Tulsa Bone & Joint congratulates two of our amazing physical therapists, Libby Boone and Bethany Koss, on a decade of service!
A lot can happen in a decade of time.. In 2013 twerk was added to Webster’s Dictionary, ObamaCare was implemented into healthcare, the Harlem Shake was the trend of the year, taking selfies became a rage, and Beyonce reunited Destiny’s Child for the Super Bowl halftime performance. Here at Tulsa Bone & Joint in 2013, Physical Therapy was located in two awkward tiny wings of what was once the Platinum Gym and on the 3rd floor of the South building. In that time, Bethany and Libby have worked in three different buildings — physically moving the entire clinic twice (once in a thunderstorm).
A number of things haven’t changed … both Bethany and Libby have been vital to building the foundation of our department. Their dedication to the profession and the care they provide our patients are unmatched. They are dependable, they are consistent, and they never complain.
Bethany Koss’ Story
After high school, Bethany was unsure of a career path and ended up following her sister to beauty school, where she
became a licensed cosmetologist in 1998. After 4 years in the field, she decided she wanted to go into physical therapy. She began working part time and completed prerequisites at TCC. In 2008, she graduated from OUHSC-Tulsa with her Masters of Physical Therapy. Upon graduation, she began her career at Redbud PT and worked there for nearly 5 years before coming to Tulsa Bone & Joint.
During her decade at Tulsa Bone & Joint, Bethany has treated 3,430 patients, obtained certifications in ASTYM, dry needling, BFR and sportsmetrics. She is also one of the physical therapy providers for Tulsa Ballet.
Three things Bethany has enjoyed most at TBJ in the last 10 years are her co-workers, the types of patients she gets to work with and the relationships she has built with our physicians.
Bethany enjoys being an advocate for her patients and having some of their situations changed by being a voice for them. She loves her job and the ability it provides for her to help her patients get back to things they want to do.
In the next 10 years, she wants to be able to hone her skills for treating shoulders, specifically overhead athletes, and she wants to become the go-to therapist for individuals with these injuries.
Bethany is a friend to all, a quiet leader and an ideal employee that has helped lay the foundation of culture for our clinic.
Libby Boone’s Story
Libby graduated from OU with a bachelor’s degree in Physical Therapy in 1996. She began her career with Patient Health Care Corporation, which was an independent local company. She worked in various settings while there, including outpatient PT, hospital based PT, and home health.
Libby then took a job with Professional PT, owned by our very own Helen Pratt (now Tulsa Bone & Joint Midtown PT). She worked there for the next 12 years. This is where she started to develop her knowledge and skills in working with spine patients. She attended several CE courses taught by people like Dr. Shirley Sahrmann and Dr. Stanley Paris and attended courses through IAOM-US. Libby also performed work screens, FCE tests, and did some company consulting.
While working at Helen’s clinic, Libby became mom to twins Max and Emma. She wanted more time at home with her young kids, and left Professional PT to pursue a job at Core Physical Therapy, which was owned by a group of physician and chiropractor friends. She worked here part time for 2 years, which allowed her the flexibility to both work and be present with her kids. This is where she first became interested in pursuing scoliosis training. She began self study of the Schroth method to improve her ability to treat these patients, developing the skills needed to treat varying types and stages of scoliosis.
After leaving Core PT, Libby found herself at Tulsa Bone and Joint, where she has spent the last 10 years. During her time here, she has seen 2,284 patients and treated a variety of orthopedic and sometimes non orthopedic problems. She has become Dr. Clark’s right hand woman when it comes to treating spine patients and is the scoliosis guru.
Libby has stuck with TBJ through 6 location changes over the years, changes in leadership, and through a global pandemic. She enjoys the patients she gets to treat and working alongside a group of clinicians that care more about the patient than the metrics. She enjoys the benefit of having access to the doctor’s notes and the ease of communication with them if needed.
Libby is a fantastic physical therapist, and we are so lucky to have her as a part of our team. If you want to see Libby, be prepared to wait at least 2 weeks to find an open spot on her schedule. She has patients that she has seen for years, even some that have followed her from other clinics. She provides excellent patient care and brings a wealth of knowledge to every patient she treats.
When not at work, you can find Libby on the soccer field cheering on her two favorite players, traveling the world thanks to her husband Mark’s work, volunteering with various organizations through her kids’ activities, or throwing the tennis ball with her favorite fur child, Cooper.
By Britney Else, DO
National Girls and Women in Sports Day was chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1986 to honor female athletic achievement and recognize the importance of sports and fitness participation for all girls and women.
Athletics, sports, and its community have had a profound impact on my life, career, health and future. At age of 4, I started t-ball and have continued to participate in athletics to this day. I was fortunate enough to be a collegiate athlete and varsity in two sports as a freshman. In the beginning, I found it hard, as my parents and uncle were my coaches, and I often wasn’t always a starter or got much play time. I later learned that they did not want to have a bias towards me. However, I have come to appreciate that restraint from my coaches as I learned about teamwork and belonging.
Sports has helped shape me into the mom, physician, and woman I am today. I learned about hard work on and off the court or field, which likely helped prepare me for medical school and the rigors of medical residency. I learned that my academic performance in high school and college could affect my ability to play, so I took school very seriously as well. I also learned a sense of accomplishment and pride when being chosen for scholarship, or all-state, or after winning a big game.
Athletics also steered my career into sports medicine, and it is a perfect fit for me to be able to treat athletes and return them to the sports they love. Most importantly, I feel sports and athletics has had the most profound impact on my health. I enjoy staying healthy through exercise and sports. I now enjoy coaching my young daughters in their early years of sports. I would like to share some benefits that sports can have for women of all ages.
8 Benefits for Girls and Women Who Participate in Sports:
- Increased mental and physical well-being
- Increased sense of belonging
- Increased academic performance
- Increased sense of self, accomplishment, and pride
- Increased work ethic, responsibility, and accountability
- Increased bone and muscle mass, in turn decreasing risk of osteoporosis
- Improved balance and coordination
- Decreased risk of chronic disease, cardiovascular disease and some cancers
National Girls and Women in Sports Day originally began as a day to remember Olympic volleyball player Flo Hyman for her athletic achievements and her work to assure equality for women’s sports. Hyman died of Marfan’s Syndrome in 1986 while competing in a volleyball tournament in Japan. Since that time, the day has evolved into an acknowledgement of the past and recognition of current sports achievements, the positive influence of sports participation, and the continuing struggle for equality and access for women in sports.
Tulsa Bone and Joint’s Union Pines Surgery Center is the first non-hospital environment in the state to offer Mako SmartRobotics™. This advancement in joint replacement surgery improves the way total knee and partial knee replacements are performed by helping surgeons know more and cut less.
Tulsa Bone & Joint’s Union Pines Surgery Center is the first ambulatory surgery center in Oklahoma to offer this state-of-the-art technology. Several of the surgeons will utilize the technology, which includes CT-based planning and insightful data analytics in order to provide patients with an optimal joint replacement experience. The first two knee replacements using the technology were performed at Union Pines on Jan. 5.
“We are proud to be the first surgery center in our area to offer this highly advanced robotic technology,” said Dr. J. Scott Reid. “At Tulsa Bone and Joint, we strive to provide our patients access to cutting-edge technology. Our ultimate goal is to improve the patient experience at Tulsa Bone and Joint and Union Pines Surgery Center, and we believe this technology helps us achieve this goal.”
At Union Pines, patients can benefit from all of Tulsa Bone and Joint’s surgical expertise in a comfortable, outpatient setting. Joint replacements performed at Union Pines help patients avoid the hospital setting and are available at a lower cost than hospitals.
Patient Deborah Zombro with Dr. J. Scott Reid. Deborah was one of the first patients whose knee replacement involved the new Mako Robotics technology at Union Pines Surgery Center.
Dr. J. Scott Reid demonstrates the Mako technology.
Norman L. Dunitz, M.D., died peacefully at his home on September 10, 2022. He was born to Ida and Philip Dunitz, the oldest of three children, on September 25, 1927, in Newton, Iowa which is also the home of the Maytag washing machine and the internationally famous Maytag blue cheese. Maytag played a pivotal role in Norm’s childhood: His earliest job was sweeping floors at the factory, and to this day, there is always a round of blue cheese in the Dunitz refrigerator. His High School yearbook describes Norm as “The brainy member of the Senior Class who found time for dancing and fun.” It reflects he was a Renaissance man; he lettered in golf, was on the varsity football and basketball teams, played clarinet in a Jazz Band, and was Senior Class Poet. When one of his grandchildren was told of this latter honor, he asked, “Is that a thing?”
After high school, Norm attended the University of Iowa, but in 1946, the Army interrupted his academic studies. After basic training, his assigned “duty” was playing on the Army basketball team. Upon discharge, he reenrolled at the University of Iowa, graduated from medical school in 1953, completed an internship in Detroit, a surgery residency in Iowa City, Orthopedic Surgery residencies at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago, and a Masters in Orthopedics at the University of Minneapolis.
While in college, Norm met and married Annette, his partner for 71 years. In 1958 Annette and Norm drove south to find the right community to start his medical practice, with the primary criteria being a place where he did not have to shovel snow. Landing in Tulsa, Norm opened his office at 21st and Lewis with Annette as his assistant and bookkeeper. This one-man medical practice led to Tulsa Bone and Joint Associates P.C., now with 30 physicians. But his medical practice was only part of his professional career. He served as Chief of Staff of St John Medical Center, President of the Tulsa County Medical Association, President of the Oklahoma State Medical Association, Chair of the American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society, President of the Clinical Orthopedic Society, a Charter Member of the MidAmerica Orthopedic Association and the American Association for Hip and Knee Surgery. He was a Professor at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, a visiting Professor at Mayo Clinic, on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Clinical Orthopedics and a Fellow in the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons and the American College of Surgeons. His favorite volunteer experience was impacting national health care policy as an AMA delegate.
Norm’s most important professional achievement is bringing total joint replacements to Oklahoma. In 1969, he traveled to Switzerland to train with Dr. Maurice Mueller on hip replacements. Rather than wait months for the FDA response to his request to use necessary “cement” for the operation, Norm and Annette made a personal appeal for approval in Washington D.C. Now total hip and knee replacements are ubiquitous, but Norm will always be known as the doctor who did the first one in Oklahoma.
Norm loved Tulsa and pursued his passions while benefiting the city by being on the Boards of Tulsa Opera and the Tulsa Philharmonic, secretary of the Committee of 100, and being Annette’s sidekick when she chaired various fundraisers. His involvement with athletics continued as a regular member of the University of Tulsa Hurricane Club, rarely missing a home basketball game, and a founding member of Philcrest Tennis Club. His tennis games with other octogenarians at Southern Hills Country Club are now legendary. Norm and Annette made lifelong friendships in Tulsa, around bridge, movie club, “the Rascals” and their house at Grand Lake. They loved international travel, making many trips throughout Europe, North and South America and the far east. His last international trip was to China at the age of 87!
Most of all, Norm loved his family. He attended almost all of his grandchildren’s music, dance, and theater performances and basketball, baseball, volleyball, soccer, and football games. After each grandchild turned three, he or she had an annual birthday date with “Papa Normy.” The date always included dinner, a special activity designed for the child, and a lot of Papa Normy Advice.
Norm will be remembered for his deeds of loving kindness by Annette, his children Elise (Terry) Brennan, Scott (Harriet) Dunitz, grandchildren Michelle (Ryan) McDonald, Drew Dunitz, Phil Dunitz (Whitney Mohr), Katie Brennan and Danny Brennan and great grandchildren Levi and Oliver McDonald, his sister Toby Newman, brother-in-law, Marvin Braverman, sister-in-law Jeri Dunitz, and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins. In addition, he will be remembered by hundreds of patients and colleagues for his compassionate medical care. During the last few years, he has been shown this same kind care by Linda, Margaret, Gyn, Nicolate, Grace, Eva, Baily, Felicia, and Nikki, for whom the family is very grateful.
A Memorial Service will be September 22, 2022, at 4:00 p.m. at Southern Hills Country Club. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Orthopedic Research and Education Foundation, Tulsa Opera, Temple Israel, or B’nai Emunah.
By Amy Bates, PTA
If you are experiencing pain and/or a pinching feeling in the top of your shoulder, you may have shoulder impingement. It is a common diagnosis, but can lead to more serious problems if left untreated, such as a rotator cuff tear or further inflammation, pain, and inability to properly raise your arm away from your body. Patients who have been diagnosed with an impingement usually experience a general stiffness, poor ability to maneuver the arm away from the body, and pain in and around the shoulder joint.
The shoulder joint is made up of three bones, which consist of the humerus, the scapula (shoulder blade), and the clavicle (collar bone). The outer, top edge of the scapula is called the acromion. Sometimes, the connective tissue that sits under the acromion can become irritated, inflamed, or even torn. This can result in a shoulder impingement diagnosis.
There are several factors that can lead to this tissue becoming inflamed. Poor postural awareness (rounded shoulders and forward head), repetitive reaching/lifting movements, aging, and shoulder injuries are all common factors that can lead to shoulder impingement.
Physical Therapy can be a tremendous help in restoring range of motion and strengthening the muscles in the back of the shoulder in order to provide improved strength and stability, thus reducing the stress on the connective tissue. PT for shoulder impingement usually consists of safe exercises and manual interventions that can assist in decreasing pain and improving overall movement patterns. Your doctor may also provide anti-inflammatories or recommend a steroid injection.
If you are having shoulder pain with no known mechanism of injury, our team of skilled, compassionate, and knowledgeable physicians, along with our physical therapy staff, would love to be of assistance in helping to decrease your pain and restore your prior level of function. We are one big team, and are ready to get you back to living your best life!
Below are some simple exercises and stretches that can help if you are experiencing this type of pain.
Doorway pec stretch
Stand in a doorway with the affected arm on the door frame in a 90-90 position. Step forward with one foot and shift your weight to the front foot, keeping the shoulders square to the front and without rotating the body. Hold 20 seconds for 5 reps.
Image from www.hep2go.com
Scapular retraction
Image from https://homegymr.com/scapular-retraction-exercises-benefits-form/
Try and squeeze your shoulder blades together, as if pinching a dollar bill between them. Do not let your shoulders lift up towards your ears when you squeeze. Repeat 10-15 times.
Scapular retraction with shoulder ER
Image from https://exercisesforinjuries.com/3-best-exercises-to-get-rid-of-shoulder-joint-pain/no-money/
Start with squeezing your shoulder blades as in the previous exercise. Keep your elbows in at your sides. After you squeeze the shoulder blades, rotate your arms out as far as is comfortable, keeping the shoulder blades squeezed together. Bring your arms back in and relax the shoulder blades. Repeat 10-15 times.
Prone T
Lay on your stomach with arms out to the side. Lift the arms up towards the ceiling and squeeze the shoulder blades together. Do not allow the shoulder to hike up towards your ears.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygok5LNB1tY
