Many of us, I’m sure, have been verbally reprimanded for slouching at one point or another during our youth, but truly, keeping your back and shoulders in an appropriate alignment has great benefits for your entire body. With regards to your rotator cuff, good posture is a key element in protecting it during everyday activities and also from injury. The space in your shoulder (glenohumeral) joint is very small, but houses several structures- a bursa (fluid-filled sac), tendons, and bone. When you slouch your shoulders forward and perform repetitive overhead or reaching activities, the function of the rotator cuff is not only affected, but the integrity of the tissue is compromised; the tissue may become “impinged” or pinched in that space and then with years and years of poor posture the cuff tendons may become weakened and frayed leading to a partial or full thickness tear.

As rehab experts, we pay close attention to posture in sitting, standing, and during arm movement, especially when a patient comes to see us for shoulder pain. Sometimes, all it takes is a little education on good posture for a patient to feel immediate improvement in their pain. So, what does good posture look like?
As a general guideline, try this activity standing or sitting in front of a mirror for feedback.

• Looking straight ahead (in sitting, your feet should be planted on the floor and your knees at a right angle), keep your back in an upright position and your belly moderately tight (think of mildly sucking in your gut, if you have one).
• Keep your chin slightly tucked (think of making a small double chin).
• Keep your shoulders down, and pinch them back (like you’re trying to make your shoulder blades touch) so that they are in line with your trunk
• Hold this position for about 30 seconds and then release. Repeat throughout the day.

This may seem uncomfortable at first, especially if you typically don’t have good posture, but try it. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have further questions about shoulder pain or posture!

You would think that with all of my clinical training and ever-growing knowledge of the human machine that my life as a doctor of physical therapy would somehow be glamorous at home. Well, it’s quite the contrary. I’m just hubby and dad on the homefront.

When I come home from a long day of treating people, all I want to do is wind down- Wind down from all the staff issues, to-do’s, different personalities, diagnoses, paperwork. They say that men tend to compartmentalize their lives. I am definitely of that sort. I like to shut down my “rehab brain” when I’m not working- sometimes, to my discredit. I fondly recall my wife asking me why our daughter at 12 months wasn’t walking or quite standing yet, to which I blithely replied, “eh, she’s still within normal limits.” Of course, when she asked me again at the 13th and 14th month, I knew she was growing more concerned. She finally asked, “why is it that you’re not working with her?! You work with babies, too, don’t you?” While I knew Josie was still within the normal range, I replied, “Yeah, I guess I could do a few things with her (knowing that Josie would start to walk when she was ready).” So, after a few “sessions” with Josie, low and behold, voila! she was walking! My wife proceeded to ask, “well, why didn’t you work with her sooner?!” Smugly, I said, “I knew she would eventually.”

When I’m outside of the office, I don’t necessarily advertise that I’m a physical therapist. Whether it be at church or at a party, if my identity as a therapist is discovered, there’s an 8/10 chance that somebody will approach me to tell me about their pain or ask me for rehab/fitness advice. On the one hand, this is why I entered the profession. I enjoy helping people and teaching folks how to better their physical lives. On the other hand, I am not fond of being asked for a “massage” or when I am presented with silly, common-sensical questions, like “my shoulder hurts when I throw, do you think I should stop throwing?” I am one who believes that stupid questions exist (I ask them on occasion myself).

The most unfortunate part about being a physical therapist is that more times than not, there’s no one outside of the office who can (or desires to) take care of YOUR physical needs! That’s irony for ya. Even my beloved, pregnant (again) wife asks me each night for a little massage, despite my weary, gnarled fingers from a long day of “manual labor”. When I ask for a back rub in return, she lovingly replies, “honey, I’m just not strong enough to work on you.” Sigh. For my own solace, I verbally cue my daughter to give her ‘ol man a little back pounding and with a smile, Josie gently pounds her cute little fists onto my low back for a few seconds, then, distracted by the Wiggles video playing behind me, runs off. I can only chuckle and look forward to the next day…

Finally, I’m my own boss!  I envisioned myself opening a private practice one day, perhaps when I turned 40 or so.  Things didn’t turn out as planned, and at 31 (going on 32), here I am writing a blurb about owning a business.  While our doors won’t be officially opening until March 2007, I am slowly feeling that sense of ownership as more and more details and tasks get panned out.  I am excited and anxious since any business is subject to success or going bust within the first 3-5 years, so I’m told.  I don’t think we’ll be going bust any time soon.  Call it confidence, call it ignorance.  I just believe more and more that Taylor and I have a great product in Maven Physical Therapy.  Taylor often remarks that “we want to be different”.  We’re not setting out to be just another out-patient physical therapy practice.  There are way too many of them out there- just open up the yellow pages and call a therapist.  What makes us stand out from our competition is our desire to be exceptional in all that we do.  Whether it be in our documentation, our clinical practice, or our community endeavors, we just don’t want to settle for “good enough.”

When you meet us, the first thing you’ll notice is that we really want to engage with you.  You’re going to feel like you’re in good hands, so to speak, and you’ll feel confident that we know what we’re doing.  Soon into our treatment sessions, you’ll also notice that we treat you with the utmost respect and spend the time to listen to what your needs are.  They say it’s not good to worry about your competitors. To that statement, I agree, especially when you know in your heart of hearts that you can offer something that’s of great quality.

• We know who all the good orthopedic and neurosurgeons are!
• We have lots of good advice about how to take care of your body
• We’re usually nice bunch of people and willing to help…as long as it’s between the hours of 9-5
• We’ve got great hands, but please, don’t ask us for a massage!

I have very fond memories of my graduate education experience at Columbia.  I was fortunate to have been educated by some of the brightest (and oldest) minds in physical therapy.  I was inspired by several of the faculty to consider teaching (which I began earlier this year as an adjunct instructor for UMDNJ) and really came to realize that I had chosen the right profession.

More than our well-recognized, highly respected faculty, however, the class of `01 was what really made Columbia an awesome experience for me.  We were a pretty tight class as a whole.  For the most part, everyone really got along.  Not only was my class of 48 students an intelligent bunch, they were also personable, compassionate, and engaging.  Through the downpour of exams and many a sleepless night while preparing for our master’s thesis project, I really found myself able to rely on not just one or two folks, but on the entire group for encouragement, empathy, laughs, and a jovial hug.

Although we’ve all gone our separate ways, it’s nice to hear that the class seems to be doing well.  “So-and-so had their first baby, so-and-so got married, or so-and-so is opening up a practice”.  I think our class will always remain connected in some way by a few threads of news blowing in the wind…or merely by the fond (and not so fond) memories we all shared at a critical point in our lives during our graduate school experience.

Let me tell ya, of all the sports I’ve participated in, triathlons have been the best. The excitement, the intensity, the adrenaline, and (the lactic acid) pain really has produced a euphoric high in the aftermath of a race that I’ve never had in other sports. For me, I notice I do better in individual sports. In team sports, I tended to get too distracted by what my teammates were doing…or should be doing (which is not to say that I’m not a team player). In a sprint level race (which is the shortest of the triathlons), it’s all about my own performance, and I really enjoy that aspect of a triathlon. Every race I’ve done, I’ve been able to improve in some aspect. My first race at Harriman, I finished 146th/300 on a mountain bike with shocks!. My second race at Greenwood lake, I placed 46th/200. My third race in Los Angeles, I completed the race in 1:15, which was my best time (but worst ranking!). Whether it is my race time or ranking, I get to push myself to do better and well beyond my own perceived limits in a race. Granted, I’ve only done three sprint level races, but that desire to train and race is still there. I’ve let life pull me away from racing, but sometime next year in 2007 or 2008, I will do a race! Hold me to it!

Yes, I am a doctor of physical therapy by training, but I am also the in-house grill god at the Yoo residence. My passion for physical therapy is almost as great as my passion for eating and cooking (just kidding, really). I’m definitely a sauce guy, and when it comes to grilling pork ribs, I continually strive to make that perfect sauce. So far, my numerous experiments have yielded no complaints from even my most critical of buddies. So, let me reveal to you the “Jerry Method”-

I’m sure you’ve read that basting repeatedly during the last few minutes of grilling is the norm, but I prefer the following method- After grilling your marinated ribs in covered aluminum foil, remove the foil and grill the ribs on each side until you get that nice charred lines on your meat. Remove the ribs from the grill. Have ready a large tupperware-like container with your desired sauce (doesn’t have to be heated). Here’s my trick, add Duk sauce to this sauce and mix until uniform. Huh? This Korean guy has got it all wrong! Man, let me tell you that the sugar, apricots, and cornstarch in duk sauce really bind nicely to the meat when you mix it with any BBQ sauce or other marinade you desire to use. Anyway, submerge your ribs into this concoction, then close the container and shake it all around for a few minutes. While the meat is “resting” inside the container, the sauce just seems to become one with your meat. After 15 minutes, get your claws ready for some good eatin’!