Sports medicine specialist Christina Meucci and her puppy Severus at the Recovery Room on Bank Row. Meucci offers a range of therapies for elite and everyday athletes.
Recovery Room Offers Remedies for Athletic Aches and Pains
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Christina Meucci is using her experience as an athletic trainer and sports medicine specialist to offer personalized services at the Recovery Room.
Meucci, who has a master's in applied exercise science, provides athletic recovery procedures and resources to local athletes and those seeking muscle injury rehabilitation.
"The Recovery Room offers elite recovery for everyday athletes. That can range from the runners, to someone training for something, to bodybuilders, to our acts of daily living," she said. "Everyday athletes or elite recovery is the same recovery process that I would offer at the Division 1 [sports] level … but offering it now to our local community," she said.
"There is a huge gap between what people get at the professional and elite level, and the type of care that we give at that level, and the care that we get at the local level."
When someone gets injured, they will usually go to urgent care, get an X-ray, be sent off to physical therapy, and then "ride out" the recovery, Meucci said.
"[This process] never really fixes the problem and never prevents that next injury from happening," she said. "So that's what I really wanted to do here was offer what I used to do in the Division 1 level, offer what I used to do at Canyon Ranch at the elite luxury level, but to our local community."
The Recovery Room does not accept insurance but does accept flexible spending accounts and health savings accounts.
Insurance requires the provider to strictly stick to the first diagnosis given, which Meucci says make it unable for her to explore other factors that may be causing the pain.
"The hard thing about taking insurance is, that is the treatment plan from start to finish on their course of physical therapy or wherever they may go that uses insurance. We can't really deviate from that," she said.
Meucci is attempting to combine the services that one would receive at an elite sports level while providing a relaxing, luxury spa experience unlike the sterile one that they could receive at an athletic training room, physical therapy office, or orthopedic office.
One of the great things about being a business owner is the ability to bring her German shepherd puppy Severus into work with her.
As she treats patients, he happily lays at her feet. Patients often come into the center excited to see him.
Most recently a sports medicine specialist at Canyon Ranch in Lenox, she became certified in dry needling, a procedure which consists of using thin needles to stimulate muscles to relieve pain. She also offers Graston Technique therapy, cupping therapy, Normatec compression, sauna and ice baths and other modalities..
Starting March 30, a nurse practitioner will be providing intravenous supplement therapy.
She began seeing patients on the side during the pandemic but started thinking of ways she could monetize recovery and recovery offerings. The endeavor was cemented when she came across a cold plunge bath that didn't have to be hard plumbed, allowing for easy mobility and room design change with growth.
"I always laugh and tell my patients, my life is filled with a bunch of happy accidents and this particular place having a brick and mortar was not the plan," she said.
With this structural flexibility, she was able to change up things as the needs of patients change and easily implement new things and improve their services.
The pieces continued to fall into place when Kismet Bridal Studio at 32 Bank Row closed around the same time and she jumped at the opportunity excited about the character the century-old building brings to the atmosphere.
"I just absolutely jumped on it because I was like this place is beautiful and it's got some character to it. It was the vibe that I was really searching for that I couldn't quite find in an office building," she said.
Meucci hopes to continue growing and to one day bring in more providers.
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Berkshire United Way to Massachusetts: Early-Learning Educators Need Better Wages
By Katherine von Haefen Guest Column
As reported in iBerkshires, state education officials met with Western Massachusetts childcare and early education advocates at Berkshire Community College recently. I had the opportunity to share the following testimony on behalf of Berkshire United Way and our community partners.
Early childhood education provides tremendous benefits to our region. High-quality child care dramatically influences brain development and the future health and success for children in school and life, as well as provides a safe and secure space for our youngest community members so their parents or caregivers can work and provide for their families.
Berkshire United Way has invested in improving early childhood development opportunities in the Berkshires for decades. We fund high-quality nonprofit child-care centers that provide slots for income-constrained families. We also support the sector by co-hosting monthly child-care director meetings to work on shared challenges and collectively propose solutions. We advocate for early childhood education and have a great partner in this work, state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier.
Staffing is a key component of high-quality care. The research shows that skilled and consistent educators in a classroom create long-lasting change for children. However, wages are stagnant and frequently do not provide educators with basic financial stability. We often hear that educators have left the field because they are unable to make their finances work. Wages need to improve to better reflect the expertise and indelible impact teachers have in the field.
When we look specifically at our region, our data is concerning.
As Berkshire County emerges from the pandemic, we are struggling with transportation, affordable housing and lack of mental health resources, much like the rest of the state. We are also seeing a rise in economically challenged households.
After nearly 10 years of decline, Berkshire County has experienced a significant jump in income inequality, now exceeding the state and national trends and far above comparable counties, according to the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission. Over half of our population are "economically challenged," meaning they are working but struggling to make ends meet. A single parent with a school-aged child needs between $70,000 and $80,000 in income and public benefits just to meet their basic needs.
A large limb from a 32-foot sugar maple in the park fell next to the fountain area over the weekend. Caution tape and traffic barrels now surround the aftermath.
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The last estimate for construction was overly optimistic because, at the time, it was unclear how long obtaining the two easements would take, Town Manager Thomas Hutcheson said.
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Full cost estimates have not been completed but based on recent repairs made to the Clapp Park splash pad, it is estimated to cost between $350,000 and $450,000.
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King Kone had a soft opening at the end of the week, offering the frozen treats on a "pay what you will" basis while employees perfected the craft.
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