For latest news visit qchron.com 24THthe ANNUAL CELEBRATION OF Q UEENS • 2021
QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, June 24, 2021 Page 24
C M CEL page 24 Y K BACK TO BUSINESS
Physical therapists had the right touch Telehealth visits were one answer for patients who stayed home by Mark Lord Chronicle Contributor
As many businesses, particularly small, privately owned ones, struggled to stay open during the Covid-19 pandemic, that time-honored proverb “Necessity is the mother of invention” began taking on increasingly meaningful relevance. Witness the cases of Dr. David Jung, owner of Lion Physical Therapy, and Dr. Teddy Neamonitis, owner of Millennium Physical Therapy. As specialists offering hands-on healthcare services, they faced certain pandemic challenges that some other business people did not. Jung opened his office in Long Island City just two and a half years ago. He prides himself on working one-on-one with each patient, with treatments that range from deep connective tissue massage and joint mobilization to deep muscle therapy and therapeutic exercise. Overnight, all that seemed to change, and Jung, known to his patients familiarly as Dr. David, had to come up with ways of staying connected to them, eventually relying to a large extent on the telehealth approach. “I helped guide the assessment and self-treatment,” he said, admitting, “It was very hard to diagnose because I wasn’t physically there.” Poor lighting and camerawork in patients’
Dr. David Jung works with a patient at Lion Physical Therapy in Long Island City, left. At right, the equipment at Millennium Physical Therapy, COURTESY PHOTOS owned by Dr. Teddy Neamonitis, inset. homes often added to the challenge. In addition, many patients simply didn’t have space in which to do their exercises. So, Jung became what he described in a recent telephone interview as “super-creative.”
He advised his patients on how to use items found around the house to help them with their workouts: fruits, particularly heavy ones, became their makeshift dumbbells; heavy boots were used as ankle weights.
Jung said his office never fully closed during the pandemic, though for a time it was open only two days a week as opposed to the usual six. continued on next page
