What are the opening hours?

Monday 7:30am - 7pm Tuesday 7:30am - 7pm Wednesday 7:30am - 7pm Thursday 7:30am - 7pm Friday 7:30am - 7pm

Gotham Physical Therapy

Home
United States
New York, NY
Gotham Physical Therapy

We are a PT-owned private practice in downtown NYC offering one-on-one physical therapy services in o

06/20/2022

Click the link in our bio to read more about sciatica, watch nerve mobilization videos, and stay tuned for more tips on managing symptoms.

We always recommend seeking out a physical therapist to help you reduce your pain and determine which exercises are best for you. If you experience numbness, tingling, or muscle weakness that doesn’t improve after 4 weeks, you should see a physician.

12/03/2021

December is shoulder month here at Gotham.
⠀
We’re kicking it off with a shoulder sequence that trains trunk muscle endurance for postural support and improved sitting tolerance. It’s also a great series for building a strong foundation to alleviate neck pain and tightness.
⠀
For the shoulders specifically, these movements increase endurance in the scapulothoracic muscles, the ones that move the shoulder blades. This is important because comfortable and efficient movement of the arms depends on coordinated movement with the shoulder blades.
⠀
Trying these out at home. Don’t know how to hook up your resistance band like we’ve done in the clinic? Keep an eye out for our next post and we’ll show you how!
⠀
⠀
⠀

11/27/2021

“I’ve done PT at 2 other places, and yours reigns supreme. Mainly because of the non-cookie-cutter way you approach your clients.”
⠀
We received this note from a patient who alternated visits with Zach and Caitlin. It’s a testament to the value of using a variety of approaches when treating chronic pain. Different things work for different people—and on different days, different periods of life, etc.
⠀
👉There’s no cookie cutter approach to treating chronic back pain.
⠀
Every patient has their own personal relationship with pain. A unique history with periods of activity and inactivity, different attitudes and experiences with movement and exercise, and varying capacities for tolerating stress.
⠀
There are some basic guidelines that work well for most people to modulate pain in an acute flare-up. Things like controlling inflammation, gentle movement, temporarily modifying/avoiding aggravating positions, and fine-tuning support for sitting and sleeping. Take a look at our last post for more tips on managing symptoms in the acute stage.
⠀
A long-term treatment strategy, however, depends on an individual’s daily physical demands, history of loading, and goals for transitioning back to more robust activity. AKA getting you back to doing all the things you love to do pain-free.
⠀
As clinicians, we know this depends on listening to the patient and not being too rigid in our treatment philosophy and methods. If it works, it works!
⠀
Have cookie cutter treatment methods failed you in the past? If so, come by for a check-up. We’ll work together to empower you with tools you can use on your own to keep pain at bay for the long haul. Tap the link in our bio and “Schedule a Visit” to get started.
⠀

11/22/2021

Start by asking yourself these questions: Did your pain come on slowly over time? If so, you may have an overuse injury. Did it come on suddenly and acutely? If so, you may have a traumatic injury like a muscle strain or ligament sprain. Such injuries will often be accompanied by swelling and possibly bruising.
⠀
If you have a traumatic injury that’s painful at rest or makes it hard to move it may be advisable to see a healthcare professional like a physician or physical therapist and determine if your injury needs skilled medical intervention. Note: You can see a PT without a doctor’s referral.
⠀
Next, practice “relative rest.” Relative rest is different from absolute rest. With relative rest you are doing less with the injured area or modifying activities, but not necessarily shutting down all activity. If you sustained a traumatic injury you may want to wait to be cleared by a physician or physical therapist, since the tissue may still be healing even though it doesn’t hurt anymore.
⠀
Once cleared and moving with minimal discomfort, here are a few options for modifying your return to exercise:
⠀
🪶Move lighter: Start with very low to no weight. If you feel fine, increase the weight gradually each time, but don’t jump up too quickly.
⠀
🐞Move smaller: Some body regions will feel fine in a particular range of motion, but hurt if you move beyond that motion. You can still do some exercise within a smaller, pain-free range of motion. Move towards the edge of discomfort. Over time you’ll go farther as your body allows.
⠀
🐌Move slower: Fast movements put a lot of stress on healing tissue, but you may be able to do the same motions slower. Again, find a comfortable place to start and if your body allows, speed the movement up gradually over time.
⠀
Finally, monitor your symptoms the next day. Include time to recover from soreness before progressing.
⠀
If you followed this advice and are still struggling, you may need professional help. Come see us at Gotham PT. Tap the link in our bio and “Schedule a Visit” to get started.
⠀

11/19/2021

Dead Bug Ball 🐜 🪲
⠀
Dr. Caitlin Casella demos 2 of her favorite ways to use a
⠀
🐜 Trunk muscle endurance with (1) alternating legs, (2) alternating arms, (3) opposite arm + leg. Great way to integrate the limbs into the core while using pressure on the ball to maintain tension.
⠀
🪲 Put the ball on the shelf. Take the ball off the shelf. Repeat. Task based movement FTW 🏆
⠀
“Dead bug” exercises are useful, especially in the early stages of back pain when most movements are painful because they allow us to increase muscle endurance and stress the back in a good way without moving the back too much.
⠀
Give these a try and let us know what you feel.
⠀
***It’s important to note that the goal is not to stabilize an unstable core. The unstable spine is an unhelpful myth that may cause you to fear spinal movement or to focus on unnecessary core exercises and bracing to the detriment of other helpful exercises and activities.***
⠀
⠀
⠀

11/17/2021

Most acute episodes of low back pain resolve on their own within a few weeks. However, 10% of patients with acute low back pain develop a chronic pain condition.
⠀
Why?
⠀
Research into the behavior of individuals with pain demonstrates that negative thoughts about pain-related experiences, interpreting pain as threatening, and pessimistic beliefs about pain or the ability to cope with pain leads to a higher risk for developing a chronic pain problem.
⠀
Catastrophizing pain, or pain-related fear is a powerful predictor of disability and days lost from work. More powerful than symptoms of pain severity and pain duration.
⠀
What can be done to decrease catastrophic thinking about pain?
⠀
While it may seem counterintuitive, performing the exact same movement that provokes fear of movement can help patients recalibrate their expectations of pain. With practice, a once threatening activity can become non-threatening, less painful, and more energy efficient—all of which can help break the cycle of chronic pain.
⠀
Need help with a painful back condition that’s been concerning you for a while? Physical therapy can help 🤗
⠀
Come by for a check-up. We’ll work together to improve your tolerance for movement by decreasing fear, increasing your confidence, and giving you tools you can use on your own to keep pain at bay for the long haul. Tap the link in our bio and “Schedule a Visit” to get started.
⠀
Reference: Exposure to physical movement in chronic back pain patients: No evidence for generalization across different movements (Goubert et. al., 2002).
⠀
⠀
⠀

11/12/2021

If you’re experiencing back pain, this hip hinging technique might be a helpful strategy for getting through the day with greater comfort. Here Zach demonstrates a way to fine tune your form using a dowel, broomstick, swiffer handle…
⠀
Precise hip hinging form isn’t forever and isn’t for every activity. Eventually, after a period of back pain, the goal is to be able to move the spine through all its ranges of motion and condition the system to tolerate forces in all directions.
⠀
If you’ve been stuck in a cycle of back pain for a while, unable to move in certain directions without aggravating your back, it might be time to seek out PT for some guidance. Come by for a check-up. We’ll take a look and see how we can improve your mobility, your confidence with movement, and decrease your pain. Tap the link in our bio and “Schedule a Visit” to get started.
⠀
⠀
⠀

11/11/2021

Happy Veterans Day to all our veterans! You served your country and did us proud. Now go get your free Applebee’s dinner. This is 1st Platoon, Bravo Co, 1st Tank Battalion in Iraq in 2007.

11/10/2021

Pain is complex. It can emerge with or without corresponding tissue damage. When there is tissue damage, pain is usually not very well correlated with the extent of the damage. Two people with the same tissue damage can experience quite different levels of pain. Consider how much a paper cut or wasp sting can hurt even though the actual tissue damage is minimal.
⠀
Many people assume that if they are having pain there must be some new or ongoing injury to explain it. But pain doesn’t always have a one-to-one connection with injury.
⠀
We need to adopt a better understanding of what causes our symptoms by recognizing that there are many variables that can go into having painful symptoms, or other types of protective sensations like stiffness.
⠀
A good way to understand how these variables interact to create symptoms is a “vector model.” Physical therapist Matthew Low does a good job of explaining this idea in the slides above.
⠀
Let’s look at back pain as an example. The “threshold” in these diagrams represents the divide between back pain and being pain-free.
⠀
Some factors increase the risk of back pain: Being sedentary, past injury, fear avoidance (not doing a movement because you think it will hurt or injure), depression or anxiety, hypervigilance (often leading to excessive, unnecessary muscle contraction), job stress, poor sleep, and poor muscle fitness. These are represented by arrows that tend towards back pain.
⠀
Some may decrease the tendency towards back pain like positive beliefs about getting better, an enjoyable physical activity, and good social support. These are represented by arrows that tend away from back pain.
⠀
Increase a few of the negative variables and suddenly you get that pain “out of the blue”. Once we might have attributed that to a new injury, but most likely you crossed the threshold. A few days later, the balance shifts, the resultant arrow passes back over the threshold and your pain goes away.
⠀
Viewing pain in this way can help us recognize that we have some control across multiple variables in our lives.
⠀

11/08/2021

Many people that have back pain end up with an x-ray or MRI report that sounds kinda scary. “Herniated disc,” “bulging disc,” “degenerative disc disease,” and other terms can make you quite fearful of damaging your spine or needing surgery, especially if you know someone who had these diagnoses and got surgery.
⠀
The good news is an MRI or x-ray are just one small part of the overall picture. These findings must be combined and correlated with your symptoms and how your pain is affecting your life in order to determine what the best treatment is.
⠀
Surgery for back pain alone is extremely rare, probably because it hasn’t been shown to be very effective for reducing back pain. Even if you also have leg pain, surgery is still a last resort because that leg pain often gets better with time and non-surgical treatment.
⠀
Most surgeons only consider doing back surgery when you have significant numbness, leg weakness, or constant leg pain that isn’t improving at all after several weeks. If you aren’t experiencing those things then you can be pretty confident that you won’t need surgery and that your condition will get better.
⠀
Many times you just need to understand what’s going on and get some advice and reassurance that things are going to be ok.
⠀
That’s what we offer at Gotham Physical Therapy, along with exercises and hands-on treatments to help you get through it and get back to your favorites without being limited by pain.
⠀
⠀
⠀

11/03/2021

At Gotham PT we’re all about active care. We believe that patient education and therapeutic exercise are the keys to long term maintenance and prevention of low back pain. And hey, the research backs it up.
⠀
If you’ve got a painful back condition that’s been concerning you for a while, come by for a check-up. We’ll take a look and see how we can empower you with active tools for the long haul.
⠀
Tap the link in our bio and “Schedule a Visit” to get started.
⠀
Reference: Physical therapy for acute low back pain: Associations with subsequent healthcare costs (Fritz et al., 2008)
⠀
⠀
⠀

11/01/2021

The holiday season can be a wonderful time for gathering with friends and family and taking a break from our usual routines. That break in routine can also layer on stress due to travel, changes in diet, and disruptions in sleep and exercise habits. When it comes to back care, stress (both good and bad) make all the difference in managing symptoms of pain and stiffness.
⠀
Stay tuned throughout the month of November for information on the latest research in the treatment of back pain, commonly asked questions, how stress plays a role, and exercises to improve mobility and load tolerance for greater comfort in your daily activities.
⠀

Address

28 W 27th Street, Rm 704
New York, NY
10001

Opening Hours

Monday	7:30am - 7pm
Tuesday	7:30am - 7pm
Wednesday	7:30am - 7pm
Thursday	7:30am - 7pm
Friday	7:30am - 7pm

Telephone

+12129894678

Website

http://www.gothamphysicaltherapy.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Gotham Physical Therapy posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to Gotham Physical Therapy:

Shortcuts

Address
Telephone
Opening Hours
Alerts
Contact The Practice
Claim ownership or report listing

Featured

Magnus Wellness
16 E 40th Street, Fl 4

Want your practice to be the top-listed Clinic in New York?