Pasadena Physical Therapy, PC

Nancy King

11 years ago

I have severe arthritis which is relieved with aquatic therapy. I've been in many pools in southern California over the last 20 years, ranging from hospital settings, to private PT pools, and I've had many many pool therapists. I was looking for a setting which was cheerful, bright, and clean, but expected the usual PT who sat dressed in street clothes on the side of the pool and gave me range-of-motion exercises. What a wonderful surprise Kerry is! She's in the water with me, judging each and every exercise. She immediately corrects what's not working or painful, and substitutes another exercise. This is the first time I've ever had a real aquatic therapist who pays attention and knows what works. The Waterworks pool is also really nice. It is such a pleasure to be in an enclosed setting yet still have windows and sunlight. and what fun it is to see all the babies with their moms and dads. I'm having a therapy pool built in my backyard, but I will continue to work with Kerry because I feel she holds the key to better mobility for me. It's so nice to have a kind, encouraging, and knowledgeable therapist!

D. M. (Maybe)

2 years ago

IMPORTANT: IF A DOCTOR IS RECOMMENDING SURGERY TO YOU FOR SOME LOCOMOTIVE ISSUE, PLEASE CONSISER SEEING LOC FOR A SECOND OPINION FIRST. I saw 6 physical therapists through my health insurance and diligently did what they told me to do. It gave me no relief. I saw Loc once. He got me 90% relieved and it was such profound relief that I had a really profoundly emotional release in the middle of it. Following the exercises he gave me, I have had relief for years. I have recommended 3 or 4 people to Loc so far. Each of them have had similar experiences. Are you in chronic pain? Have your doctors and physical therapists been unable to help? Go see Loc. Nobody else compares.

Trevor Johnson

4 years ago

I came from out of town to see Dr Loc after suffering from golfers elbow/elbow tendinitis for years. I had daily pain and had given up activities I loved (weight training, cycling, surfing). I had 1 session with Dr Loc in which he was incredibly attentive and focused. After going over my history and some tests, he walked me through some exercises and explained the physiology of how each was connected to my injury and how they would aid in my recovery. He wrote me and exercise plan to continue on my own and over the next 2 months we corresponded via email. Since this one visit and a couple months following his instructions, I am back in the gym, on the bike, and in the surf. I have had knee, shoulder and ankle surgery but never have I had such a great experience with a PT/medical professional. Thanks Dr Loc!

Nada Rastad

3 years ago

I was a patient of Dr. Rao, and went to him after other PT experiences left me lacking and still in pain. I had chronic neck pain, weird hip stuff, and was recovering from a tib fib fracture. Feeling at the end of my rope. Dr. Rao helped me feel normal again! His process is different than most and that was why I chose him, even though I live in Oakland. The monthly visits reset my body and I did my work at home in between. I am pain free walking now and moving better than I have in years. The exercises feel and look weird sometimes, but even a single round of the right intervention instant results in testing and how I felt. It was nothing short of magic, but really, attentiveness and caring by a doctor that knows more than most. Grateful I found him, worth every dollar I spent.

Erica Mason

2 years ago

I came to Dr. Loc with severe back pain and sciatica on my left side. I had been doing chiro, physical therapy, and acupuncture for 3 months with no results. The MRI showed a disc extrusion so the orthopedic surgeons did a steroid injection and again, no results. I went to Loc and he put me in new shoes right away. Such a "small" thing reduced my pain by ~30%, which after seeing no results for so long felt like a miracle. Then over the course of 4 months (1 visit every 2 weeks) he gave me exercises that slowly but surely brought my pain down to 0-1/10. The exercises didn't always make sense to me, but they worked, and I now have them in my toolkit if things ever start to flare up again. It was truly transformational. Before the back pain started my husband and I wanted to have a baby. Once the pain started we had to stop trying because I couldn't imagine what the added weight and delivery would do to my body. After going to Loc for 2 months, we decided to start trying again because I was feeling so much better and I'm now happy to be 6 months pregnant with no issues. Sessions are expensive, but for me it was worth it to get my life back. I was also paying close to the same amount when I added up more frequent Chiro, PT, and acupuncture copays. My PPO also did reimburse me ~$90 per session, which helped somewhat.

Danny Gomez

year ago

I came to Dr. Loc after jaw surgery and tongue-tie release left me permanently unable to breathe and in excruciating pain. I was getting muscle spasms in my diaphragm and couldn’t even place my tongue onto the roof of my mouth without my body launching itself forward into forward head posture. I had previously gone through treatment for sleep apnea by a company called the Breathe Institute which ended horribly and left me with several neuromuscular complications with no clear explanation. I had already consulted with several neurologists, physical therapists, neurooptometrists and chiropractors at this point. I was really in a terrible place mentally, physically, financially and at the end of my rope. A myofunctional therapist named Kristie Gatto had once mentioned to me that it would be beneficial for me to see a PRI trained physical therapist. I remembered her advice and found Loc through the PRI website directory. I had seen so many great reviews from other clients and thought there was no way a physical therapist could be this great. I was wrong because Loc is in an entirely different league compared to other physical therapists I had seen previously. My first session with Loc was in November of 2022. We went over my patient history and discussed a plan for my treatment. He mentioned he had worked through many difficult cases throughout his career but that he was going to need some help with me. He recommended that I fly out to Nebraska to meet with Ron Hruska the creator of PRI and go through their PRIME program. He told me if I was his son he would send me there. I was initially discouraged but decided to trust Loc and made the flight to Lincoln, Nebraska in May of 2023. I’m happy I did because attending the PRIME program at the Hruska Clinic was the single best health care decision I made in my entire life. When I arrived at the Hruska clinic I consulted with Jason Masek and eventually met Ron Hruska. He put me in a room together with several of the other

Daniel Gomez

year ago

Here is part 2 of my review since the first one was too long to contain in one post. Dr Wise, the on site optometrist, created a new prescription for me that shifted my visual perception to the left to prevent my eye from turning inwards to the right. I picked up my new prism glasses from the store the next day and was shocked. Placing my tongue on the roof of my mouth no longer caused my body to launch itself forward into forward head posture! I noticed while trying out the restaurants in Lincoln that it became easier for me to eat and even easier for me to speak. After addressing my vision the next thing they did was address my teeth. I met with Dr. Meagan Hungerford who collaborated with Jason Masek to create a splint for me called a MOOO which is designed to help me sense more of my left molars. These tools helped me perform the PRI exercises more efficiently and at the end of 3 days I made more progress with my breathing than I had in 3 years of pursuing sleep apnea surgeries. I came back home from Nebraska with a brand new understanding of myself and what my challenges were. I wasn’t completely fixed but the glasses and splint were able to restore a basic level of functionality to my life. I was finally able to get a job, pay off my medical debt, and my student loans. These were huge stepping stones for me because the complications I faced from jaw surgery were so severe they prevented me from starting my career. I continued to do the PRI exercises at home but progress was slow and I knew I needed to follow up with Loc to get reassessed. I didn’t see Loc again until June of 2024 almost a year and a half after our first initial appointment. I told him about my experience with the PRIME program and shared what I learned from Ron Hruska. Loc has been able to effectively guide me throughout my rehabilitation more efficiently thanks to the tools I received in Nebraska. I have been making progress much faster once I started seeing him regularly and performing th

Deanna Elliott

year ago

Dr Loc helped me more in 20 minutes than any of the years of therapy, modalities, and exercise protocols. I sprained my ankle in high school, had a knee surgery not knowing that I had unresolved problems at my ankle! These issues affected my neck, back and confidence in movement. Moral of the story….resolve your ankle issues with Loc or your entire system will suffer for decades. 🙏🏻 Forever grateful

Esther Hsu

7 years ago

I have been through a lot of physical therapists, but I 100% credit my return to basketball officiating to Loc and his team of therapists at Pasadena Physical Therapy. After a horrific accident and multiple injuries, I doubted I would ever return to a life of normalcy, much less back on the floor again. There is just something special about this place - and I can honestly say that his patients and their care is something Loc genuinely cares about. Loc and his therapists showed me my deficits, and where my body was compensating for the injuries and how that would affect my entire core. Working together with Loc broke the endless cycle of pain and compensations, and in re-learning how to move on a daily basis, I am able to continue to be injury-free and referee. So THANK YOU to Loc and his staff, I know that I am only back doing what I love, because of YOU!

Collin Galbreath

3 months ago

I never find myself writing reviews for anything, but I think I owe it to anyone looking to get out of pain, perform better in their sport, or just recover from an injury or surgery to share the experience that I, and four others, had after seeing Dr. Locatelli Rao in Pasadena. TLDR: He has been able to help each of us after we all were separately convinced that we had seen “all of the best” PTs/therapists/healers in California, Minnesota and Vancouver. I found him while I was training for an Ironman a couple of years ago. I had experienced a number of injuries while training that were starting to slow me down. Not only did those injuries resolve, but in later appointments with him I was able to fix my chronic shoulder/neck and low back pain that I had been living with for the last 15 years after injuries/surgeries from playing high school football and baseball. I can’t put a price on what this has done for my quality of life as someone who values taking care of my health and fitness. Since then I have sent my parents, girlfriend and one of my friends to him and we have all had the same experience. Parents: Dad (ankle) Mom (meniscus) - - both of them are now pain free after they had been living in pain for the past two decades after each of their injuries. One of my best friends experienced a near-death skydiving accident. Broke 4 cervical vertebrae and tore his acetabular labrum (hip labrum) and had seen 12+ specialists to try to get out of pain and regain his mobility he had lost after being in a neck brace for 4 months. He was told that all of those specialists were the best in their fields/techniques but he only saw either marginal improvement (if any) or temporary improvement/relieve with them. After one appointment with Dr. Loc he regained most of the functionality of his left hip and is excited to go back and address his neck pain with Dr. Loc. For the first time in half a decade he is feeling confident that there is actually a path out of pain for him.