:

  • Wearing masks to limit air contamination.
  • Washing hands before and after each treatment.
  • Scheduling patients in 1 hour intervals to avoid any overlap between patients. You and your therapist will have the entire office to yourselves.
  • Sanitize the office between each appointment. This includes high touch areas, individual treatment rooms and tables, and any equipment that you may come in contact with.
  • Our building sanitizes all hallways and door knobs regularly and requires a mask and gloves for entrance to protect contamination of public spaces.

We are doing everything we can to reduce everyone’s level of exposure. If you have any concerns, or recommendations, about our safety protocols please feel free to reply to this email so we can continue to help and support each other during this reopening transition.  

We are here for you when you are ready. 

Body Tuning is coming online!

We are continuing to try and provide the service that you know and love while also ensuring you and our staff remain safe. With that in mind, we’re introducing Body Tuning online.

Body Tuning is offering group exercise classes as well as 1 on 1 sessions that will be available for participation on Zoom. Please download the app ahead of time.

Live stream recording that was part of the Body Tuning Online program.
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How Body Tuning Expanded My Yoga Practice and My Sense of Self

Many people who begin physical exercise have the common goal of losing weight. It was no different for me, I had gained a lot in my first year of college, freshman 15 they call it, it got me, and I was driven to lose it all.

When many physical activities were creating muscle fatigue, drowsiness, and pain in my body I decided to give yoga a try. After my first class I knew yoga was something I loved. Would it help me lose weight? I wasn’t quite sure, but I loved how fluid it was and how my body was able to adapt to it easily.  I’d get sore, sweat, and feel like I got a good workout in.

Those feelings lasted about 6-7 months. After that I wouldn’t get so sore, if sore at all. I’d sweat, but because I was moving in 80 degrees or so, the feeling of a great workout changed to falling in love with a mind-body connection and understanding my movements.

A year practicing yoga and I lost that freshman 15 plus, but yoga changed for me in that interim. It was no longer about losing the weight; it was about finding an hour of self in a crazy world.

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How to Modify Exercises after Injury and When Can I Start Exercising Again?

Patient’s often ask, when can I go back to the gym? Can I take spin class? Can I do yoga? It would be great if there were some in depth analytics behind the answer or some quantifiable YES markers to measure. But the answer is unbearably simple and always the same:

You can do anything that doesn’t cause pain.

Pain means irritation, inflammation and tissue damage. Our body is even sometimes smart enough to give us pain BEFORE tissue damage happens but it’s still a sign of poor function and increased inflammation that will lead to stiffening/local swelling. So if you are injured, feeling pain at the sight of injury or anywhere related to it, is like scratching a scab that is trying to heal. It will set back the healing process and promote increased inflammation.

So don’t feel pain, but this is not to be confused with don’t move. The full correct answer on how to modify exercises or workout after an injury is: move the affected area as much as possible with NO pain. This sometimes means wiggling your ankle 1/2 an inch back and forth for 30 minutes. This would be a great way to help heal an ankle sprain as you provide circulation and mobility with zero pain.

It’s so simple yet so hard for people to accept and adhere by. There is only one modification once injured or when returning from injury, Don’t Cause Pain.

Hope this helps,
Daniel Padmos, MM, PTA

Physical Therapy for Runners: Tuning the Ankles for Lighter Running

Do you want to feel lighter and more free when you run? Then you need to ask yourself, do you know where the front of your ankle joint is? Find the tibiotalar joint labeled ankle in the picture below. This is the front of your ankle. Notice how in the picture on the right, the soft tissue that covers that area is being displayed. All those tendons are what you see pop off your foot and ankle when you bring your toes and foot towards your shin (dorsiflexion).

If you want to be able to run lighter, you need to be able to feel softness in this area and learn how to release the muscles and tendons along the front of the ankle joint when you walk and run.

Take a look at the trailing leg of each of the elite runners above. They are each about to start swinging their back leg forward by flexing the knee and hip. At this moment, you can see how the first thing they have to release before swinging the leg forward, is the front of their right ankle. They have moved into a more pointed foot position not by pushing with their toes into the ground but by releasing the front of the ankle.

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Best Breathing Method for Health

The goal of this breathing method is to affect not only the muscles in the body, but also the physiology of the body. While this breathing technique will produce relaxation and energy, it is important to remember that the fundamental concept is to limit your breath. If you would like to understand more about the physiology of this technique, you can start here: http://www.buteyko.co.uk/.

While it is best to do focused sessions of 15-20 minutes to help recalibrate your natural breathing rhythm, we find that any amount of this breath work will begin to improve your overall health.

How to Perform the Exercises:

All breathing should be done through the nose with mouth closed at all times. The mouth is for eating and the nose is for breathing. Focus on taking the smallest and most silent breath possible. Ultimately your breathing should be unnoticeable.

1. Begin by gently exhaling with little to no force. Don’t try to squeeze any air out, just let yourself deflate. If you exhale too far, you will feel your abdominal muscles contract to push extra air out, this is too much effort. Only release the air until you reach a natural resting state

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Managing Pain and Function Following Joint Replacement Surgery

knee-scar

More than 1 million patients undergo total knee or hip replacement surgeries each year in the US and numbers continue to climb. The trend might be easily explained by an increasing number of elderly people, but reports are showing that there is a growing trend for younger patients to opt for surgery.

No matter how old you are when you go for surgery, one thing is certain: you will feel pain.

For most patients this is not a new sensation. The majority of patients seek joint replacement surgery because they have been living with pain for extended periods of time. It is easy to think that surgery is a quick fix and in some ways it is. The new joint is ready to function immediately and many patients are beginning their physical therapy rehabilitation on the same day as their surgery. But what most people do not expect is how much recovery it will take to overcome the damage caused by the surgery.

The nature of joint replacement surgery involves deep penetration into the body that requires tissue cutting, splinting, stretching, stapling, nerve severing, and bone scraping/removal to name a few. Having a clear understanding of what you are getting into, and how much pain to expect following the surgery, will help you recover quicker and help you manage post-operative pain more effectively.

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