So I went to Promotion Physical Therapy for about 6 months for a back issue and plantar fasciitis because I'm a runner. My GP referred me to this clinic. I had no idea what to expect. I went to one other physical therapist before and that was not a very good experience.
In terms of experience with their PTs--I believe all of those who work on you are Doctors of Physical Therapy. They have assistants who range in experience from very good to those who are still in school learning. I put a lot of stock in book knowledge so having DPTs all around was a good thing in my book.
The facility is nice and modern. And the staff are mostly nice. The front desk person is hit or miss but she's always professional.
In terms of COVID - they make you wear masks and wash your hands before coming into the training area so I always felt comfortable.
So why only 3 stars?
Well, I went in not being able to run a mile without pain and left being able to run up to 4 miles until the pain in my lower back came back. I am not sure what they diagnosed me for but my DPT would always work on mobilizing my hips.
Then she would try to manipulate my joints in both my hips and ankle. This was less successful. She said I resisted her -- which could be very true (I didn't do it consciously) -- but I never really got *any* benefit from her attempts at mobilization. I don't think she was forceful enough to mobilize my stuck hip whatever. It never seemed to want to loosen up. Same with the ankle. I just never felt the manual manipulations did anything for me. And so for the first 20 minutes when the DPT works on you, I didn't perceive any tangible benefits.
Next they'd give you over to the assistants. Karla is amazing. If you work with her she'll keep you honest and she'll always check your form. The other assistants are hit or miss. But my DPT always sort of kept an eye on me when I would do the exercises to make corrections. My gripe here is that there was never a concerted training plan. I came in and it seemed I would just do whatever my DPT felt like doing that day. As a result there was never a holistic approach to my therapy.
After I left Promotion, I went to another therapist recommended by a friend. Within 5 minutes, the therapist had diagnosed my issue as medial glute tendonitis. Instead of working on my back/joints, he works on my glutes and along my hip. I noticed improvement after the first treatment. He thinks the back issue is related to the hip issue. To be fair to promotion, this could have been me not adequately explaining my pain. But they are professionals and diagnosticians to some extent who know way more about the body than I ever will.
This brings me to a related issue. At the other place, the same sort of thing happened. 15-20 mins with the doc & then on to the assistant. But the exercises he had me do were far more targeted and rigorous than anything promotion had me do. Like, each exercise pinpointed the muscle group i needed to work on and they were truly difficult with just body weight. No extra stuff needed for when I do them at home. This could be me but there are a lot of older people who go to Promotion and their exercises sort of reflect that: too easy. I told them I'm a runner and the response was to do a lot more reps. With the new place, I do less reps but feel it a lot more.
Finally, at the new place when I left on the first day they taped me up and sent me a training program for exercises that I needed to do 2x daily. At promotion, there was never any training plan. Sure, I emailed the DPT and she sent me over some exercises but it didn't feel like there was a concerted effort to holistically treat the injury. At the new place, they want me to foam roll and stretch the area before I do any exercises. Promotion never gave me any good stretches or didn't even mention foam rolling.
So now I have a list of exercises, stretches, and activities to do 2x daily. I needed that list to get me to do them at home. Promotion is good but if you're an athlete (or pretend to be one), you may need more focused therapy. read more
