António runs a busy life. When we called him for a 6 pm interview, he asked if we could make it quick because he had to leave for work.

António is a waste collector, and heavy jobs like his don’t comply with nine-to-five schedules. António spends his nights hopping on and off a garbage truck, so things looked quite dim when he had to undergo knee surgery. António relies on his knees to perform his job quickly and effectively, up and down from the truck again and again for eight hours in a row.

On top of that, António lives 30 miles away from the physical therapy center he was supposed to attend. “The insurance company would cover the costs, but I would still have to go back and forth, I’d easily spend three hours a day for one therapy session.”

António didn't want to waste his precious time, so he decided to use it more wisely. As he puts it himself "I could take the time it would take me to have just one session in a traditional therapy facility and have three physical therapy sessions with the Digital Therapist."

"It was way better than traditional physical therapy"

António is the ultimate SWORD Health champion: he had sessions with the Sword Digital Therapist on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Eve.

We talked to António almost one year after he started treatment and he is assertive: “It was way better than traditional physical therapy. Even now, almost a year after I finished treatment, I am pretty sure it wouldn’t have gone better. I could have therapy more times, at home, I didn’t have to move around.”

António is not a tech-savvy guy, but when we warily wondered about how easy it was for him to adapt to this tech-driven approach to MSK care, he laughed and quickly said “I had no problem at all, it was easy to use. (...) I didn’t feel the need for more support from the physical therapists. The device was built to replicate their presence, and they could adjust the sessions whenever they needed.”

Thrilled as we were to learn that, we wanted to know if the recovery process ever got lonely. António’s quick answer is reassuring: “I felt [my physical therapists'] guidance throughout the entire process, they were and still are available," even almost one year after the program came to an end.

It must really be the case because running, the hobby António had dropped after knee surgery, is slowly being picked up under their guidance: “They advised me not to rush it, so I’m taking it slow, but I’m back on the running track.”

Read about other members’ healing journeys with Sword Health:

• Cindy: From Hopeless to Healing
• Joel: Race to Relief
• Jose: I Sometimes Even Answered Back to the Digital Therapist
• Monica: The Evolution is Completely Different

Interested in how Sword can help you find freedom from pain? Check if you're eligible through your employer or health plan.