Moving ahead

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Written by

Susan Bloom | For the Asbury Park Press

In their 1979 hit song, The Police crooned that “giant steps are what you take, walking on the moon,” but who would guess that this sentiment would apply so perfectly to a breakthrough technology introduced 30 years later? For a growing legion of grateful patients, however, giant steps are just one of the benefits derived from the AlterG Treadmill, a new piece of technology revolutionizing the field of physical therapy.A treadmill system developed by NASA to help astronauts simulate walking on the moon, “the AlterG is definitely on the cutting edge of technology in physical therapy,” said Val Dellocono, a Brick-based physical therapist and chief operating officer of Trinity Rehab, which has locations throughout Monmouth and Ocean counties. Still relatively new, and priced from $30,000 to $75,000, the AlterG currently is available in only a limited number of rehab facilities in New Jersey, of which Trinity is one.“Because it’s so ahead of the curve … we wanted to align ourselves with the AlterG and were excited to make the investment,” Dellocono said.First introduced commercially by California-based AlterG Inc. in 2006, “the AlterG is a special anti-gravity treadmill that enables athletes or other patients to reduce stress on their feet by operating on only 20 percent of their body weight,” said sports podiatrist John Connors, who practices in Little Silver and who used the apparatus to successfully rehab several members of the 2012 Olympic Track and Field Team.“It’s a device that ‘unweights’ you using air, offsetting up to 80 percent of your body weight in 1 percent increments,” added Pete Morro, a physical therapist and co-owner of ProCare Rehabilitation in Hazlet and Colts Neck.“A 200-pound man working out on the AlterG could bear as little as 40 pounds of weight on his joints,” he said.

Compared to working out in the water, which Morro said offers the benefits of buoyancy but also has a drag, “the AlterG offers a better opportunity for patients to return to full functionality.”

“The process of bearing full weight can put tremendous pressure on the joints, so you can rehab faster and return to a normal life pattern more quickly with this technology,” Dellocono said.

After zipping into special neoprene shorts, patients seal themselves into the cockpit of the AlterG and allow the treadmill to calibrate to their weight; physical therapists then specify the weight offset that will maximize the patient’s workout.

“The most common conditions we’re using it for are orthopedic ones, such as stress fractures, heel spurs, knee replacements and tendonitis,” Morro said. “These patients might need to be on crutches otherwise, but the AlterG accelerates their recovery, allowing cardiovascular conditioning and gait mechanics to progress normally without pain and enabling the return of full weight to an extremity — which promotes healing — to occur faster.”

In addition to addressing orthopedic issues, the AlterG also has been successful in treating patients with neurological and other disorders. At Trinity, for example, “a patient of ours with Parkinson’s whose doctor implied that she would eventually be wheelchair-bound now feels able to walk around her home without even the support of an assistive device since working out on the AlterG,” Dellocono said. “Without a doubt, the ‘carryover’ that patients experience outside of the machine is definitely visible.”

That’s because the AlterG helps connect even the most gait-challenged patients with the critical mechanics of movement — natural rhythms that can be lost over time if they’re not used regularly. According to Dellocono, “the machine helps the brain reconnect the nerves with the muscles, retraining them to do something they’d forgotten and providing the opportunity for enough repetitions to re-create muscle memory.”

No one would agree more than Tim Loftus, a 49-year-old technology consultant and author from Marlboro who was diagnosed with primary progressive multiple sclerosis in 2008. Reliant on crutches or a walker around his home and a wheelchair for more strenuous outings, “the AlterG allows me to walk in a way that I couldn’t without it,” he said. “With the weight removed, I can walk in it without getting out of breath and it ensures that I don’t lose the natural rhythm of walking.”

While Loftus has accepted that there may be no cure for his condition, “I feel I haven’t declined in ability as much as I would have without the AlterG,” he said of the weekly 20-minutes sessions he’s undergone at ProCare Rehab since last spring. “Many MS patients jump in a wheelchair and accept the progression of this disease. The AlterG is a tool that helps me fight it.”

“We’re so glad Tim found us and this machine, because it allows him to walk, stay upright, exercise safely without fear of falling and live his best life,” Morro said.

For Loftus and an increasingly broad range of patients, from marathon runners, the elderly and those dealing with weight issues to patients suffering from arthritis, strokes and neurological conditions, “the AlterG represents a new day in physical therapy,” Morro confirmed.

“In addition to strengthening muscles, re-establishing important gait mechanics and restoring confidence and self-esteem, the AlterG is a liberating technology that offers hope for people who were stuck in a cycle of pain and frustration and convinced they could never do something again,” Dellocono said. “It offers so many people an alternative never before available in conventional physical therapy.”

Trinity Rehab is at 150 Chambers Bridge Road, Suite 200 in Brick and can be reached at 732-920-4500 or www.trinity-rehab.com . ProCare Rehabilitation, at 1 Bethany Road, Building 4 in Hazlet, can be reached at 732-335-8111. The Colts Neck office, 340 Route 34 South, Suite 210 in Colts Neck, can be reached at 732-625 0170, or www.procarerehab.com. Dr. John Connors’ office is at 200 White Road, Suite 108 in Little Silver and can be reached at 732-741-2300.