Physician experiences knee pain relief through special rehab technique
Keeping in shape took a turn for the worst one day last year for Morris Hospital internal medicine physician Dr. Peter Roumeliotis. He injured his knees while exercising on a rowing machine.
“I overdid it, and I strained both knees,” Dr. Roumeliotis says. “My left knee in particular was very painful.”
He tried treating his knees with rest, ice and anti-inflammatories to no avail. Even a steroid shot in the most affected joint – his left knee – didn’t help. His orthopedic doctor recommended physical therapy.
At the Diagnostic & Rehabilitative Center of Morris Hospital, Dr. Roumeliotis was treated with the Graston technique. This specialized type of rehabilitation detects and treats areas of scar tissue (adhesions) in muscles, tendons and ligaments and can be used to treat a wide range of issues, including achilles tendinitis, plantar fasciitis, neck and back strains, carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow, trigger finger, hamstring injuries, hip pain, fibromyalgia and caesarean scars.
“I said, whatever it takes,” Dr. Roumeliotis says. “I’d been dealing with this pain for months. I was limping, I couldn’t climb stairs, and going downstairs was even worse.”
Using a set of gently curved stainless-steel instruments, the Graston techniques allows therapists to detect areas of soft tissue adhesions and manually “smooth them out.”
“The tissues in our body usually move smoothly against each other,” explains Shannon Gambon, a physical therapist at Morris Hospital who is certified in the Graston technique. “When we have an injury, our body repairs the damage as quickly as it can with scar tissue that isn’t necessarily aligned with neighboring tissues and can cause pain or tightness. When we use these tools, we can break up the scar tissue and encourage the tissue to realign in the right direction.”
Dr. Roumeliotis’s knees responded immediately to the treatment. It took only one or two sessions for his right knee to heal and around eight sessions for his left knee to go from a pain level of 9 down to a 2.
“The pain was significantly better,” he says. “This technique really, really helped. During the treatment, I could almost feel the tight tissue breaking loose.”
Since being treated, Dr. Roumeliotis has referred several of his own patients for Graston treatment. He gives kudos to the team who treated him and his patients.
“Morris Hospital has a phenomenal group of physical and occupational therapists,” he says, “and they offer so many different treatments.”
A physician’s order is required for rehabilitation services. For more information, call 815-705-7828.
