McKenzie Method - Princeton Spine And Joint Center Podcast

​In episode 17 of the Princeton Spine & Joint Center podcast, Dr. Zinovy Meyler, Co-Director of the Interventional Spine Program at Princeton Spine and Joint Center, had a great conversation with Sunita Mani, PT, DPT, MBA, CEAS, who is the Director of Outpatient Rehabilitation at Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center’s Outpatient Rehabilitation at Plainsboro & South Brunswick. They had a really good in depth conversation about McKenzie method. McKenzie method is a method of treating primarily the spine, or at least that was the focus of the conversation. If you have any interest in treating the spine, any issues with the spine, if you have any loved ones with issues with the spine, you may find this conversation very helpful and useful because they delve into the importance of ergonomics, posture, the approach of McKenzie, what it's based on. They also talk about how to be a better physical therapy patient, essentially what does it take to get as much out of the treatment as possible. And as this approach implies, this can apply to anything and if you have ever gone through any type of rehabilitation, taking an active role in your care and specifics of that as we talk about in this podcast would be very useful for you, so enjoy.

Sunita Mani, PT, DPT, MBA, CEAS

Director of Outpatient Rehabilitation at Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center’s Outpatient Rehabilitation at Plainsboro & South Brunswick.

Sunita fell in love with physical therapy when she volunteered at a hospital when she was 16 years old. She was fortuitously assigned to the physical therapy department & was immediately drawn to the change she saw in people, both physically and mentally, and knew she wanted to be part of it. She completed her Bachelor of Science, Master of Physical Therapy & Doctorate in Physical Therapy from the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia in 2005, after which she completed her Master of Business Administration from Holy Family University in Philadelphia. Sunita was recruited in 2012 to the University Medical Center of Princeton (now Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center) to start outpatient rehabilitation on the hospital campus and serve as the Director of Outpatient Rehabilitation in Plainsboro; she now also manages physical therapy at the South Brunswick campus. Sunita has taken advanced coursework in posture and ergonomics, thus earning her CEAS (Certified Ergonomic Assessment Specialist). Over the course of her career, Sunita has had extensive education in orthopedics with a focus on manual therapy and functional biomechanics; she is a McKenzie-trained physical therapist whose clinical passion is the treatment of the spine. Sunita successfully uses the McKenzie approach (MDT: mechanical diagnosis and therapy) in her treatment of patients and finds it extremely valuable and beneficial for patient with neck & back pain.

Dr. Zinovy Meyler is a board certified, fellowship trained physician specializing in the non-operative care of spine, joint, muscle and nerve pain. After graduating from New York University and receiving his medical degree from the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine, Dr. Meyler performed his specialty training in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, The University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell, where he was honored to serve as Chief Resident. Following residency, Dr. Meyler received additional training in ultrasound guidance at the Mayo Clinic and completed his fellowship training in interventional spine and joint medicine at the prestigious Beth Israel Spine Institute in Manhattan. Dr. Meyler is the author of multiple medical chapters and peer-reviewed papers. He serves as a reviewer for medical journals and lectures widely. Dr. Meyler’s expert medical opinion has been sought in newspapers and on radio shows, as well as on this podcast.