About
Dr. Luga Podesta
Background
Throughout his impressive career, Dr. Luga Podesta has been dedicated to restoring his patient’s quality of life. He takes great pride in his ability to quickly and safely return patients to the life they want to live; whether that is playing a sport, working, or enjoying recreational activities. His typical patient is anything but typical and includes all who seek his expertise, including professional athletes, musicians, performing artists, as well as weekend warriors, high school, college, recreational and youth athletes.
Dr. Podesta is a nationally recognized regenerative orthopedic and sports medicine physician specializing in the
non-surgical treatment of orthopedic, musculoskeletal and sports-related injuries to the shoulder, elbow, knee, and
spine, and brings with him over 3 decades of experience on and off the field. Dr. Podesta continues to be selected by his peers as a Top Doctor by Castle Connolly since 2017. He is a pioneer in the field of Regenerative Medicine and Orthopedics, a growing medical subspecialty with treatments designed to stimulate the body’s innate ability to naturally repair damaged tissue and heal itself, offering hope for individuals who are unable to or do not choose to undergo surgery.
Dr. Podesta serves as a team physician for Southwest Florida’s and the ECHL’s Florida Everblades Hockey Team, and as a consultant to the Major League Baseball Umpires and World Baseball Classic. In 2008 Dr. Podesta established Podesta Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Institute in Thousand Oaks, California where he practiced for over 24 years. In 2015, he returned to Long Island as the director of sports medicine and regenerative orthopedics at St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson, NY. There he served as the head team physician for Suffolk College athletics and team physician and consultant to a number of Suffolk County, New York, high school athletic programs and elite sport clubs prior to relocating to Naples, Florida, as a partner and as the director of regenerative orthopedics sports medicine at Bluetail Medical Group-Naples in 2017.
Dr. Podesta has served as the medical director and head team physician for the Los Angeles Kiss (Arena Football League) from 2014-2015, as team physician for the Los Angeles Angels Baseball team (2010-2013) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (1990-2006). He also served as head team physician for the World Champion LA Xtreme (XFL) (2001), the Los Angeles Avengers, Arena Football League (2002-2008), the Los Angeles Riptide Major League Lacrosse (2006-2008,), Oxnard College, and as team physician for Loyola Marymount University. Past consultant roles have included the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers, as a sports performance consultant to Cirque Du Soleil-Iris, the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament, and as a training camp consultant to the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints.