H E A LT H & B E AU T Y
FITNESS Q & A WITH DR . DAVID GREUNER By David Delay
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avid Greuner, MD, is a lifelong competitive athlete who now competes in triathlons for charity causes. He shares with us a range of information about exercise and diet, from dispelling myths to letting us in on the science behind diet and exercise advice. He is a founding member and the director of NYC Surgical Associates, a multi-specialty practice with seven locations in the tristate area, each with its own on-site surgical facility. Since its founding in 2008, NYC Surgical Associates has become one of the fastest growing practices in New York. It’s also one of the safest. NYC Surgical Associates brings together highly skilled physicians who work together as a team for their patients. A gifted and professionally renowned cardio-thoracic surgeon, Dr. Greuner is the inventor of No Knife EVLT, a procedure that solves vein problems without even the smallest of incisions. You can see Dr. Greuner perform this procedure on The Doctors show, which is available on YouTube. He has also pioneered the novel procedure known as The Slim Line Hernia Repair, a cutting-edge way to repair hernias — a topic he covers below. Dr. Greuner has appeared on The Doctor Oz Show, ABC, and CBS. Tell us about your background and what you do. I am asked this question often, as NYC Surgical Associates is unique, and I’m not aware of another practice like it in the country. I am a general and cardiovascular surgeon by training, and I am double board certified. When I was in training I loved the anatomy and physiology of my field, but was disappointed about the stage at which we were treating patients. We were treating end-stage disease in patients who had damaged their bodies for decades. I began to study techniques for treating people at earlier stages, with less invasive approaches, what is called “endovascular” surgery. As I progressed in this skill set, I began to teach others about new techniques, and how to prevent the need for surgery. I educated via seminars, articles such as this, and other media. I became a media correspondent for health concerns for a nationwide TV network and wrote for publications such as Muscle & Fitness magazine. I began to see younger patients, with other problems. I ventured into a world that was unknown at the time, the world of deep venous intervention, or the treatment of the large deep veins in the body that return blood from the abdomen, pelvis, and chest to the heart. My medical practice started to take a different shape, as people with these issues tended to be more athletic, largely because deep venous disease is often only manifest in very active people. As I treated this more athletic crowd, I began to see the types of problems that are more prevalent in this population, including hernias.
Dr. David Greuner
Hernias happen often in individuals who are constantly challenging their bodies. As I had significant experience in this arena as part of my surgical training, I began to treat my patients for this as well. I began to search for ways to do these operations with less scarring, and better results, and over time I developed some excellent techniques not practiced widely. Now NYC Surgical Associates specializes in the most high-risk cases that have been turned down by all other surgeons. Well, we appreciate the easy ones too! Currently, our practice is one of the busiest in the country for hernia surgery, from simple to extremely complex, as well as deep venous endovascular surgery as a result, and we have an active fellowship program that has trained several top-notch graduates. Social Life