An Active Lifestyle, On Hold Because of Pain, is Back on Track

After missing a year of the game he loves because of back and leg pain, Bruce Smith is back on the golf course and back to his busy schedule of hunting, fishing and world travel – all thanks to the doctors and therapists at Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute.

Smith is a very active 70-year-old from Bath. He’s a former marathon runner and college football referee. But the arthritis and degenerative disc disease in his lower back left him barely able to walk a quarter mile. When he went to the grocery store, he needed to lean on the cart because of the pain.

“During this dark time, I basically was not able to do much of anything without a lot of pain and discomfort,” he recalls.

But that’s all changed now. With the blooming spring flowers and the greening of turf grass, Smith was back on the golf course with an improved swing and feeling much better.

It was a comeback made possible by the diagnostic, pain management and physical therapy services – as well as a specialized golf performance exercise program – at Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute.

The Golf Performance Exercise Program at Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute has coaches certified by the Titleist Performance Institute. Titleist is a major name in the game of golf around the world.

The program offers individualized training to improve movement, enable better golf swings and minimize aches and pains in the joints. There also are group sessions with fitness, strength and performance coaches certified by the Titleist Performance Institute.

Smith’s comeback started with a visit to his primary care doctor, Michael Nimeh, DO, at LVPG Family Medicine–Airport Road. He had two rounds of therapy with physical therapist Leslie Lupin, an orthopedic clinical specialist and clinical team leader at Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute’s Rehabilitation Services–Highland Avenue.

Along his recovery journey, he also saw Jason Ly, DO, an outpatient physical medicine and rehabilitation physician, a specialty also known as physiatry. “Our goal was to get Bruce back to his active lifestyle, so I ordered an MRI and administered a steroid injection in his back,” says Dr. Ly. “After that, he had steady improvement and reduced pain.”

While at his physical therapy sessions, Smith saw the group classes being led by Frank Lupin Jr., a Titleist Performance Institute-certified lead performance fitness coach.

“When Bruce came to me at the end of the last golf season, his goal was to golf again and to not reinjure his back,” says Frank Lupin. The program starts with a golf-specific assessment to determine what body regions and fitness components need addressing, followed by a corrective exercise regimen tailored to each participant.

“I would recommend that program to anyone,” Smith says. It’s designed to improve golf performance, he says, “but even if you are not a golfer, it is an outstanding full-body workout.”

His therapist, Leslie Lupin (Frank’s wife), sums up Smith’s comeback this way: “Bruce is an outstanding patient who follows what is recommended and does his exercise faithfully,” she says.

“We are so fortunate to have all of the resources and programs to help a patient like Bruce go from severe pain and not being able to perform regular daily activities to being back to hunting and golf without fear or pain.”