My greatest joy in life is watching people people get better. When I discovered the field of Physiatry in my 4th year of medical school, I knew right away that it was the perfect fit for me. Where else could I work with almost every body part, to help the whole human get better, while giving them the tools to help themselves in the process??
I started medical school at 29. I had worked in Puerto Rico for several years at an AIDS center in the 90’s at the height of the AIDS epidemic, and watched it ravage many friends, coworkers and patients. I was a case manager, and Director of a federally funded Ryan White program. One day one of my patients said to me, “why don’t you become a doctor”? And I thought to myself… “Well? Why not? “.
Ha! Easier said than done, but I kept at it, and entered SUNY Downstate in 1999. That was certainly of the hardest things in my life, but I was lucky enough to land a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation residency at Mt Sinai in NYC in 2003. After graduation in 2007, I had a few months to enjoy my newborn son, and then started with a wonderful PM&R practice in NJ… where I spent the next 14 years learning and growing in my field.
I became interested in learning about ultrasound guided injections— I’ve always been drawn to procedures. Being able to see, in real time , where I was, where the needle was going, and to watch the medication go exactly where it was supposed to, was a heady experience for this nerd.
So basically, I just went to course after course, year after year to learn everything I could about injection techniques. During these conferences, I started to hear about a new type of approach to medicine from my colleagues, a new approach that really worked. Up until now, I only had access to oral medications (like NSAIDS and anticonvulsants, muscle relaxants and narcotics) and cortisone injections, but they were not effective, and my patients were still in pain because we weren’t addressing the root of their problem, we weren’t treating their injury, just putting a bandaid on the problem. Now, I started learning about things like prolotherapy, and about the healing regenerative growth factors that we all have IN OUR OWN BLOOD that can be harnessed to actually heal and repair tissue, (rather than just cover it up and hurting them more by introducing addictive medications, slowing down healing with NSAIDS and injuring the joint cartilage more with cortisone injections.).
As I saw, in myself and in my patients, people actually heal from musculoskeletal injuries and get their lives back with these treatments… now I was hearing about using these same principles of regenerative medicine to address sexual dysfunction.. erectile dysfunction/stress incontinence in men and dyspareunia/stress incontinence/anorgasmia in women. My mind was blown!
How often have I heard a patient say to me regarding their back pain or their sex life or their knee pain…. “Well this is just what it means to get old”. Some part of me was always saying “NOOOOOO, don’t accept that as your lot”!
Listen, we can’t help but get older… I mean, there is no way around it, but if we could support our bodies in a better way, and address issues with pain, injury and inflammation in a more effective way, why would anyone choose to suffer?
When COVID first presented itself, in March of 2020, hospitals and medical offices were shut down for a time, I had a chance to spend more time with my two wonderful sons, and the idea began to percolate in my head… what if I had my own practice where I could be closer to my kids, in my beloved neighborhood, where I could focus on my passion?? And so it began… I found an amazing office along the same route that I walked every day to go to high school. We began renovations and here we are, 18 months later, getting ready to open the doors to a new type of medicine.