Hey everyone, this is one of my most important tips (and paradoxically, it’s also the simplest!).
If you’re looking for help with your specific issue, in your specific geographic area, do Google searches regularly. Do them every month.
I eventually found the first PT who was able to really help me, about 3 miles from where I was living. I’d already been dealing with this for a few years, going in and out of Boston, trying to see all the “best” people, and it never panned out.
And yet my PT Paula had actually been practicing near me the entire time.
The lesson to remember here is that how things look on the internet is not necessarily how things are in reality.
Google and other search engines are making decisions on what to show you based on website factors— not on who really may be the best person to help you.
And in fact, a lot of the best PT’s out there are simply so busy practicing that they rely on word of mouth, and don’t really have a huge internet presence.
I eventually found Paula because one day, the same Google search I’d already done a million times gave me a different result and put her website at the top.
It had nothing to do with her, or with me. It might have been that some IT person at her company made a change that made Google think their website was suddenly more relevant.
I don’t know how much time went by before I discovered this, because I’d already gotten frustrated and assumed I knew all of the options in my area already.
I couldn’t believe it when I finally found her.
I felt like Dorothy at the end of the Wizard of Oz, when I learned that all I’d had to do was click my heels together three times.
I mean, it’s maybe not that simple, because I still had a lot of work to do once I found her.
But the takeaway here is to always keep searching.
Never assume that all your options have been exhausted, because they really may not be.
I have no idea how much of a lag there may have been between the time Google thought to push Paula’s website up to the top, and the time it took me to actually get around to searching again.
But it was probably at least 6 months, if not longer. If I hadn’t given up on searching, I probably could have found her sooner.
That is why my lesson to you is to never give up, never assume, and never stop searching for an answer.
You have to keep going, assume there is an answer out there for you, and don’t stop until you find it.
For more info on finding a good PT:
Check out my Physical Therapy post series.
Hope this is helpful!
Boston map courtesy of Open Street Map
Ruby slippers photo courtesy of Insomnia Cured Here
My Sacroiliac Joint Saga 