Meet Tomasz

Tomasz Grass graduated from the Academy of Physical Education in Poznan, Poland with a master’s degree in physical education, and two years later he earned a subsequent master’s degree in physical therapy. During the last year of the physical therapy program, he worked for the academy’s Department of Physical Education and Sports for the Disabled. In pursuit of the American dream, Grass arrived to Detroit, MI in the fall of 1993 and spent the next two years working with patients in hospitals, inpatient clinics, and their own homes. After passing his license exam, he became a traveling therapist, working mainly in the nursing homes of rural Tennessee, Michigan, and Arkansas. The lack of certified staff in wound care treatment led Grass to become one of the first therapists in Tennessee to obtain the Wound Care Specialist certification from the Academy of Wound Care Management.

After seven years spent working at the Colonial Hills Nursing Center in Maryville, TN, he decided to try his hand at entrepreneurship. Grass sought to import a ground-breaking rehabilitation device from Poland and introduce it to the US market. After a few months of hard work, he received the FDA’s approval and introduced the UCPI at the APTA annual exhibitions in Washington, DC and Nashville, TN. During this time, he met with other Polish therapists in the Knoxville area, and through these meetings a new idea was born.

Grass and Andrew Cieslik are now the co-owners of Beyond Physical Therapy, an outpatient clinic located on Middlebrook Pike in Knoxville, TN. Their clinic uses programs Grass initiated during his time at Colonial Hills. Years of practice with infrared light in the treatment of peripheral neuropathy allowed him to develop a unique protocol, and thus Beyond Physical Therapy became the first clinic in Knoxville to use infrared light in the treatment of this chronic condition.

Moreover, experiencing back problems because of earlier sports activities sparked his interest in manual techniques from Antipodes. Grass studied the Maitland, Mulligan, McKenzie, and Butler methods of treatment as well those of their predecessors Cyriax, Kaltenborn, and Evjenth. With his broad skill set, Grass is not limited to successful spine treatment but also offers a chance of recovery to patients with ortho as well as neuro dysfunctions all over their bodies.

Based on his knowledge and clinical experience, Grass provided nationwide seminars about “Treating the Lumbar Spine with Manual Therapy, Exercises & Taping”. For over 25 years he has served as a Clinical Instructor for PT and PTA students in associate and doctorate programs at the University of Tennessee, Lincoln Memorial University, South College, and Roan State College.

After more than three decades of working in the medical field as a physical therapist, he believes that that just clinical experience without science-based evidence is—in the words of British physician Michael O’Donnell—like “making the same mistake with increasing confidence for an impressive number of years”. Pursuing evidence-based medicine allows him to provide his patients with the savviest, most updated, and most beneficial treatment. The result is quick recovery and restoration as well as the best possible level of functional ability in a friendly clinical atmosphere.

In his private life he enjoys music and history. Grass has published a book about the life of Freddie Mercury.