Knight Physical Therapy

13321 Garden Grove Blvd
Garden Grove, CA 92843
(714) 750-4097

Rating: 5/5

Six months ago, my lower back crumbled with paralyzing pain, and it happened again a month later — but this time, the severe pain would not subside after two weeks, and I went to see a well-respected orthopedic. MRI diagnosis showed a 5mm-slipped disc at the bottom of my spine, and I was asked to see a physical therapist, one of which was Knight PT. The goal was to avoid surgery and to strengthen my core muscles. I knew that the injury came from over a decade of neglect that possibly started with a bad car accident in college for which I had not sought proper spinal treatment.

Chiropractic Treatment

Instead of going to a physical therapist, I instead chose to see a chiropractor to have the spine evaluated. After 10 treatments, I never truly felt better. I started becoming skeptical that a few cracks here and there, followed by a 5-minute “therapeutic massage” (on a machine) would resolve my issue, especially since the chiropractor showed no interest in the result of the MRI scan. I felt that the scan should have been an item of interest to ensure my treatment plan was on the right path. When it came time to do the physical therapy portion of the treatment, the doctor gave me a booklet to perform exercises at home. That seemed odd — doing therapy at home without a professional’s supervision to ensure I would do it correctly. I felt like just another patient undergoing a generic treatment of spine and neck cracking.

After a follow-up visit with the orthopedic, he advised me once again to go to a physical therapist. In his opinion, chiropractic treatment for my situation would only be a bandaid solution and not address the true injury. I heed his advice and went to see Knight Physical Therapy based on the excellent Yelp reviews.

Physical Therapy

My assigned doctor is Nicole, and she did quite a comprehensive evaluation of my lower back. In fact, more comprehensive than the orthopedic or the chiropractor. Whenever Nicole was not available, equally knowledgeable Erica would continue the treatment.

At the time of this writing, I have had 8 sessions, and each time I went, everybody knew my name. Nicole, Erica, Bea, John, … each person had been quite welcoming and attentive. The vibe between the staff was positive — one can see how well they got along with one another, and that they had a positive attitude throughout each hour-long session.

What I truly appreciate about each and every one of the staff is that they take the time to answer all of your questions, take an interest in your well-being, and above all: educate you on how to become better. The education truly has helped me understand my issue better, and in return has helped me be more aware of what types of activities or motions to avoid.

Throughout the handful of sessions I have had, I feel that the staff are a good bunch of people, and would love to be friends with them, should they be willing.

One personal advice to anyone undergoing physical therapy: you will only get better, if you put an effort into wanting to get better. That means to do all your exercises as best as you can and to stay positive. Being positive has helped me through life’s many situations.

I likely have many more sessions to go through, and it has been daunting and discouraging at times to feel sharp pains returning from time to time. However, staying positive and doing my part in performing all the exercises is paramount on the road to recovery.

To save money, I have also decided to discuss with Nicole on the next visit in possibly lowering the visitation frequency to just once a week because I have picked up all of the exercises at the gym twice a week.

Whether the chiropractic treatment helped (it may have to some degree), I am truly glad to have picked Knight PT for my recovery.