Dr. Bartels’ Experience With Apos®
Dr. Bartels, the Chair of Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center first witnessed the power of Apos® when an employee at Montefiore tried the treatment. They went from a painful, slow gait to walking effortlessly and smiling—all within minutes. Initially skeptical of such rapid results, Dr. Bartels soon observed similar outcomes in other patients. He highlights the treatment’s ability to restore mobility and quality of life by strengthening muscles and improving biomechanics, particularly for those with knee, hip, or back pain.
Dr. Bartels’ Story
“One of the major things that we aim for in rehabilitation is to have patients return to the quality of life that they had prior to their disability.”
First Experience with Apos®
“My first patient that I saw actually treated with Apos® was one of our employees who went with us to Apos® to just get a trial fit to see how things would work. Had that individual not been somebody that we worked with here at Montefiore and came with us to the Apos® clinic, I would have thought that this was a plant.
The individual went from having a very painful gait, which was slow, waddling, and very, very difficult to do, to wearing the Apos®, smiling, and going almost twice as fast with no impediment at her gait. She was going, “This is awesome!” and I’m thinking, “This just couldn’t be true,” that a treatment that was simply basically changing the biomechanics could make somebody improve so much, so quickly.”
Wider Patient Impact
“But we’ve had several other individuals who have had the same effects, which means that for the right patients, I think this is an absolutely fabulous treatment.”
Target Populations
“In particular, I think that populations that we would target would be people who are on their feet all day and, because of this, are developing degenerative joint changes. A good example would be nurses—individuals who are walking all day. These individuals would benefit from making sure that the biomechanics and the muscles to support their knees, hips, and back are strengthened in the appropriate fashion.
They also are often working and don’t have the time to do a standard exercise program, so having a treatment like Apos®, where you just put the shoes on when you go home, wear them for an hour a day, and every day have basically a regenerative treatment, would be a fabulous way for us to actually initially apply this treatment.”
Restoring Quality of Life
“I like to phrase it that you get your life back. A lot of the patients aren’t coming to us because, ‘Oh, I have an x-ray that shows that I have arthritis,’ or, ‘Oh, I can only bend my hip a certain number of degrees.’ They’re coming because, ‘I am not able to play with my grandchild. I’m not able to take the walk I used to. I can’t golf like I did, or I’m having more trouble at work, and I can’t climb the stairs.’
So, this will be actually a tremendous benefit for a lot of our patients—that the lifestyle and the quality of life that they used to have prior to their injury will return.”
Conclusion
“Our goal here really with Apos® is not just reduction of pain, but it’s to restore people to the quality of life and the activities that they had before they started to have symptoms.”
