Not Just Another Health Club in Mineola

, which just celebrated its 10th anniversary in Mineola, may look like one of those personalized health clubs when you first walk through its doors.

You will find trainers working with individuals on equipment, helping them with stretching and range of motion exercises. While Physical Solutions offers personal training, nutrition counseling and group classes, it has gained a reputation through its orthopedic physical therapy expertise.

Its services cover general orthopedic injuries or conditions, injuries from competitive or leisure sports, musculoskeletal problems from disease, flexibility and mobility, as well as complications from accidents and work-related injuries. If you injured your arm throwing a baseball, hurt your ACL, fell at work or were injured in an automobile accident, this would be the place to rehab.

Physical Solutions has worked with athletes at all levels, from youth league to the pros. Current patients range in age from 10 to 90.

Chris Lopez is one of the two partners at Physical Solutions, which also has a location in Bethpage. Lopez is a board certified clinical specialist who specializes in orthopedic physical therapy.

Lopez said the number of youngsters with injuries sustained from overuse in sports has increased in recent years.

“It’s not rare to see a kid in here who has played baseball for multiple teams in the same season who has an arm injury,” he said. “We’re seeing a lot of injuries of younger kids, even down to elementary school age.”

Physical Solutions treats these injuries and offers prevention programs as well. Prevention can run the gamut from proper mechanics to learning how to pace the body and avoid overuse injuries. Those who choose Physical Solutions for their rehab first have an evaluation of their condition performed by a physical therapist. Findings are discussed and therapeutic goals are agreed upon between the therapist and the patient.

While business is good in terms of volume, “insurance is a big issue,” Lopez said. In the last 18 months, he said insurance companies have shifted the burden to the patients. Co-pays have gone up and, in some cases, patients cannot continue their physical therapy. “Insurance companies are paying less for care and premiums have gone up 25 percent. Whose money are they really saving?” he asked.

Lopez also said the state sets the rates for workers’ comp benefits, a figure that has not risen in 15 years.

Because of the changes in insurance coverage, “we see less for what we do,” Lopex said.

Mineola residents may also recall Lopez as the president of the local chapter of the , part of Lions Club International, the largest civic and charitable service organization in the world with 45,000 clubs and 1.35 million members.

The local chapter raises $60,000 to $70,000 a year – the bulk from an annual golf outing and a wine tasting event – with the funds disbursed among various organizations including Mineola Youth, the Mineola Volunteer Ambulance Corps and .

The Lions Club also doles out scholarships to seniors and contributes to ’s Torch Fund.

Members of the Lions Club also work with schools to identify needy families in the village. During the holiday season they buy and deliver groceries for these families. This past holiday season they served 11 families.

“[Lions] is a good group, effective at raising money,” Lopez said.