Millennium Physical Therapy - Astoria — Local services in New York

About me for context: Came to this facility for pre-hab + post-op rehab for an ACL tear. It's close to my house + took my insurance + was initially on a short list of facilities recommended by my surgeon. Writing this at the tail end of a near-year journey of recovery that started here for care, so a future person with my injury or similar can assess if this is the right place for them.

TL;DR - most of the staff is nice, but ultimately was not the right place for me + my injury + my recovery and I had to seek a new, more sports recovery-oriented DPT.

Pros: some of the doctors and some of the aides are really warm + kind, but that really shouldn't be the only reason to keep going to a facility, let's be honest.

Cons: The facility is pretty small, with not a lot of space to do all the exercises, but this is also NYC and we make do with what we got. At the time I was seen, there was a lot of turnaround with the staff I had very inconsistent care I don't think the recovery plan was really tailored for me, despite my surgeon giving me an estimated recovery timeline + exercise list too. Went in week over week doing the same like 3 exercises, also more than a couple of sessions one of the aides didn't know where to hook up the TENS machine to reactivate my quad, and things felt routine and unchanging, when there should be progress. Some of the aides really just leave you to do the exercises and don't monitor you, which also kinda is unsafe when you're managing an injury and your body isn't where it's normally at. This is just a personal con: some weeks I just didn't like the vibe with the staff. I love camaraderie in an office, like everyone at least is cordial with each other, but with some folks it felt a little like high school cliques. I know a patient doesn't have to share anything about themselves in any space if they don't want to, but going somewhere week over week, you get to know the people you're around. I didn't feel open to be myself and it didn't help the mental half of a physical injury recovery.

Main criticisms: I gave it a shot and went to this facility for over 7 months. I gave them a shot even after I felt like my recovery was going nowhere at month 3. I gave them a shot because going somewhere consistently, you build a rapport with your doctor and they should be able to change things up for you. I gave them a shot as long as possible until I really needed to find a new doctor to push me in my recovery and a new doctor who specialized in my specific injury. Maybe it was just who treated me (it was at least 3 PTs during my time at Millennium, one who saw me every week for several months then randomly disappeared without anyone telling me if they would return to the facility to continue care, then the other two doctors who saw me had an air of they didn't understand where I was in my recovery + didn't set me up for success down the line and did not want to push me to do more). I know with all this happening to me, I lost a lot of important post-op recovery vital to getting my strength back with my inconsistent care, and felt like my muscles atrophied more than they should've. This made it harder to get back to walking properly (I was probably limping for 2-3 months longer than I should've been).

Take this nugget of knowledge at your discretion, reader, my doctor (a HSS surgeon) who initially had this facility on their recovery recommendation list took this office off their recommendations list in Queens after seeing multiple patients' recoveries being stagnant. (It wasn't just me receiving inconsistent care here)

At the end of the day, this facility was not for me + my injury + my recovery. It could be for you + your injury, but please be mindful and take care of yourself first and advocate for your health especially during this super vulnerable portion...

Front desk was pleasant. There was a new receptionist who was very proactive and cheerful, which I liked. He looked like a physical therapist / trainer. The facility also looked pretty sharp. Clean. Modern. But this is where my compliments end.

I have chronic back issues and I had a great PT who retired during Covid who had a private practice. Since then I’ve been trying to find a new location, so I tried out Millennium.

I am well versed in the basics of PT and incorporate McKenzie and McGill methods in my workout routines BUT recently an evil flair up of sciatica hasn’t diminished with what I’ve learned. So I needed help.

For many, whether it’s patient or physical therapist, all PT seems to be is a place to learn how to become mobile. The bare minimum.

Quality therapists assess their patients, listen to their needs, and focus on a comprehensive plan.

That did not happen with me at Millennium.

My mri, X-rays, and paperwork I filled out, didn’t seem to get analyzed at all, which wastes time. Asking me “when did you get injured” when it’s written on the patient forms tells me immediately you aren’t reading nor read and are being lazy.

None of my knowledge was listened to, so I was asked to do basic movements to which I told the therapist again and again, that he was making my pain flair up because these movements make my pain flair up.

If he listened, he should have said, “ok, tell me the movements and routines you do that have been causing you pain so I can assess the biomechanics going on.”

It didn’t help that he was texting on his phone while in session.

As he sat next to me texting on his phone, he would tell me to do a certain amount of reps and sets while also asking me to tell him when I was done.

He even asked me if I wanted my phone while he has some worker-assistant hook me up to a TENS unit.

He clearly has a preoccupation being on the phone.

He just, wasn’t paying attention nor wanted to pay attention period.

He assumed because I wore gym leggings I was a “biker”. My physical condition clearly was not of that who was is a “biker”. This seemed like stupid talk.

I asked him why he became a physical therapist. His answer to me, “it’s actually a funny joke - I’m good at physics so I become a physical therapist!”

I’m sorry, this sounded infantilizing.

Watching some of the other therapists eating off on the side on equipment, this place seemed way too relaxed and not managed by anyone serious.

If you broke your hand and needed to learn how to pick something up, maybe this is the place for you.

But if you need aggressive treatment dealing with chronic issues, avoid it.

To be honest, I would say 90% of all the PT places all around Astoria operate like this - silly workers doing the bare minimum to milk insurance companies. Then there are the private places where the physical therapist spends 5 minutes with the patient, then leaves the rest of the session to some hourly worker in scrubs to hook you up to machines or play with a ball.

If you have a rock solid physical therapist, never let them go - and don’t let them retire!

The search continues.

One last thought:

I called the receptionist and said I wouldn’t come back. They didn’t bother to ask why. Nobody called me to ask why.

Clearly, they have little...

I don’t know what is going on with these positive reviews but this place is terrible. I’ve never seen such a disorganized mess of a practice. I had two therapists, TJ and Krisbert. Both were not good, in different ways. Krisbert is shamelessly checked out, always just going through the motions, and not engaged at all. Just gives me an exercise, leaves for 5-10 min, and I can just hear him chatting and joking around with coworkers. Also it felt like pulling teeth to get any advice out of him. At one point, he was watching the basketball game on TV while I asked him a question, and he just gave me a total non-answer, clearly showing he didn’t even listen to me. Incredibly unprofessional.

Normally a PT leads with “tell me what’s going on with you” and you explain your situation. But here, Krisbert literally just went straight into hooking me up to a TENS machine, and then into some generic exercises. Like it’s a one size fits all situation. And of course, no explanation as to why we’re doing this exercises.

At one point, he has me lie down, and just pulls my leg into the sky with no warning, and very aggressively. Not asking me when I start to feel pain (and therefore when he should stop). Very dangerous given the state of my leg, and straight up bad human behavior.

TJ was a lot more gentle and nicer, however, she gave me a completely incorrect diagnosis of my disc herniation symptoms, 100% contradicting my MRI results that she literally saw beforehand. I was skeptical of what she said, so I called my surgeon at HSS, who confirmed that what TJ said was utter nonsense, and that I should find a new PT immediately. Not only did TJ give me a wrong diagnosis, but she doubled down and said that is definitely what’s happening. This is absolutely unacceptable and grounds for a lawsuit based on medical malpractice. I don’t have the energy to do that, so I’m leaving this warning to any patients reading this. Find somewhere else. I’m at HSS PT now, and I’m much happier.

Astoria in general has embarrassing health care options, but this one takes the cake. Go to any other practice and you’ll have a...