(Today’s article is by guest writer Heather Ryerson)
Athletes know that proper care for their injuries is vital to a full recovery and reducing the risk of reinjury. They also know that all providers are not created equally and finding the right one for you can be a journey and often not a pleasant one. Insurance companies dictate who you can see, if they even cover the recommended treatment.
Cue Adam Levko, his wife Lauren, and, Physio Lab. First opened in 2018 on Sevier Ave, Physio Lab is nearly a one stop shop for all your physical therapy needs. They do not file insurance, thus giving patients the opportunity to choose their provider and be aware of costs to be incurred up front. This gives the patient the ability to make more informed decisions about their care.
Physio Lab has eight providers: seven physical therapists and one stretch therapist. They have branched out into 2 additional spaces as well. You can find one in West Knox inside Reach Functional Fitness and another in Bearden at 403 Bearden Park Cir, inside PTI. This location opened in 2022, making it the most recent branch of Physio Lab.
When I asked Adam why they chose South Knox as their first location, he said, “With a treatment model that was entirely new to Knoxville, making sure I had low overhead costs was high on the priority list. The riverfront area had grown a bit by 2018 but was still very affordable. Since then, we’ve been incredibly fortunate to be able to grow with this amazing community here in South Knox and Downtown.”
Adam is originally from Michigan and Lauren is from Gatlinburg. They met in school in Memphis and have made Knoxville home since the early 2000’s. Adam graduated from UT and worked for several years under another practice before deciding that he wanted to do things differently.
The goals they’ve set for Physio Lab include:
- To provide the highest level of care in the medical field in our community
- To continue to be an advocate for our patients in the medical field
- To truly put the patient first by providing a model of treatment that goes against all norms and focuses on caring for the individual at the highest level possible
- To provide the most outstanding treatment providers in the region an opportunity to truly utilize their skills and expertise to have more success than possible at any “traditional” care setting.”
I asked Adam to sum up what he felt the differences were between what the providers at PhysioLab can offer versus other physical therapy models that are more traditional and he said, “The level of care we can provide with highly trained specialists committing 100% of the patient’s appointment time (and then some) to their injury/progression/improvement/function/quality of life is something that the active population in our community cannot find in our current medical/treatment field.”
He offered the following examples of how they operate differently:
- Want an appointment? Text me
- Want to limit number of sessions to as few as possible? We typically see patients for 1/3 of the national average session numbers for outpatient orthopedic PT.
- Want someone that knows and practices your type of exercise to help you figure out how to get you back to full strength? We have them on our team.
- Feel like the traditional medical model is letting you down at every turn? Call us. We’re here to help.
The services offered are physical therapy, stretch therapy and postpartum and pelvic floor physical therapy. They offer other services such as Dry Needling, Diastasis Recti Training and Rehabilitation, Dynamic Taping / Rocktape / Kinesiology Tape, Sport-Specific Training, and Nutritional Guidance. PhysioLab also offers group classes periodically which you can see on the website. These typically focus on strength training and barbell mobility.
That personal touch and more specified treatment plan is something that many feel is missing in the traditional medical world. PhysioLab seeks to change that. 90% of their clientele is word of mouth which tells you how successful their business has been with treating their patients well and meeting the needs presenting in the community.
They join a growing number of traditional and non-traditional medical care businesses opening on the south side of the river. Sevier Avenue now has a higher concentration of medically related businesses than the heart of downtown and it is growing.
You can find the hours for each clinic on their website.