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.
Tags: athletes, rehabilitation,
