FAQ

Q: What should I expect?

A: If you’ve been to a physical therapist or chiropractor before, it’s quite likely that you will have a much different experience with us. You are going to get personalized one-on-one care with a Doctor of Physical Therapy or Doctor of Chiropractic who focuses on specialized, highly effective manual therapy techniques.

We believe good care takes time and attention.   You will have a 75 minute initial evaluation and treatment by Dr. Devin.  Your follow ups are 50-55 minutes of one on one care, not being rushed through a system or passed to assistants and aids for your care. Your care will consist of both evidence-based practices and holistic approaches.

Dr. Devin and Dr. Jake will provide relief from pain and dysfunction through manual therapy techniques then guide and empower you through self care strategies within your life. We will start where you are comfortable. Not just giving a list of exercises that you hope will help. It’s about getting you feeling, functioning, and performing your best much faster than average. Then learning how to apply healing principles realistically within your life.

Q: Will it hurt?

Even if you have had painful pelvic PT or exams in the past, it is my belief that we can not resolve pain by inflicting more pain.  The clinic is a very comforting environment, and the treatments are relaxing and pain free. Please do not use past pelvic physical therapy or painful experiences to form a preconceived notion of what will happen here.

Q: What will my first visit be like?

A: On your first visit, we will do a thorough medical history review but more importantly we will listen to your body.  Every aspect of your history will be considered to obtain a thorough understanding of which of our treatments are warranted.  A gentle physical therapy or chiropractic exam will then be performed, which may include for pelvic floor patients internal muscle evaluation, including all areas of pelvic functioning (urinary, bowel, and bladder), external joint and muscle evaluation, and gait analysis.  Together we will discuss how your condition has disrupted your life, set wellness goals, and conceive a structured therapy plan to meet those goals.  Exams are as pain free as possible:  even patients with pelvic pain are surprised that the process does not hurt.   Plan on a full 75 minute visit for your first visit with us.

Q: How many visits will it take to get better?

A: This is difficult to properly answer without having an evaluation.  You should see a significant difference in your pain and function by the 4th visit. Some patients have had relief in 1 or 2! Most patients schedule once a week for the first month, then two additional visits two weeks apart.  Most patients find the severity of the pain has greatly reduced and they have had a significant return to function by the 6th visit.  So on average 4-8 visits. However, many patients find that visceral work once a month helps their entire body and emotions to work more smoothly and that they just feel better with a monthly “tune up”.  So, most patients stay on for monthly or quarterly self care and relaxation.  Some patients are better in 2 visits, some take 12.  It just depends on the individual, the severity and chronicity of the condition, the pattern of dysfunction, how many compensations have occurred over time, and how the patient’s whole picture of health and self care is. Not to mention your willingness to become an active participant in your well being. It’s within you, my friend.

Q: I think I’ll just wait and see if it goes away. What do you think?

A: Depending on what’s going on, your body takes a short period of time to heal itself. If you are still experiencing issues after a week or two, it would be best to get in as soon as possible. Typically, the longer you wait, the more chronic your condition becomes, and the longer it will take to get back to doing the things you want to do. If it has been more than a few weeks, a few months, or even a few years, don’t worry, hope is not lost. The body has an innate ability to heal itself, we just need to set the conditions right.

Q: I just had a baby. When should I come see you?

A: Typically, after a vaginal birth we will see you at 6 weeks post-partum and after a c-section, we would like to see you at 8 weeks post-partum. In a variety of other countries (i.e. France, Netherlands, Australia), post-partum pelvic PT is the standard and women receive 10-20 visits of pelvic floor treatment after having a baby. This is not standard practice in the US, and at most 6 week follow up appointments, women are told they are good to resume their normal activities. Not so fast! Your body just endured a MAJOR life event . . . if something this severe happened in sports, it would be called “trauma” and that player would be taken out of the game. You wouldn’t tell the star player to shake off an ACL tear would you? Just like any other muscle strain or tear needs PT, the pelvic floor muscles need PT after pregnancy/delivery. Post-partum PT is extremely beneficial to address pelvic floor and abdominal dysfunction. Although in the US post-partum mamas have to take the initiative to see a PT, it’s well worth it! Your enjoyable sex, flat abs, and trampoline days are not over! Plus, it is beneficial to make sure you can safely and easily have another child (if that’s your goal). “Well . . . you just had a baby” is true, but there IS something you can do about it! 

Q: What is normal after having a baby?

A: Nothing! I kid. This is a broad question for sure. So, to best help educate all please take a look at this brochure: Your body after baby

Q: I’m pregnant and want to avoid these postpartum issues you are talking about. Is there anything I can do proactively?

A: Yes, Yes, YES!!! We are thrilled to be able to work with pregnant mamas who have issues or just want to prevent issues. Most women ask us, “Why didn’t anyone tell me about pelvic floor PT before now?!” We wonder the same thing! That’s why we are SO passionate about bringing this speciality service to Eugene. Because everyone is different, we will talk through a variety of questions, do a head to toe assessment, figure out your strengths and weakness, and based on your unique situation, we will help you mentally and physically prepare your body for childbirth. If appropriate, we also like to start delivery and perineal prep between weeks 32-34 to begin preparing that tissue to adequately stretch during childbirth and reduce the risk of perineal tearing or laceration/episiotomy.

Q: Do you treat men?  

A: Absolutely, see the “services” tab drop down.

Q: Do you take my insurance?  

A: To offer you the best possible care, we have chosen not to deal directly with insurance companies. Payment is due at the time of service. However, upon request, we will provide you a receipt aka “superbill” that you will need to self submit to your insurance, who will reimburse you directly. Your insurance company will then reimburse you directly based on your out-of-network physical therapy coverage.

Download the Insurance Benefits Worksheet so you know which questions to ask when you call your insurance provider. ​

My patients are generally patients who have seen many providers and not responded to conventional therapies.  I offer longer sessions, treatments not available at most clinics, and treat in the way that is best for the patients.

Q: I have insurance, why wouldn’t I just go to an in-network physical therapist?

A: The vast majority of patients who choose to see us have health insurance, but they choose to forgo using an in-network PT in order to receive higher quality care with fewer total visits needed. What a lot of people find is that seeing us results in less time and money. Often times people have to wait to see their doctor, they wait a little longer for insurance to approve them to see a physical therapist, then wait some more to see a physical therapist. So, following the onset of symptoms, people end up waiting a few weeks or even months before they even start with therapy. As patients start therapy, they may quickly realize that they will be rotating between different physical therapists, assistants, and/or techs/aides. Occasionally, patients will even have to share their time with other patients without true one-on-one, hands on care. These patients often get lost in the shuffle, and by default may end up on an exercise bike and doing exercises that they could be doing at home. This sub-optimal care doesn’t get you the quick results you need and deserve. Not to mention, as insurance reimbursements are dwindling, and co-pays and deductibles are skyrocketing, the majority of health care providers are forced to treat faster and charge you more. Even worse, you are only allowed a set number of physical therapy visits that is also dictated by insurance. Because PTs who take insurance have to document each visit extensively for the visit to be covered, the therapist also needs to type on their computer throughout the visit vs. providing focused care. When it’s all said and done, you may find this costs you a lot of wasted time. However, we do understand that some people prefer to use their insurance and go to an in-network provider, and we do certainly respect that choice.

Q: What forms of payment do you accept?

A: Cash, check, debit and credit cards, HSA (health savings account) and FSA (flex spending account). 

Q: What is your cancellation policy?

A: This varies from initial and follow up visits.

For initial evaluation visits: 48 hours. For follow up visits: 24 hours.

Please know that for all appointments we have allocated 60-90 minutes FOR YOU and without sufficient notice we are unable to provide that time to other people waiting in pain or in need of our help. We do have a long waitlist so please be respectful.

For evaluation visits, we do not make exceptions, since we block out a full 1.5 hours for you.

• For Evaluations, we will require a missed visit fee of 50% of the cost of the evaluation for cancels less than 48 hours.

For ongoing patients:

• A missed appointment with no communication or with us ahead of time, or less than 4 hours advance notice, will be required to pay full appointment fee.  
• If you are able to give us notice that you will not be able to make your scheduled appointment time, but it is less than 24 hours in advance and more than 4 hours in advance, we give you a friendly reminder of our policy. 
• If you have a second less than 24 hour cancel, you will be required to pay for 50% of the appointment fee.
• Any additional less than 24 hour cancels, you will be required to pay the full appointment fee.
• For long term/wellness care patients, as defined as patients who are seeing Dr. Devin monthly at minimum, the grace no show/cancel resets every 6 months.
• If there is severe winter weather and Eugene schools are cancelled or delayed, we will also be.  Please check your phone and email before driving in on severe weather days.  Please do not put yourself in harm’s way to get here, etc.
• We are humans and understand if you have family needs come up, so let us know as soon as you can so we can best accommodate.

Q: Do I need a doctor’s referral or script to come see you? 

A: No. Oregon is a direct access state for Physical Therapy. You can choose who you want to see.

Q: I want to come to physical therapy preventively to keep my body in the best shape possible and reduce the risk of injury. Can I do that?  

A: Absolutely! Not only do we want to work with you in a crisis state when you are in severe pain, but we want you to use physical therapy as preventive care to help you stay active, fit, and healthy. A lot of our patients will come in as needed for a “wellness” visit or “tune up” in order to maintain their body’s optimal function. Our bodies are like cars, if you run them for awhile and never take care of them, something is bound to go wrong.