When Justin Bugarin tore the meniscus in his left knee (the cartilage that cushions the joint), he worried. He loved being a police officer on the SWAT (Special Weapons And Tactics) team, and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to get back to work quickly.
“SWAT officers need to be at their best 100 percent of the time,” said Justin. “We need to be ready to run on concrete, go up and down stairs, and jump when needed—all while carrying an extra 50 to 60 pounds of armor, weapons and tool kits.”
When his left knee grew swollen and didn’t get better, he knew he needed to see a specialist.
He saw Dr. Lesley Anderson who recommended surgery. She also recommended that he use the RecoveryOne platform as part of his rehabilitation. Dr. Anderson specializes in knee and shoulder surgery is a big proponent of telerehabilitation (telerehab), like RecoveryOne. According to Justin, she prescribed RecoveryOne to supplement his conventional physical therapy sessions.
He accessed the platform every day religiously and then shared his results with the physical therapist.
“The therapist is familiar with RecoveryOne, and mentioned that the platform made her job easier,” he noted. “At my PT visits, the therapist would be my progress, correct my form when it was needed, and gave me feedback. She served as my quality control.”
It didn’t take long for Justin’s knee to regain 100% of its function.
“I believe that the Trainer Rx sessions, combined with conventional physical therapy, got me back to where I was before the injury,” he said. “I had achieved 100% mobility within six weeks! I continued my rehab exercises because I wanted to maintain my progress,” he said.
According to Justin there is another an unintended benefit of accessing the RecoveryOne platform every day.
“People who are suddenly not active and unable to work or do many of the basic things, they tend to lose some of their self-assurance,” he said. “Accessing the sessions on RecoveryOne every day gave me a purpose. It gave me a reason to get up and focus on my recovery.”