Orthopedic Physical Therapy
Find the root of your pain, restore confident movement, and get back to the activities that matter to you.
Orthopedic physical therapy is the foundation of our practice and represents the majority of conditions we treat every day.
Care That Looks Beyond the Painful Spot
Orthopedic physical therapy works best when your clinician has time to assess movement carefully, provide hands-on treatment, and progress exercise based on what is changing from visit to visit. At Catalyst, your appointments are supervised by a physical therapist who combines skilled manual therapy, biomechanics correction, bodywork, and personalized exercise progressions.
We begin with your history, goals, and the issue that brought you in. Then we assess range of motion, strength, joint mobility, and movement patterns relevant to your condition. You leave with a working diagnosis, a plan of care, and a manageable first round of exercises—not a flood of homework.
Conditions We Commonly Treat
Our orthopedic team treats a wide range of musculoskeletal injuries and movement-related conditions.
Back, Neck & Nerve Pain
Lower back pain, disc herniation, stenosis, degenerative disc disease, neck pain, whiplash, cervicogenic headaches, sciatica, nerve entrapment, carpal tunnel syndrome, and cervical, thoracic, rib, or lumbar dysfunction.
Joint, Muscle & Tendon Conditions
Fractures, sprains, strains, tenosynovitis, bursitis, osteoarthritis, repetitive stress injuries, tendinitis, arthritis, and postural pain patterns.
Shoulder, Hip, Knee, Foot & Ankle
Meniscus and patellofemoral knee pain; shoulder impingement, frozen shoulder, labral and rotator cuff dysfunction; hip impingement, labral dysfunction and IT band syndrome; plus heel spur, ankle sprain, peroneal tendonitis, and tarsal tunnel syndrome.
What Your Orthopedic PT Plan May Include
Your plan is built around your findings, your goals, and the demands of your real life. As you improve, your treatment evolves with you.
Hands-On Treatment
Manual therapy may include joint mobilization, soft tissue mobilization, hands-on cueing, and myofascial decompression to help improve mobility and make movement more comfortable.
Corrective Exercise
Targeted exercise, mobility work, strength progression, muscle activation, and coordination training help you build movement efficiency that carries over to work, sport, and daily life.
Movement Education
We use biomechanics and movement-pattern analysis to help you understand what may be contributing to symptoms, how to move with more confidence, and how to reduce future injury risk.
What to Expect From Care
Start with a thorough evaluation
We assess the whole picture: pain or injury history, mobility, strength, joint motion, and the tasks or activities you want to return to.
Build session by session
Each visit includes reassessment, hands-on care, biomechanics correction, and exercise progressions. Home programming is updated in bite-sized changes so you can build momentum without feeling overwhelmed.
Progress toward your goal
Many acute conditions resolve in approximately 6–12 visits over 4–8 weeks. Chronic conditions and post-surgical rehabilitation commonly require 16–24 visits over 8–12 weeks. Your therapist will give you a personalized estimate after your evaluation and will tell you honestly when discharge is appropriate.
No referral required. California is a direct-access state, so you can begin physical therapy without a physician referral for up to 45 days or 12 visits, whichever comes first.
Ready to Move With More Confidence?
Whether you are managing a new injury, persistent pain, or recovery after surgery, our team is ready to help you create a clear path forward.
Call our central line at (619) 501-2195 or send an appointment request to start the conversation.