As someone who's been in and out of physical therapy for over 10 years and has tried dozens of physical therapists, both private practices and groups in New York, I can wholeheartedly say Glick Physical Therapy is the best place I've ever been to.
I walked into this place by chance. After walking out of yet another orthopedist's office, prescribed physical therapy yet again for my dislocating knee cap, the first thing I did when I got home was look up the name of another orthopedic surgeon and I scheduled a consultation -- There had to be surgery, something, another option. It was no longer just an old injury that had forced me to give up playing tennis once upon a time, it was becoming a hindrance to my everyday life; for years, I couldn't run, dance, jump, without fear of it popping out, but now it was dislocating without warning, just walking around the grocery store... and I'm 25 years old. Second thing I did: I google mapped physical therapists within a 30 mile radius... I didn't care if I had to drive farther I couldn't keep going to the same places and expecting different results. After 10 years, either the orthopedists were wrong or the physical therapy wasn't doing what it was supposed to (It honestly ended up being a little bit of both). I had been to just about every private physical therapy group that popped up in Nassau County, so I decided to set up an appointment at Starz physical therapy; I had stayed away from them in the past because I thought it would be a crowded, impersonal factory line of patients and assigned exercises; turns out, it was everything I imagined. I'm sure people have different experiences, but this was mine: I walked in, full waiting room, waited for 20 minutes after the scheduled appt time only to be put in a room with someone who literally said 'hmm okay I'm not really sure what to do but let me ask some colleagues." He came back after 10-15 mins seeming equally as flustered, nice, but clearly inexperienced and lacking knowledge. I thought it couldn't get worse, but then he told me we'd have to reschedule the second half of the initial consultation because they were so busy; the clipboard never left his hands and he never even looked at my knee.
So back to google maps (& a much smaller search radius-- in other words, I was subconsciously admitting defeat...why waste gas when clearly I was searching for some ethereal idea of what physical therapy should be?) Just a few miles from my house GLICK PHYSICAL THERAPY came up. I clicked on the website which described a physical therapy practice with one on one treatment, knowledgeable staff, exercises tailored to meet the needs of each person... it seemed perfect, so I called- I asked them when their next available appointment was (accustomed to the: 'we have this time on this day open and that's all that works for us') and on the other end a friendly voice said well 'what works best for you?'
I walked in the doors of Glick Physical Therapy which would have been a breath of fresh air in itself compared to all the other physical therapists I had tried on Long Island, but 48 hours post-Starz, I swear I could hear the "ahhhh" soundtrack playing in the background.. you know, angels singing sorta thing in movies when you finally find water after traveling through miles of desert.
I offered Jamie the MRI from the orthopedist and he said okay thanks, but I think I'll get a better idea of whats going on from checking out your range of motion, taking some measurements, etc while you tell me a little about the history of the problem. He went right into it... I learned what a licensed, knowledgeable, experienced physical therapist was supposed to be, for the first time. He inspected my knee, moved my leg around & told me what he was looking for, what it did or didn't do compared to a "normal" knee, what exercises would help and why. He pulled out his ipad and accompanied his explanations with videos of what ligaments and muscles are being worked in certain stretches. He sited research off the top of his head finding no improved outcomes in knee cap stability regarding a leg lifting exercise both orthopedists and physical therapists had preached to me for the past 10 years, & he explained why it wasn't doing anything. He completely and totally reformed the way I had understood my injury for 10 years + ... and this was all in the first hour.
I continued to go for about another 2 months and my knee didn't dislocate once! I went to the orthopedic appt I had scheduled before going to Glick Physical Therapy (at the Hospital for Special Surgery, which I also can't speak highly enough of) and they offered me a unique surgery, sewing a cadaver ligament to my knee cap, which had great outcomes. It's been less than two months since surgery, doing my rehab with Jamie and we've hit every goal on or ahead of schedule and I'm already walking around happily & confident I'll be able to play tennis again :) !!!
Thank you Jamie. read more
