Patient writes via email:
Dear Tom, I just wanted to thank you for seeing me! My mom talks so highly of you and about a year ago she asked me and my two brothers to go see you. You are an awesome person and PT. You make the visits so easy and comfortable. It made it a lot easier for me. Thanks for your time and I will check in sometime with or without pain! 🙂
Patient’s wife writes:
Wanted to thank you again for your support in helping [my husband] with his health conditions. He continues to work out and practice the strategies you provided to him. He has started back to work part time and is transitioning into longer day. He will be moving up to 6 hours per day for the next 2 weeks and hopefully be able to progress to 8 hrs. The company where he works is very supportive thus far. He continues to adapt to his “new normal” in dealing with the headaches. We again appreciate your time, professionalism, and support during a very difficult time for us. We have no doubt you were very instrumental in [my husband’] healing process. Our family is very blessed to have you in our lives.
Patient Betty writes in Oct. 2014:
Tom: I think of you often. The two exercises you gave me in September 2013 are still making a difference. The lying down one where I placed my left ankle on my right knee and then made a bridge emphasizing the right hip and the pushing back the left shoulder have been particularly important. They have had the effect I was hoping they would have: They have opened up the rest of my body. I am basically pain free at this point without the benefit of a hip replacement. Also I have gained a lot of strength in my left leg, and I believe there has even been some improvement in my range of motion in my left hip. . . Your exercises have been the gift that keeps on giving. Thank you so much.
Patient Patricia writes:
Tom sees alternative solutions to problems others do not even see. He looks at the whole picture and has aided me in a number of difficult situations, over the years. HE SHOWS YOU HOW TO HELP YOURSELF!! The greatest gift a health care expert can give, and he gives generously.
Ann Driscoll, L.Ac. writes:
I am writing to recommend to you an excellent physical therapist, Tom Ockler,PT, who maintains an independent practice in Willoughby. Having referred many patients to Tom, I can assure you that he is very skilled at helping to resolve both acute and chronic conditions . . . Since Tom works only one-on-one with patients, he offers a more comprehensive alternative in a far fewer number of sessions. Read more
Anne Kinchen, L.Ac. writes:
Over the years, I have frequently referred patients to Tom Ockler,PT, with excellent results for the purpose of evaluation, and often re-evaluation, in addition to physical therapy and allied modialities. Tom’s detailed patient assessment helps me to decide what, where, how often, and IF to treat, and have proved to be incredibly insightful, especially in lieu of confusing or complicated cases. Read more
Patient Claudia writes:
I was referred to Tom after spending two and a half years searching for an answer to chronic pain in my right hip and leg . . . working with Tom was nothing short of a miracle for me. Tom not only solved my physical pain, but he gave me the emotional support I needed to get over the fear, and frustration, that very commonly accompanies chronic pain. . . His diagnosis has been accurate, and his solutions have always been painless, fast, and most importantly — permanent!! Read more
Patient Danny writes:
My son and I needed Physical Therapy following separate traumatic accidents. I was very unhappy with my initial therapy experience, and then I found Tom.
What a difference!!! His one-on-one approach and personalized management of both my son’s and my physical issues have gotten us both back to work in a hurry.
My doctors tried to send me to other therapists that were part of their corporations but I refused and insisted they send me back to Tom.
Patient M. B. writes:
Tom has been a miracle worker for me. I am walking without a cane, able to use stairs as of the end of last week and walked a third of a mile on the tread mill. . . I am regaining my life!
Patient / P.T. Stacy writes:
I attended your EFT class in October of last year. I was the lone student in the course. 🙂 I wanted to let you know that I did EFT on myself, for presenting. It worked! I was the one who was known for stumbling over words, having to take a deep breath and regroup myself and saying ummm. It was great because I tapped right before my final research presentation of my PT career and was able to leave on such a personal high and I have not gotten nervous while presenting ever since. In addition, I also used EFT throughout my studying for the board exam when I would start to feel overwhelmed or felt hopeless about remembering enough information.
PS- I just found out last week, I passed! Feels great. It was very helpful in keeping an open, calm, and mindset throughout my studies. I also found that, it would help me get to sleep the night where I would be doused with anxiety about the exam. Now, the next time you see me in a course, I will be a colleague and not a student, and you were apart my journey to becoming a licensed PT. Thank you for coming and teaching us this technique.
Patient Michelle from West Virginia writes:
The last time you re-aligned my pelvis, it has really held in place well…and that has been great!!! So glad that I came to you and also that I’ve learned more about muscle energy techniques, as I will NEVER go to a Chiropractor again.
I hope you can keep spreading the word that traditional PT is not the way. I LOVE the muscle energy techniques, because I know they work!
I still cannot get over how many Drs. and PT’s do not realize how important it is to keep the spine and pelvis in correct alignment.
Frederick M. Maynard, MD writes:
“…Mr. Ockler possesses unique skills as a physical therapist based on his advanced training in manual therapy. I have heard him lecture on this topic and I have observed the results of his unique treatment approaches with many of my patients that have complex mechanical back pain disorders. His results have been outstanding with excellent relief of symptoms and highly affective patient education and rapport that enables patients to continue on with their part in recovery. In addition to judging his skills from a strictly professional perspective, I have been privileged to benefit from his personal treatment of my own chronic and recurrent back pain related to degenerative disk disease of the lumbar spine. I can personally attest to his excellent skills as a manual therapist for correction of both vertebral as well as pelvic malalignments. He is decisive, gentle and knowledgeable about a variety of techniques to address these disorders. His methods are effective as an educator in regard to exercise programs that can prevent recurrence and aid in continued recovery after correction of any malalignments with manual therapy or any other traditional physical therapy techniques…”
Amar S. Chauhan, DO writes:
“…As an Osteopathic physician, I understand and respect the unique perspective a manual therapist, such as Tom, has to offer. Tom is very good at what he does. His approach to manual medicine is gentle and effective and he utilizes only the most conservative of approaches; mainly muscle energy, counterstrain, and myofascial release techniques. One needs only to spend an afternoon with Tom to know how effective his treatments are and how popular he is with his patients…Tom Ockler is a great asset to any institution that sees a large volume of musculoskeletal injury and back pain, and he has my sincere recommendation, without hesitation…”
Tom Fuller, MD writes:
“…I have had the privilege of sending many patients to Tom Ockler over the past few years with outstanding results. His approach to manual therapy which includes multiple manual therapy disciplines including muscle energy techniques, myofascial release, etc have been of quite considerable value to my patients at MHCC with often quite remarkable results…A nurse, who works with me at Clement Center, had received conventional physical therapy through her physician’s referral from Brentwood Hospital but continued to have significant cervical symptoms following her MVA; she found dramatic improvement in her symptoms following her visits to Mr. Ockler. My cousin, a massotherapist with chronic back problems, had a major flare of her symptoms for which she had been advised in the past she would require surgery if this occurred; she found marked relief from her initial visit to Mr. Ockler. Several of my patients who had been walking in a chronically stooped manner now walk erect and virtually pain free…In sum, my patients and I have benefited quite significantly from the availability of a talented manual therapist on staff…”
Deborah B. Riczo, PT writes:
“If insurance companies reimbursed by how well patients have done, Tom would suddenly become one of the most valuable and sought after practitioners in Northeast Ohio. Tom has earned a wonderful reputation…because he gets results.”
Ryan S. Gephart, PT, CSCS writes:
I had the distinct pleasure of having Tom as clinical instructor while I was completing a 7-week internship at the Metro Health Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, back in the summer of 1998. When we first met, he gave me the option to learn as much as I could about his approach to treating patients that would be much different on how I had learned up to that point or I could just do what I was comfortable with. One of the best clinical decisions I have ever made was to agree to have an open mind and learn as much as I could about his techniques. I was also fortunate to take away one of the early drafts of his book that he later published and utilized with his continuing education courses on treating the lumbar and sacral spine which proved to be a constant reference for me even 11-years later. I will have more from Tom on this site in the future and below is his bio from his CEU courses flyer. If you struggle treating mechanical spine dysfunction, do yourself a favor and attend one of his courses. I am proud to say that Tom is a wonderful collegue, mentor and friend who has had a profound impact on me as a clinician.
Thomas K. Ockler P.T. received his B.S. P.T. from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1978. In his 39 plus years of uninterrupted clinical practice, Tom has focused much of his attention on the correction of somatic dysfunctions using Non-Manipulative Manual Therapy Techniques. He has extensive teaching experience including a month in Australia, throughout the United States and Canada, as well as England. His background in bio-mechanics along with orthotic fabrication has been integrated with NON-MANIPULATIVE TECHNIQUES to find cures for difficult musculo-skeletal disorders.
