Physical injuries spike as winter lingers

Sprawled on a treatment table, a physical therapist pulling and stretching his aching limbs - this isn't the kind of winter Kenneth Johnson envisioned.

A nasty spill on backyard ice sent the normally energetic 79-year-old Center Moriches man to the emergency room.

He went through X-rays, CT scans, MRIs and a visit to a surgeon - luckily, he didn't need surgery - before winding up at Spagnoli Physical Therapy in Mastic. He'll be there twice a week for the next two months.

"My feet were above my head and my head hit a cement block," Johnson said of his Jan. 17 accident. "I think I was knocked out cold. And then my son comes out to check on me, and he slips on the ice, too."

Johnson is one of the walking wounded - casualties of a winter marked by record snowfall, icy roads and gaping potholes. Doctors and therapists across Long Island say they're treating a bumper crop of patients for a variety of strains and pains, or worse.

Dr. Douglas Petraco, a surgeon with Orthopedic Associates of Long Island in East Setauket, blames the harsh weather for a 25 percent jump in patients coming to his office - and local emergency rooms.

They come with ankle, wrist, hip and shoulder fractures. Many require surgery.

"When you slip on ice you tend to go down much harder. There's more damage when there's more energy to the fall," Petraco said.

Seniors have been affected most by the abundance of snow and ice, but Petraco has seen a fair number of younger people with similar injuries.

The afflicted aren't only going to doctors. They're seeking the services of other healers.

Merrick massage therapist Rita Dalton has been busy tending to sore lower backs, necks and shoulders.

One client, she said, suffered whiplash from a car crash caused by ice. Others have sore muscles from shoveling that resemble "speed bumps going up and down the back. It's a bundle of tension and muscle spasm."

"It's the repetitive lifting and twisting motion, and using muscles they're not used to," said physical therapist Justin Bonacci.

Jessie Wenzel of Advance Physical Therapy in East Setauket said the weather has affected her post-surgery clients in a different way.

"They're not even coming because they have that fear of falling on the sidewalk, and it's holding them back in their rehab," Wenzel said.

Johnson, an ex-Marine, said his fall has made him afraid to leave his house, even to walk the dog.

He spends most of his spare time reading in a recliner when he would've otherwise been out doing volunteer work at the local firehouse.

"Who would've thought a little ice could cause this much grief?" he said.