At 19 years old, I was ‘squatting’ 600lbs while training for football in college. While working with a trainer at the time and he advised me to sit down on the bench with the weight still resting on my back. There was an immediate feeling of shock and crush, which caused intense pain in my lower back the moment I sat down. I didn’t know what exactly I did but knew something was wrong. The result was two crushed discs in my back which left me in a vice-grip-like-pain within the first 10 minutes of waking up and it never left me, it tormented me all day long. I let a month pass by, every night thinking this will be it, I’ll wake up and it will be gone. Every morning a depression set in when I realized that it was still there, just as bad and some days worse. I needed help but the process for finding someone to help me was almost as excruciating as the pain in my back.
Have you ever felt that way?
I went through DOZENS of physical therapists, chiropractors and specialized doctors, thinking one of them would have an answer and solution.
I went into every treatment room, trusting that one of them had the answers but…
In the end, they only gave me empty promises and a larger financial burden. The burden didn’t just shift on me but to my family as well. No one we went to could explain exactly how to get out of pain without surgery. Surgery was the last thing I wanted.
I went through a year of pain, hopelessness, and fear that this would never get resolved until my friend referred me to a guy in Wichita Falls, Texas. He struck me as an incredible specialist, not solely because of his knowledge of my problem but by the fact he genuinely cared about my problem and progress. He was unsure of how much he could help me because he only had a week to do treatment BUT, in that week, he took away 30% of my pain.
30% may not seem like a significant improvement but it allowed me to walk around school, cook for myself and start exercising again.
I was convinced this person could help me long-term so the following summer I went back to Wichita Falls for two months where I slept in a friend’s apartment, so we could tackle this problem head-on, together and consistently. Not only did he take away 90% of my pain that summer but he gave me a long-term solution so that I could maintain my progress.
He educated me on how to move properly so that I wouldn’t reinjure myself again and I could keep injuries and pain away. Ultimately, I returned to football, bigger and better than ever; breaking my back and the genuine care I had received gave me my life back and something larger, a passion for helping people.
I’ve been committed for the past 14 years to finding out the root of people’s pain and acquiring the tools I need to figure out how to help people the right way, the best way – the first time around so that no matter who walked in I knew what I could do for them and be honest and authentic about what my own limitations were. My own experience with pain and the process of finding genuine and quality care brought me to the point we’re at with our type of Physical Therapy. Our whole clinic is based on the long-term solutions, by giving accurate information to people about their pain, the treatment that will get them out of it, and the education that will keep them from it. We want everyone we see to have their set of tools to maintain their progress and a community full of quality care and genuine people that they can trust with their best interest in mind.
We’re empowering people to get out of pain, gain strength , and maintain consistency in a program so that they can get out of pain, get active and stay mobile for the long run!
If you or a loved one has struggled with chronic pain, short term results, wasted time and money and are looking to get your life back contact us for a free Discovery Session today to see how we can help you!
Committed to your long-term health and recovery,
Jonathan Ruzicka, PT, DPT
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Dr. Jonathan Ruzicka is a Manual Therapist whose experience as a private therapist for professional athletes drove him to further his education attaining unparalleled skills in tissue mobility work, performance based rehab, injury prevention, myofacial release and joint mobilization to optimize human performance.
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