Before heading to see Shmuel Tatz, PT, PhD about my knee, I’d heard from more than one doctor the WHAT NOT TO DO LIST: No stairs, no kneeling, no crossing legs, no sitting on floor, no squatting, no dancing. Plus I had a hard time wrapping my head around my previous physical therapist experiences: lots of clipboards and sessions with different PT’s each time and no results other than frustration. Still left with an imperfect knee that had suffered a few life-injuries. First there was the fall resulting in the tibial plateau fracture, then the torn meniscus, then the basic wear and tear, and loss of cartilage. The messages I was receiving from the medical community was to accept my ‘trick knee’.
That said, I wasn’t willing to give up and started asking friends and searching online for a specialist in physical therapy. One that might take insurance was another issue as I was on a pretty tight budget. After calling at least twenty PT offices, I reached Dr. Tatz’ office whose lovely assistant ushered me in immediately.
Tatz, the NYC acclaimed gray-haired PT, wasn’t much for words. He was more interested in what my entire body was saying to him and his reactions to my body versus vocabulary. His navigations seemed to be intuitive rather than straight out of a medical journal. He ‘tuned’ my body from the jaw down, gentle manipulations that made me feel thankful for the solid hour away from the pressures of NYC. Sometimes when seeing practitioners, I worry about what’s going on outside of the room rather than relaxing and healing inside.
Continue reading “Knee Treatment: Torn Meniscus and Loss of Cartilage”