I had quite a fair share of injuries over the years, including one near-death car accident 20 years…read moreago. So I've seen several physical therapists over time, and I'm telling you, Julia (Tang) is one of those rare finds. Not only she truly enjoys what she's doing, but she really thinks things through and tries to figure out the issue like a puzzle.
I injured my hamstring during some CrossFit style workouts, it didn't heal for a few weeks after I stopped working out, so I tried a few physical therapists until I found Julia. Most were saying it's better to reduce the pressure on the leg and avoid working out. But Julia was asking why am I being lazy? :)) (She said it in a more proper way, but that was the gist of it). She suggested some workouts, with barbells and dumbbells, and they indeed helped with the recovery. And she was honest with me that this might take longer as it's a tendon injury, not beating around the bushes, explaining the situation really well.
Realizing she is a rare find, I brought up another old injury later on. That car accident that happened 20 years ago ended up with nerve transplant for a paralyzed hand. After 100+ sessions of physical therapy and finding the really best one in the city I was living back then, it started to function, but not all of the muscles returned. I could do well enough to get by, and I recall the previous therapist said good chance one of the tendons were injured really bad, and also with such an injury, not all nerves might get reconnected. I thought to myself let's see if anything has changed over the years. Usually I get the answer: it was 20 years ago, not much can be done, let it be.
Julia said hmm, let's see. After some thorough diagnosis, she said: I don't know! I wanna say some muscle or tendon is missing, but then in another position you have some function there, very weak but some. Long story short, she gave me specific exercises and based on the outcome would suggest more or adjust, and after about 10 sessions or so, I literally felt a new muscle kicking in! I couldn't do strict press more than 35lbs, now it almost doubled, literally suddenly! I have a gut feeling an extra muscle can go a long way!
That hand is still not fully normal, but def things have changed. She hasn't given up yet, just being honest she said you should work on the current newly added muscle, it's still weak (it does kick in, but very fast gets exhausted), and try these 2 exercises for the other muscle that is still not working as intended. Try them for a few months, if started working great, if not come back. I do appreciate this honesty part too, that's rare to find nowadays!
