Adient Health

Brian was my physical therapist here for tendinitis and while I was seeing another PT before moving to CA, Brian managed to resolve my issue much more effectively than the previous provider.
The staff are all great and I highly reccomend Adient for anyone needing physical therapy.

Nicole was my physiotherapist for treating some debilitating lower back pain.
She was brilliant at honing in on both the issue and the causes. She approached my treatment systematically and within 4 sessions I could already notice significant improvement and was equipped with the tools to make a full recovery. She was careful to not overdo anything and included a healthy variation of stretches and exercises to address my problem. As a cyclist, I have been struggling with back issues for years, and knew that something was out of wack, but did not know how to correct it. You won’t get an hour long massage here, but you will get fixed as long as you trust the long term plan.

I haven’t had a need for PT in many years, but after visiting Adient for over a month and finding myself healed, I might just make this a regular part of my routine for a great workout. Kurt is patient, courteous and knowledgeable. He pegged my issue even before my doctor had me go for a MRI. The facility is fairly new and clean, which is certainly a plus. My brother had recommended Kurt and Adient, and he was spot on with this recommendation.

Ron Lou is amazing at diagnosing and treating a problem. 2 doctors couldn’t figure out why I had facial tingling and pain after swimming. Ron diagnosed my neck problem, treated it, and I’m back to my full swimming schedule (after one neurologist suggested I just shouldn’t swim any more). I can’t say enough great things about Ron. He’s easy to talk to, clear in his exercise instructions, and does great follow-​up until you are healed and back on track.

I went to Adient for shoulder tendon issue — after eight sessions with Jennifer, no benefits (things got worse) and finally I had to switch to different physio therapy center. I’m hoping this would work. All in all, worth avoiding.

A few years ago, I had very disruptive pain and numbness in hands/​arms/​shoulders/​neck related to computer work. I had been working with physical therapists at Vaden and another Stanford clinic that primarily offered massage, medication, and other pain management techniques. This made me feel better in the very short-​term, but my symptoms always returned. They explained I needed to make big changes to my posture, but I only really started to experience lasting, long-​term relief once I started to work with Kurt at Adient. A friend who also was dissatisfied with other physical therapists recommended Adient and I am eternally grateful. Kurt worked with me to build up the muscles I need to achieve a healthier posture which is a great general protection against further injury. For another, I still use the exercises and stretches he taught me to this day, and I believe these are a big reason why I’m able to head off a little bit of soreness in a specific location after a particularly long day before it flares up into a bigger problem.
So if you want to actually address the underlying problems that are causing your pain, rather than just treating the symptoms, go in and work with Kurt! He is knowledgeable, calm and confident, and all in an all a great teacher.

This review is specifically for Jennifer Fortel, who was fantastic. I can’t speak in any way to the rest of the folks.
I went for about 5 weeks, twice a week, to work on some severe back spasms and other tightness. I had never been to PT before, so didn’t know what to expect. I was using Stanford student health insurance and there were no issues getting that set up. My treatment program was a success, with the immediate problems solved, and an independent preventative program set up so that I can now monitor and fix things on my own when need be. I also learned a lot.
Details:
Jennifer began with a private consultation and assessment, and at my request brought out all sort of medical books/​diagrams to demonstrate what she was talking about and where she thought the issues were. This was great because it helped me understand better the rationale for why she would eventually ask me to do certain stretches and exercises, as well as change certain behaviors when I’m at my work-​desk or play sports.
After the initial consultation, I was seen regularly at a table in the main room with other folks. The routine was usually 5 minutes of independent warmups, then some independent stretching, then about 30 minutes of «hands on work
(i.e., massage, which was amazing), then another 15 minutes consultation and independent stretching.
I think an open dialogue was really important. I gave as much information as I could and we thought through the problems together, since there weren’t any clear cut answers to just «fix» everything. One great thing was that when I gave feedback that contradicted some original treatment plans, she had no issue reassessing, rather than staying committed to the original course of action. I really felt listened to.
If you’ve never been to physical therapy:
The one thing that surprised me is that PT is not like the doctors office, where the doc is working with you and only you the whole time. At PT, it seems normal for a therapist to overlap your arrival and departure with attention to other patients. Of course, during the hands-​on portion, which is about ½ the time, the therapist is focused on you. But a portion of the visit involves independent stretching/​strengthening while the therapist attends to someone else who perhaps just arrived. I don’t know if other offices are structured the same way.

I chose Adient in part because of good reviews on Unilocal.Unfortunately, Jennifer turned out to be the worst physical therapist I’ve ever had. She is very young and extremely inexperienced. She aggravated my injury and clearly did not know what she’s doing.
I came in with very mild back pain. It was a nuisance whenever I bent down but it was absolutely not serious. After my first visit with Jennifer, the pain increased significantly. She said it was normal because the muscles had just gotten a workout. After my second visit with Jennifer, my back pain dramatically increased where at one point I was feeling searing pain in my back.
Jennifer sought to blame me for the aggravated pain. For instance, she blamed me for playing tennis, wearing heels, doing sit-​ups and crunches, and stretching my hamstrings a certain way. Mind you, I had been doing all of these things for a long, long time without back pain. Even after my back pain began, I continued to do all of these things without any problems for over a month prior to seeing Jennifer. Yet it was only after my visits with Jennifer that my back pain became significantly worse.
Furthermore, Jennifer is terrible at providing clear instructions or accommodating the needs of the patient. For instance, Jennifer tried to teach me a new hamstring stretch on my second visit and it caused me more back pain immediately. Instead of teaching me a stretch in a different position, she just kept saying that my posture was wrong without offering clear guidance to correct it. Contrast that with my current therapist: she taught me a different hamstring stretch that did not put pressure on my lower back and made sure I had the right posture for it.
I complained about Jennifer’s poor performance to Kurt, the head clinician, and appreciated his professionalism in dealing with the issue. With that said, back pain completely ruins your day, week and month, and puts a very heavy strain on nearly everything you do (e.g., walking, sitting, etc.) I did not appreciate having to incur such pain from therapy that was supposed to make me better, not worse.
I have no idea whether the other therapists at Adient are any good, but if you’re going to come here, DO NOT use Jennifer.

I’ve previously had poor experiences at other physiotherapy offices here in Palo Alto (cough Vaden) but have made excellent progress here recovering from SI joint inflammation and L4/​L5 facet joint irritation. Julie (French-​Canadian) is an up and coming rockstar!
Highly recommended =)

Ron Lou helped me recover from a chronic back problem. I was hiking 10 miles again in 3 months.
Very thorough evaluation, he knew right away what to do. He provided a handout to take home with detailed exercises to rehabilitate quickly. Very good communicator.

Bethanie is a rock star! Best outfit in town.

I was wary of physical therapy given my wife’s experiences with other local providers. But Bethanie has been fantastic. She’s very knowledgeable, easy to talk with, and friendly and pleasant. She has also pushed me more than I expected, resulting in a healthier, stronger me!
The rest of the staff seem very nice as well. The receptionist is flexible and helpful. And I can almost always find a parking spot in their lot off High Street. A great experience overall.

I came here for rehab for my wrists and arms due to way too much typing. I worked with Bethanie, who was really nice, asked lots of thoughtful questions while evaluating me, and really took her time with the evaluation, even on a pretty common injury, which I appreciated.
I’ve been improving steadily, much faster than previous rehab. Bethanie is really nice and the whole team is friendly. Their reception desk is at the entrance facing the parking lot, not at the entrance on Hamilton, which can be a bit confusing. And yes, they do sell foam rollers for your back or stretching, for $ 20. Just ask at the desk.

I saw Ron Lou for rehab work on my ankle. He was great and knew when to push me and when to tell me to back off of an exercise. He was encouraging and kind, a great PT.