Best of New York 2012 • Health & Self

• Dr. Randi Jaffe

  171 Madison Ave., nr. 34th St., Ste. 1600; 917-882-1035

  Pregnancy comes with joy, of course, but also a less-than-joyful dose of aches and pains—most of them in the spine, where muscles become like a tightly strung violin from supporting the extra load. And those with child are often prohibited from taking anything stronger than Tylenol during their nine-month wait. Dr. Jaffe, a pert 40-year-old mother of two from Long Island, treats these pains, and more, at her office in a physical-­therapy center that also offers pre- and postnatal body-strength training, Maya abdominal massage, and a “V-steam spa room,” which is a 30-minute Korean spa treatment for the you-know-what. Jaffe also specializes in the Webster technique, a chiropractic method used to assist babies that are in breech in the third trimester, but for many of the women who see her she plays a role beyond chiropractor. “I often become a therapist too, listening to women about their concerns over child care, fighting with partners, or what to do with a mom that wants to be at the birth,” she says.

From the 2012 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine