When Roger Gayer came to ARC Physical Therapy in Elmhurst two months ago in April, it was after an injury, and subsequent pain that sidelined his renovation goals.
“I think it was something that was coming on for a while. It started as just an ache in my lower back and then one day I was moving some furniture and something happened. It got bad right away,” said Gayer.
After going to his primary care provider, he got a referral to see a physical therapist. Coincidently, his wife is also a physical therapist and suggested he see someone at ARC. His first appointment, he described, as really successful, even after just one Counterstrain treatment with Lauren. Roger said that she looked at him and saw that his spine was crooked right away.
“I really liked my first visit. I really don’t know how she did it, but Lauren would go and find these points [on the body] and ask me ‘how does this feel? Does this hurt?’ and I would tell her yes or no, and if I told her yes, she would go on another part of my body and work on it. And where she was pressing seemed to correlate with the part that was hurting. And then my pain just stopped. It just went away,” Gayer said.
He added that while he wasn’t ‘cured’ on his first visit, he felt like he was well on his way to feeling a lot better. And now, after two months of treatment, he only has good things to report.
“It feels great. My back feels like [the injury] never happened. I feel great!” Gayer said.
A resident of the western suburbs in Hinsdale, Roger is enjoying being retired and maintaining some area homes. The ability to be, and stay, active is important, especially since he’s spending his time updating these spaces, which requires that he’s able to move things on a whim, without pain in his back, or anywhere else.
One of the most important things he’s learned from Lauren is how to move with more controlled and careful movements. He also learned what his limits are in regard to how he works, and how to get things done while also staying injury-free.
“I really loved working with Lauren, she’s really talented, really special and great at what she does. She really does care and she wanted me to be able to get back to feeling like I did before I got hurt, which now, I do!” Gayer said.
When asked what he felt was different about ARC compared to other physical therapy practices, he said that it was the one-on-one care he got for his whole appointment, not just at the beginning.
“With Lauren, and all the other physical therapists at ARC, they stayed with you the whole time instead of just giving you exercises and having you do them alone for a while. They’re very hands on and don’t leave you to just do some reps of something. They’re just more personal, very engaged; I really enjoyed the whole experience,” Gayer added.