I was referred to Dean Kashiwabara by my physician for chronic back pain. He is a nice guy, but unfortunately not a physical therapist I can or would recommend.
Having been to other physical therapists over the years for various reasons and in different countries I had expectations that were no where even close to being met. His demeanor is friendly and very easy going, but horribly unprofessional. On my second or third visit, he must have felt comfortable enough with me as to curse in casual conversation, but I did not find it appropriate. I am a patient, not his friend.
There is no point on showing up on time to your PT appointment as he is never on time. He usually is 10-15 minutes behind the scheduled appointment, and never apologizes for it.
The receptionist is just as unprofessional. She is too lazy to get up from her chair to let him know the patient has arrived for the appointment. She simply yells for him; ie. "Dean! So and so is here!".
He does not have an assistant so when he has multiple patients at the same time he jumps back and forth between patients; often without even excusing himself. I frequently found myself waiting for him after finishing a set of exercises while he would run off to work with another patient. Very rude. Very unprofessional. If he is being paid for an hour of physical therapy he should provide an hour of physical therapy, not half an hour of physical therapy and half an hour of waiting while he works with someone else.
As for the clinic itself, it is very lacking in equipment and it looks like he might live there as a corner in the clinic is cluttered with his personal belongings. I would say he has about half a dozen machines, which is by far the least number of PT equipment I have seen in a PT clinic. The massage tables he has is tattered and disgusting.
After my first visit, I wanted to ask my physician for a referral to another physical therapist, but gave Dean the benefit of the doubt and stuck with him for several weeks before declining further treatment. I had no benefit and found no relief from pain from the sessions with him. I found myself annoyed with his unprofessionalism and felt that the sessions with him were a complete waste of time.
Please save yourself some trouble, time and stress, and avoid Dean Kashiwabara for any physical therapy. read more